68 
ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF BIRDS. 
and the five tribes of perching birds : we shall first 
place them in the following order : — ' 
Sylviad^. — The Analogies. 
Tribes of the 
Perchers. 
CONIROSTRES. 
Dentirostres. 
Fissirostres. 
Tenuirostres. 
SCANSORES. 
Typical Characters. 
’Bill slightly notched ; the most perfect 
in their respective groups. 
Bill more distinctly notched. 
Bill depressed j the base bristled. 
Bill very weak \ rictus smooth. 
Climb, and seek their food in trees. 
Subfamilies of 
the Warblers. 
I Sylvian^. 
Philomelirue. 
Saxicolince. 
Motadllina. 
Pariana:, 
By this table we get some of the most prominent 
distinctions of both groups. The two first analogies, as 
may be expected, are very remote ; but the three next 
are so decided, that they must strike every reader. 
Who that has seen the stonechats rapidly coursing 
over a common, in pursuit of winged insects, is not 
immediately reminded of the swallows, which do the 
same upon the wing ? Both groups are particularly re- 
markable for the great size of their heads, and the broad 
base of their bill ; characters universal among aU na- 
tatorial and fissirostral types. The Motaeillinw, or 
wagtails, have the bill unusually slender, and thus re- 
present the wading order ; and the haunts of both are 
always in the vicinity of water. Every one has seen 
the adroitness with which the tomtit clings to the 
smallest branches of trees, examining every bud, pecking 
at every hole, and iudefatigably searching for insects 
hid in such concealments. No other birds have these 
manners but the woodpeckers ; and this resemblance 
extends even to the bill, which in both is strong, pointed, 
and entire, 
(79-) lint it may be said, that the stonechats as much 
resemble the gallinaceous order as they do the Fissiroa- 
tres, since like them they are continually upon the 
ground, and, in proportion to their size, have the legs 
equally strong. Let us, therefore, draw up a second 
table, in which these two groups are placed opposite 
each other: — 
