"The Homalogonatous birds must be divided upon a different basis, and their myological formulæ here come into service. Before going further it is necessary to show that the habits of the species are not the cause of their myological peculiarities in most cases, though probably in some they do affect them. The heron and the swallow have the same formula, and yet how different their habits? the same may be said of the owls and the swifts; the kaleege and the flamingo. The auk and guillemot, however, are most probably but distantly related to the ducks and penguins if the peculiarity in the nasal bones has the importance that I assign to it; nevertheless, the muscles of their legs agree more with them, than with the other Schizorhinal birds. By a glance at Table II. the manner in which the Homalogonati may be best subdivided according to the facts that I have been able to bring forward, may be obtained. Commencing with the orders, the Galliformes include all those birds related to the fowls; and notwithstanding the high opinions to the contrary, I cannot feel justified in separating the struthious birds away from this group. It is not difficult, after having seen the formula of the Musophagidae and Cuculida (Table I.), to recognise that these families have nothing to do with the Anomalogonatous birds, although they are peculiar in the former having no cæca, and the latter a nude oil-gland. The Psittaci also cannot be placed anywhere else. "The Anseriformes all agree, with the exception of the storm petrels, which are also otherwise difficult to place, in wanting the accessory semitendinosus (Y), and in having the great pectoral muscle very elongate. The *These letters refer to a table for which I have no room.-E. N. SECOND SERIES-VOL. IX. 2 B whole family of petrels are exceptions in this point also, and may have to be put in the next order, amongst the Ciconiiformes. "The Ciconiiformes include amongst them the Accipitres, but myology is in no point more clear than with regard to the unnaturalness of that family as at present defined. Every eagle, hawk, true vulture and owl, has for formula A. The secretary bird, which is generally placed with them, is represented by BXY; from which it is seen to be as different from them as it can possibly be. This shows that the position of Serpentarius must be changed; that it is not a raptorial bird at all; and that, as in formula and general appearance it resembles Cariama, it must be placed near it and the bustards. Similar arguments indicate that the Cathartida are not true Accipitrine birds, but must form an independent family, though still in the same order as the falcons. "The Charadriiformes all possess the peculiar nasal arrangement which I have termed Schizorhinal. The Turnicidæ and Parridæ are included with the Limicolæ, and the Pteroclide with the Columbæ. "The justification of many of the smaller divisions of the above orders will be seen by comparing the myological formula, and by a review of the osteological, pterylographical, and visceral arrangement of each. 66 In any attempt at classification on new facts, it must be remembered that there must be great inequality in the importance of the results arrived at in each order as freshly defined. In one family there may be a uniformity in a particular structure which is greater than could possibly have been expected; whilst in another the previously constant character may be one of the most uncertain. For instance, the left carotid artery is alone present in all the Passerine birds that have ever been examined; but amongst the bustards the great bustard has two, Denham's only the right, and Tetrax only the left. Therefore it is not to be wondered at that myology is equally uncertain in its indications sometimes, though on other occasions its teaching is most decided. In the above attempt at a new arrangement, it has been my endeavour to bring forward the results of observations made during a considerable time, with the facts obtained from previous work always kept prominently in the foreground."-Reprinted from Nature,' February 12. Although I have said I shall give no opinion on the merits of this classification, I may express the pleasure I feel at finding a naturalist of Mr. Garrod's power devoting his abilities to classification, a subject so generally neglected. The theory of Evolution would make every bird the descendant of the same monad, and thus abrogate the reign of law; and the taste for name-changing is now so prevalent that we may say of names Thus classification or the just approximation of like to like has become a dead letter. EDWARD NEWMAN. A Visit to the Breeding Haunts of the Frigate Bird. On the 26th of February, at 4 P. M., we left Panama under sail for the island of Taboga, and arrived and anchored off the village a few minutes before six the same evening. On our cruise we passed close to the island of Taboguilla, which is situated about two miles to the eastward of Taboga, and over a wooded point to the extreme westward of this island I noticed numbers of frigatebirds hovering and wheeling above the trees. On this occasion I paid little attention to them, as I scarcely imagined that at this time of the year they would be breeding; but as day after day, and at all hours, they were constantly to be seen in great numbers flying over the same locality, I came to the conclusion that they were either breeding or else had some other strong attraction to induce them to frequent that particular point of the island so continuously, and I therefore determined to pay them a visit as soon as possible. On the afternoon of the 4th instant, accordingly, one of my brother officers having volunteered to accompany me, we sailed over to Taboguilla to investigate the quarters of these singular birds. On arriving at the west end of the island,-where there were a few irregular and rather lofty rocks, thickly overgrown