34 
Sclater on the Sy sterna Avium. 
structure of the wing. Mr. Wallace’s Formicaroid and Anom- 
alous Passeres correspond nearly with what I call the Oligomy- 
odae, Tracheophonae, and Pseudoscines, whilst the Oscines are 
distributed in his arrangement under three heads, as follows : — 
Series A. Typical or Turdoid Passeres. 
Wing with io primaries, the first always more or less markedly reduced 
in size. 
1. Turdidae. 
2. Sylviidae. 
3. Timaliidae. 
4. Cinclidae. 
5. Troglodytidae. 
6. Certhiidae. 
7. Paridae. 
8. Leiotrichidae. 
9. Phyllornithidae. 
10. Pycnonotidae. 
11. Oriolidae. 
12. Campephagidae. 
13.3 Dicruridae. 
14. Muscicapidae. 
15. Vireonidae. 
16. Pachycephalidae. 
17. Laniidae. 
18. Corvidae. 
19. Paradiseidae. 
20. Meliphagidae. 
21. Nectariniidae. 
Series B. Tanagroid Passeres. 
Wing with 9 primaries, the first of which is fully developed and usually 
very long. 
1. Motacillidae. 
2. Mniotiltidae. 
3. Coerebidae. 
4. Drepanidae. 
5. Dicseidae. 
6. Ampelidae. 
7. Hirundinidae. 
8. Tanagridae. 
9. Fringillidse. 
10. Icteridae. 
Series C. Sturnoid Passeres. 
Wing with 10 primaries, the first of which is rudimentary. 
1. Ploceidae. 3. Artamidae 
2. Sturnidae. 4. Alaudidae. 
The objection to this arrangement is that it separates some very 
nearly allied forms far too widely. The “spurious primary” 
which Mr. Wallace relies upon to divide his Tanagroids and 
Sturnoids is not always even a generic character. In Vireo , for 
example, it varies in the different species, being present in some 
and absent in others. Mr. Wallace puts the Alaudidae amongst 
his Sturnoids ; but in some larks ( Calandrella &c.) the spurious 
primary is altogether wanting. The Ploceidae and Fringillidae, 
which are barely distinguishable as families, fall under different 
heads, as do the Sturnidae and Icteridae. Yet there cannot be a 
doubt as to the intimate connexion of the two last-named families. 
