1<)6 ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF BIRDS. 
mentecl with five times the number of species contained 
in in the Systema Natura. A misplaced veneration for 
their great master, or personal inertness, induced his 
disciples to go on appropriating all these new species to 
the old genera, without venturing to construct others 
for them, when they plainly and palpably would not 
agree in a single essential character with any one of 
the old genera. It was sufficient for a bird to have a 
flat bill to constitute it a Mu.svifiapn, and all slender- 
billed birds became warblers (Sylvia). The conse- 
quence has been that these groups, and numberless 
others, became common receptacles for almost any thing, 
and if a student, or even a practised ornithologist, at- 
tempted to find out the name of a species, he must often 
read over the descriptions of near aOO, without, in all 
probability, attaining his object. In the most recent 
and voluminous work on general ornithology in our 
language, there are 237 species of A’u/co, 177of 
capa, 2<)8 of Sylma, 121 of Lnxut, and 1.70 of Frm. 
gilla. One would have imagined that in such a genus 
as Merops, — where the remarkably short, weak, and 
syndactyle foot, is such a strong and obvious char- 
acter, — no mistake could possibly arise. Hut even 
here, so little were these authors accustomed to ad- 
here to the definitions of their master, that we ac- 
tually find a large number of strong-footed thrushes 
(Brai'hi/jiux) mixed up in their systems with the true 
Linmean bee-eaters, because, as it may bti presumed, 
the plumage of both is green ; while many of the 
honeysuckers (Melip/iayidce) are placed with Merops 
notwithstanding their strong and very perfect feet" 
The student, therefore, even if he follows Linnteus' 
can place no reliance whatever upon the systems which 
actually profess to follow this master. These obstacles 
great as they are, would not altogether bo insurmount- 
able, if the descriptions ot the species were sufficiently 
full or accurate to lead to the determination of a bird, 
even if it should be placed in a wrong genus. But 
here our difficulty is increased two-fold : it has, until 
