. On the natural history and classification of birds . rs, seemto be minor variations, or subgenera. Neophron is obvi-ously a tenuirostral type, for its lengthened and slenderbill more resembles that of a wader than of a bird of prey;while the Vultur aura of South America seems to us to bethe type of Cathartes. Both these great divisions havethe head and neck more or less bare of feathers, whiletheir feet and general aspect at once proclaim the typicalcharacters of the family they represent. But there aresome other birds, obviously allied to these, which cannot,however, be associated with them
. On the natural history and classification of birds . rs, seemto be minor variations, or subgenera. Neophron is obvi-ously a tenuirostral type, for its lengthened and slenderbill more resembles that of a wader than of a bird of prey;while the Vultur aura of South America seems to us to bethe type of Cathartes. Both these great divisions havethe head and neck more or less bare of feathers, whiletheir feet and general aspect at once proclaim the typicalcharacters of the family they represent. But there aresome other birds, obviously allied to these, which cannot,however, be associated with them. One of these is theNew Holland vulture, mentioned by my friend ChiefJustice Field*, and which is so like a rasorial bird thatsome authors have hesitated (not having seen a specimen)as to what order it really belonged. So completely,indeed, has nature disguised this rare and extraordinaryvulture in the semblance of that type which it is to re-present in its own family, that it has even been classedby one writer with the Menura of the same continent;. pre-eminent distinction of thesetwo groups appears to be in thevery opposite forms of their nos-trils. In Vultur, the apertureis placed transversely across thebill, while in Cathartes it is long,linear, and situated parallel withthe margin of the bill; in otherwords, the aperture is longitu-dinal. In the most aberrantspecies, there will, of course, bean interchange of characters, asin every other part of the animal * G£o. Memoires of New South Wales. 284 ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF BIRDS. and it must be confessed that if clear conceptions ofthe difference between analogy and affinity are not en-tertained, such a classification has some plausible rea-sons to recommend it. The feet, in fact, of the twobirds, are formed nearly on the same principle; but,then, so are those of Orthonyx, a little scansorial birdnot much bigger than a robin. All three genera, inshort, are remarkable for their large disproportionate feet,long and slightly c
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookidonnaturalh, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1836
