A History of North American Birds, Land Birds. Volume 1. Robert Ridgway
tubular Longipennes.
Nostrils not tubular Pygopodes.
III. Toes 4; 2 in front, 2 behind.
Bill cered and hooked Psittaci.
Bill neither cered nor hooked. (Cuculi or Pici) Picariæ.
IV. Toes 4; 3 in front, 1 behind.
1. Toes syndactyle (Cuculi) Picariæ.
2. Toes totipalmate (all four full-webbed) Steganopodes.
3. Toes palmate.
Bill curved up Limicolæ.
Bill not curved up;
lamellate Lamellirostres.
not lamellate;
hallux lobate Pygopodes.
hallux not lobate Longipennes.
4. Toes lobate.
Tail rudimentary Pygopodes.
Tail perfect.
A horny frontal shield Alectorides.
No horny frontal shield Limicolæ.
5. Toes semipalmate;
joined by evident movable basal web (A).
6. Toes cleft to the base,
or there immovably coherent (B).
A. Hind toe elevated above the level of the rest.
Tibiæ naked below.
Nostrils perforate Alectorides.
Nostrils imperforate.
Tarsi reticulate.
Head bald Herodiones.
Head feathered Limicolæ.
Tarsi scutellate in front Limicolæ.
Tibiæ feathered below.
Nostrils perforate Raptores.
Nostrils imperforate.
Gape reaching below eye. (Cypseli) Picariæ.
Gape not reaching below eye Gallinæ.
AA. Hind toe inserted on the level of the rest.
Tibiæ naked below Herodiones.
Tibiæ feathered below.
Bill cered and hooked Raptores.
Bill not cered.
Nasal membrane soft and tumid Columbæ.
Nasal scale hard and flat Gallinæ.
B. Hind toe elevated above the level of the rest.
Gape reaching below eye (Cypseli) Picariæ.
Gape not below eye.
First primary emarginate
or about equal to 2d Limicolæ.
First primary not emarginate
and much shorter than 2d Alectorides.
BB. Hind toe inserted on the level of the rest.
Nostrils opening beneath soft swollen membrane Columbæ.
Nostrils otherwise.
Bill cered and hooked Raptores.
Bill otherwise.
Secondaries only six (Cypseli) Picariæ.
Secondaries more than six (a) Passeres.
(a) Primaries 10; the 1st
more than 2⁄3 as long as the longest. (Clamatores) Passeres.
Primaries 10; the 1st
not 2⁄3 as long as the longest. (Oscines) Passeres.
Primaries 9. (Oscines) Passeres.
Recurring now to consideration of the North American Families of the foregoing higher groups, I take up the latter in the natural order in which they have been presented, giving under head of each such group an analysis of the North American families by which it is represented, reiterating the caution that the characters are drawn up only with reference to the North American genera, and are, consequently, not necessarily or always applicable upon wider considerations. These analyses are made as nearly natural as the state of the case permits, but I seize upon any obvious external characters which may be afforded, without regard to their morphological significance or taxonomic value.
A. Oscines. Musical apparatus highly developed. Back of tarsus undivided, or formed of a few scutella distinct from those lapping over the front. First primary wanting, spurious, or at most not over two thirds the length of the longest.
a. Each side of tarsus covered with a plate undivided in most or all of its length, and meeting its fellow in a sharp ridge behind.
b. Primaries only nine.
c. Bill triangular, depressed, about as wide at base as long; the gape twice as long as the culmen, reaching to about opposite the eyes; tomia straight or gently curved. No obvious rictal bristles. Tarsi not longer than the lateral toe and claw. Wings long and pointed, the first primary equal to or longer than the second. Central tail-feathers not half as long as the wing … Hirundinidæ.
cc. Bill variously conico-elongate or slender, or, if depressed, with long rictal bristles; gape not nearly twice as long as culmen; tomia straight or gently curved. Nostrils not obviously nearer culmen than tomia. Tarsus longer than lateral toe and claw.
Bill very slender, acute; culmen rather concave at base. Longest secondary acuminate, nearly or quite equal to the primaries in the closed wing. Hind claw little curved, about twice as long as the middle claw. Hind toe and claw longer than middle toe and claw … Motacillidæ.
Bill variously conico-elongate and acute; culmen not concave at base. Longest secondary not acuminate, falling far short of primaries in the closed wing. Hind claw well curved, not nearly twice as long as middle claw; hind toe and claw not longer than middle toe and claw. Gape ample; tongue slightly bifid or brushy, if at all … Sylvicolidæ.
Bill lengthened, very acute, even decurved. Wings and feet as in the last. Gape constricted; tongue generally deeply bifid or brushy … Cærebidæ.
ccc. Bill more or less truly conic, usually short, thick; commissure usually more or less evidently abruptly angulated near the base, or with lobe or tooth further forward. Nostrils obviously nearer culmen than tomia. Tarsus longer than lateral toe and claw.13
Bill stout, tumid, convex in nearly all its outlines; tomia not angulated, but with one or more lobes or nicks in advance of the base. Nostrils placed very high. Other characters much as in Sylvicolidæ. Colors chiefly red and yellow. One genus of … Tanagridæ.
Bill truly conic, much shorter than head, usually with the angulation evident; no lobe along middle of tomia, but usually a notch at end. Nostrils placed very high. Rictal bristles usually obvious … Fringillidæ.
Bill conic, but lengthened, little if any shorter than head; the angulation of the tomia evident; no notch at end. Nostrils high. No rictal bristles … Icteridæ.
bb. Primaries ten.
Otherwise with characters much as in Icteridæ … Sturnidæ.
d. Nostrils concealed with antrorse bristly feathers (except in Psilorhinus and Gymnokitta).14
Base of bill sheathed with antrorse bristly feathers, having lateral branches to their very ends; its tip mostly notched. Basal joint of middle toe united only half-way to the lateral. Sides of tarsus occupied by a lateral groove, mostly filled in with
In the true conirostral or fringilliform genera the under mandible has high strong tomia, bent at an angle near the base; the corresponding portion of the upper mandible is deep, so that the nostrils are nearer the culmen than the tomia. The whole bill is more or less bent in its axis from the axis of the cranial base, so that the palate curves down, or is excavated or, as it were, is broken into two planes meeting at an angle,—one plane the anterior hard imperforate roof of the mouth, the other the back palate where the internal nares are situate (Sundevall). The single North American genus of
These two genera,