S4i6 
ON THE CLASSIFICATION OP BIRDS. 
Casttariils, Ray. Cassowary. Bill strong, emarginate. 
Head and neck naked ; the former with an elevated 
protuberance, the latter with wattles. Feet three- 
toed, all placed forwards. 
C. galeatus. PI. Enl. 313. 
Dromiceus, Vieil. Emu. Head smooth, feathered. 
Bill short, depressed, resembling that of Platyryn- 
chus. Under mandible serrated. Nostrils naked, 
linear, placed in the middle of the bill. Throat 
naked. Feet with three toes, placed forward. Tar- 
sus strongly serrated behind. The rasorial type. 
Frugivorous and herbivorous. 
D. Australis. White’s Voy. pi. 1. 
Apternysc, Shaw. Kiwi. Bill slender and considerably 
lengthened. Feet short, with three toes before, and 
a spur, representing the hallux, behind. The tenuiros- 
tral type.* 
A. Australis. Zool. Trans, i. pi. 10. 
Rhea, Brisson. BiU straight, depressed ; the tip bent 
down and hooked. Head feathered. Feet with three 
toes before, and a callous protuberance behind. Wings 
developed, but too short for flight. Insectivorous. 
The fissirostral type. 
R. Americana. Auct. 
Familv COLUMBIDiE. Pigeons, 1" 
Feet very short. Wings long. 
* There is scarcely any bird out of the grallatorial order, which so beau- 
tifully renresents it as this. Mr. Yarrcll is even struck by the resemblance 
of the bill to “ tli.at of an ibis.” Although, perhaps, the resemblance of 
this part, from its thickened termination, is much more similar to ScMopai. 
t So jar as I have yet proceeded in the analysis of this group, 1 have formed 
the following opinions; — 1. That the true pigeons constitute only one of 
the five primary divisions ; just as tile true woodpeckers (Piciamv) form only 
one group in the circle of Piefadte, so that both are of equal rank and 
value. -. It consequently follows that the four other divisions of the Co. 
lumhidm are either represented by birds which have not been yet disco- 
vered, or by types very peculiar in thoir general appearance. 3. Of this 
latter I consider that Omsthoemnus connects the Colmuhidm with the Me. 
galopidtc.hy means of D/croIophuj, and that Chionis is the grallatorial 
representative. Of the two renmining types, one of which is the fissirostral, 
I am quite ignorant : 1 think it more than probable, Iiowevcr, that the 
true pigeons form one circle, and not two. 
