l60 ON THE CLASSIFICATION OP BIROS. 
representing — as seen in the above table — the gigantic 
elephants, and the other Pachydermes. But let us look 
further into the secondary analogies expressed in this 
table. The Solipedeit, or horses, and the PavonidrE, or 
peacocks, are already disposed of; while, in the types of 
the Rumimmtes (as the doer and antelopes), and of 
the partridges {Tetraonida‘), the shortness of the tail 
is one of their great peculiarities. The Strutliionidte 
or ostriches, still more beautifully represent the 
Pachydermes in their great bulk ; while the obtuse horny 
protuberance of the cassowary is a most striking repre- 
sentation of the short horn of the rhinoceros. The 
pigeons (Columhidfc) in one order, and the Edentates 
in the other, follow next ; let us, therefore, see how far 
these groups are analogous. The Edentates, or ant- 
eaters, are remarkable among the hoofed quadrupeds for 
having the greatest prolongation of muzzle, and in 
having the shortest feet : the muzzle of birds is their 
bill ; and the hills of the Colimhidee, or pigeons, are the 
longest and the most slender, considering the size of the 
birds, of any among the Rasores ; while their feet possess 
the opposite extreme of shortness : each, again, are the 
most aberrant in their resjiective circles. M. Cuvier is 
decidedly of opinion that the extinct Anaplntheres, like 
the modern tapirs, lived in the vicinity of water or in 
marshes, and that they thus became semi-aquatic. Such 
arc the localities of the American Cracidee, or curassow 
birds, as we know from personal observation ; while 
their long and somewhat rigid tail preserves that affinity 
to the Scansores which has been already mentioned. 
(182.) The precise manner in which this order is 
connected to that of the perchers, through the medium 
of the Scansores, has lieen variously stated. M. 
Cuvier considers that the Musophayidee, or plantain- 
eaters, approximate on one hand to the Scansores, 
and on the other to the Gallinaeea ; and this opinion 
has teen so strongly taken up by others, that not 
even a doubt has been expressed on the subject. We 
have, however, already traced the affinity between the 
plantain-eaters, the plantain-cutters, the finches, and 
