The following are the orders of Linurens's class 1. .A eci pit res. Birds of Prey, properly so called.
2. Pica. Woodpeckers, Crows, Humming-Birds, Kingfishers, &c.
&c. &c.
3. A aserea. Swimmers.
4. Gralite. Waders.
5. Call Gallinaceous Birds (Partridge and Domestic Fowl, for instance).
6. Passeres. Sparrows, Finches, Thrushes, Doves, Swallows, &c. &c. These orders, some of' which are not very natural, include with their subdivisions 78 genera.
In 1760 appeared the system of Brisson, which divides birds into two great sections. The first, consisting of those whose toes are deprived of membranes ; the second, of those whose toes are furnished with membranes through their whole length.
There are many subdivisions, under which are arranged 26 orders, including 115 genera. This able ornithologist owes much of his celebrity to the minute accuracy of his specific descriptions.
In 1770 Buffon published the first part of his work relating to birds. It is marked by the same eloquent animated style which adorns the rest of his' Natural History ; ' but much cannot be said for its arrange ment, nor for the justice of some of its conclusions.
Schaffer, in his 'Elementa Ornithologica,' which was given to the public in 1744, divides birds into two great families, .Nudipedes and Pal mipedes.
Scopoli (1777), in his 'Introduction to Natural History,' divides them also into two families ; but lie takes his distinction from the arrangement of the scaly skin on the legs ; the first division or Ret ipedes consisting of those the akin of whose legs is marked by small polygonal Stades ; the second, Sett t ipedes, of those the front of whose legs is covered with segments or unequal rings with lateral longitudinal furrows.
In 1781 our countryman Latham published his general synopsis, and in 1787 and in 1801 his two supplements appeared. In 1790 his ' Index Ornithologicus; in two volumes quarto, being an abridgment of his more extended work, was given to the public. Separating, like Willughby and Ray, the birds into two grand divisions, land-birds and water-birds, he arranges them under the following orders, which include 101 genera: 1. A trip Urea. 7. Grallte.
2. Pica'. 8. P inn ati pedes 3. Pusseres. 9. Pal m 4. Col umlas.
5. Gall in ts, 6. .S.'frailiiones.
In 1799 M. de LactIpede published his method, arranging 130 genera under 39 orders.
In 1306 Dum6ril, in his Zoologie Aualytique,' divided birds into six orders.
The following is Blumenbach's arrangement : 1. A eripit res. 8. Grollte.
2. Ler; rostres. 9. 4. Curare,.
5. I 'a sae res.
6. Go(Inui.
7. St ruth iones.
In 1810 Meyer, in the Almanach des 0i600.11X do l'Allernagne, par 3Ieasrs. Meyer et Wolff,' arranged them under 11 orders.
In 1811 Illiger divided them into seven orders, including 41 families. Then came Curler, who in his Regne Animal' (1817) published the following method : I. A ecipit res. 4. Gall 2. l'asseres. 5. Gralltr.
3. &swore. (Climbers). 6. l'almipedes. N'ieillot, whose work is dated in 1816, though it did not appear till 1817, distributes birds into the following five orders : 1. A ceipit res. 4. Grall atoms.
2. Sylrieolw. 5. Nat store s.
3. Gulliruicei.
Tenninek's arrangement (1815.20) consists of the following 16 orders : 1. .12spaces. 9. Pigeons.
2. 10. Gull inures.
3. Insect rores. 11. A lectorides.
4. Gra n i rores. 12. Coureurs.
5. Zygodact yin. 13. Gralla.
6. A nisodaet glee. 14. /lin net ph/es.
7. A leyons. 15. Palm:Wes.
8. C7alidons. 16. I n cries.
In 1825 Nicholas Aylward l'igors (following out the principle adopted by William Sharp 3PLeay, in his Ilene Entornologicre; a work of great learning and deep reasoning) proposed his arrange ment of births according to their natural affinities. "I discovered," says the author in his paper in the 14th volume of the Transactions of the Linnanin Society, "as I that the larger or primary groups wore connected by an uninterrupted chain of affinities ; that this series or chain returned into itself; and that the groups of which it was composed preserved in their regular succession an analogy to the corresponding groups or orders of the contiguous classes of zoology. I equally detected the existence of the same principle in most of the subordinate subdivisions, even down to the minutest, to a degree at least sufficiently extensive to afford grounds for asserting its general prevalence?' Thus, if his five orders Inseasores, Raptores, AYES. Re:sorts, Natal ore, I, Gralla lora,be arranged round a common centre, the author conceives that they would be found to be mutually connected together, and that the plan which holds good in the general division will be found to be confirmed on examining the subdivisions.