by a species of evergreen shrub possessing sub-ovate and dark green shining leaves, something like those of the mangrove,-frigate-birds were observed flying, or rather wheeling, in vast numbers above the bushes, and on the bushes themselves the birds were assembled in multitudes. These rocks were detached from the main island, and to land on one of them was anything but an easy task to accomplish, on account of its rugged and precipitous sides, besides which a strong tide which ran between us and the mainland of Taboquilla prevented us from mooring our boat without considerable difficulty and danger. However, at last we found a safe place where we were able to secure our boat, and from whence we managed to scramble up the face of the cliff to the bushes above. It was terribly hot work, and a tropical sun pitilessly scorched us as we ascended, and made the rocks to which we had to cling feel almost red hot. We were exceedingly glad to reach the shelter of the bushes, and on gaining them we paused a few minutes to recover our breath and admire the scenery. The stems of the shrubs, the ground beneath them, and most of the neighbouring rocks were covered with a thin coating of white guano, which was by no means unpleasant to our olfactory nerves; indeed the odour was somewhat stimulating and tended to refresh one, and was as beneficial as a pinch of snuff. After a few minutes' rest we pushed on our way through the bushes until we reached one of the highest peaks of the islet, and on arriving here we witnessed a sight it is impossible for me to give anything but the faintest idea of. On the ground around us between the rough boulders were shown the nests of the booby, which were merely composed of the dead leaves fallen from the adjacent bushes, and were so close together that we nearly walked on them. These either contained eggs or young. The eggs were usually two in number, and of a dirty bluish green colour, thickly covered with a chalky substance, but although there were always two eggs in a nest I never saw more than one young bird. Perhaps the turkey buzzards which were flying plentifully overhead could have given a satisfactory reason for this. These young boobies were of all ages from the young squab just hatched to the fully fledged bird able to fly; the former were horrible-looking creatures, blue-skinned and without any vestige of down, and felt quite cold to the touch; but some of the half or three-quarter grown birds were covered thickly with snow-white down, through which, in some of the older ones, the large wing and tail-feathers were just appearing. These birds as we approached them stood up to "attention" and snapped at us in a solemn manner with their beaks as we passed. On the bushes above, the frigate-birds sitting on their nests regarded us with the utmost indifference, and it was only when we walked close beneath them or were actually climbing to their nests that they condescended to move and fly away, and even then they almost permitted us to touch them before they left. As a rule, when we approached the vicinity of the nests and began to shake the trees and clap our hands the birds disgorged whatever happened to be in their pouches before they flew off, and this invariably consisted of half-digested and very putrid fish, which fell unpleasantly near to us. The nests of these birds are extremely loose in structure, and reminded me very forcibly of those of our own familiar wood pigeon, with the exception of being much more open in their arrangement. They are simply composed of a few twigs and dry bents, and it struck me as being an extraordinary fact that such a large egg could be accommodated on so small a platform. I was also curious to know how the birds managed to collect the twigs, &c., to build their nests with, as I felt convinced, from their awkward habits when perched, that it was utterly impossible for them to pluck them from the trees themselves. I had not, however, to wait long before this difficulty was solved, for I observed the old birds collecting the dead and fallen twigs which were floating in the sea close to the rocky shore, and this they managed to do as they skimmed or hovered over the surface of the water. As soon as they had secured a twig they flew off to the spot they had selected for their nest, and with the same hovering or flapping motion as they hung above the trees they fixed the twig securely in its place. Here and there the female bird was sitting on, or adjacent to, the newly-commenced nest, and received the twig brought to her by her mate and adjusted it to her own satisfaction. These nests were placed very close together, and it seemed astonishing that the birds did not occasionally make mistakes. On looking up from below while the old bird was sitting on her nest nothing whatever could be seen of her large white egg, but by shouting at the bird and shaking the tree she might at last be induced to leave her nest. This was accomplished in a most clumsy manner and accompanied by a great flapping of wings, and it was a marvel that the egg was not hustled off the nest to the ground beneath; but with all their apparent awkwardness the old birds, as they left their nests, appeared to drop their egg from between their thighs lightly on to their frail nest. In all the nests we examined to-day there was never more than one egg, and in only one was there a young chick, and this was but just hatched, thereby proving that at this time of the year these birds had only commenced to breed. In plumage they varied considerably, but of course this might be due to their different age or sex. I observed on many occasions the old males feeding the females on their nests, and these were of a deep greenish glossy black hue, and possessed bright scarlet pouches, which, at their pleasure, they seemed to have the power of distending to a most extraordinary degree. This might possibly |