'i^^ m¥^''^^S^. ^^^ 9,m^i^i ;** ■<*?■ C-.** I ¥ ^;,#ll.^##. ALBERT JR. MANN LIBRARY New York State Colleges OF Agriculture and Home Economics Cornell University Cornell University Library QL 697.M94 On certain variations in the vocal organ 3 1924 000 122 428 The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924000122428 JOHANNES MtJLLEE ON CERTAIN VARIATIONS IN THE VOCAL ORGANS OF THE PASSERES THAT HAVE HITHERTO ESCAPED NOTICE THE TRANSLATION BY F. JEFFEEY BELL, B.A. EXHIBITIOITEE OP MAGDAIiEN COLLEGE, OXIOBD EDITED, WITH AN APPENDIX BT A. H. GAKROD, M.A., F. E. S. rELLOW OT ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE, CAMBBIDGB ©xfottr AT THE CLARENDON PRESS M DCCC Lxxvni Price Seven Shillings and Sixpence JOHANNES MULLER ON CERTAIN VARIATIONS IN THE VOCAL ORGANS OF THE PAS SERES THAT HAVE HITHERTO ESCAPED NOTICE. Read before the Konigl. Akadbmib ber "Wissenschaften ztr Berlin. May 14, 1846, AND June 26, 1848. UoniJon MACMILLAN AND CO. PUBLISHERS TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OxforU JOHANNES MtJLLEE ON CERTAIN VARIATIONS IN THE VOCAL ORGANS OF THE PASSERES THAT HAVE HITHERTO ESCAPED NOTICE THE TRANSLATION BT F. JEFFKEY BELL, B.A. BXHIBITIOITEB OF UAaDAIiEN COIiIiEaB, OXPOBD EDITED, WITH AN APPENDIX BY A. H. GAKEOD, M.A., F. E. S. BELLOW OP ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE, CAMBBIDGE AT THE CLARENDON PRESS M DCCC LXXVIII lAtl rights reserved ] PREFACE. That many of the results recorded in this volume are, even after the many years which have elapsed since they were brought before the notice of the scientific world, but little known in this country; that through the kind efforts of Mr. P. L. Sclater, F.R.S., and the willing aid of Dr. W. Peters of Berlin, the originals of Miiller s plates were placed at our disposal; and that the Delegates of the Clarendon Press accepted the responsibility of publishing it ; are our justifications for the production of the translation of this valuable monograph, A. H. G. F. J. B. July ^rd, 1878. CONTENTS. PAGE. I. HlSTOEICAl RbMAEKS ON THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN SiNGING BlEDS AND OTHEB Passbeinbs, eoundbd on theie Vocal Muscles i II. EeVIBW of the GeNEEA the LAEYNGES OE WHICH HAVE BEEN ALEEADY EXAMINED 5 III. New Investigations into the Aeeangement op the Vocal Muscles, in the Old and New Woeld foems ... 9 IV. Account op Obseeved Foems or Laeynx : (i) Organ of Voice of Ghasmarhynchws ... ...21 (ii) Organ of Voice of the Piprinae . . . . . . . . .24 (iii) Organ of Voice of the Ampelinae and Eurylaiminae . . . . -25 (iv) Organ of Voice of the Tyranninae and Fluvicolinae . . . . -27 (v) Organ of Voice of the Todinae and Platyrhynchinae, Cab. . . . .29 (vi) Organ of Voice of the Myiotherinae, Scytalopinae, Anabatinae, and Dendro- colaptinoke ........... 30 (vii)' Organ of Voice of Trochilus . . . . . . . . -37 (viii) Organ of Voice of Colius . . . . . ■ . . . -37 V. On the Relations between the Steuctueb of the Oegan op Voice, and the External Chaeactees of the Passeeines 38 VI. Geneeal Eemaeks on the Classification of the Passeeines . . 45 Eemaeks 53 Description of the Figuees 54 Addendum to Mullee's paper on the Vocal Oegans of Passerine Birds . . 61 Appendix containing a Description of the Vocal Oegans of some abeerant Passerine Birds not recorded by Muller ..... . -63 PASSERES. I. Historical Eemarks on the Distinction between Singing Birds AND OTHER PASSERINES, FOUNDED ON THEIR VoCAL MuSCLES. CuviEE^ was the first to give a description of the organ of voice, or lower larynx of Singing Birds, and to his work every one has since had recourse. According to him, Singing Birds possess a muscular organ of voice made up of five muscles on each side of the lower larynx^ which arise from it and from the trachea, and pass obliquely downwards, partly to the anterior, and partly to the posterior ends of the highly moveable half-rings of the bronchi, raising the second and third half-rings by their anterior and posterior extremeties, and altering their position, as well as that of the vocal cords, with respect to the stream of air. These muscles are the long anterior and posterior elevators of the third half-ring ; the small constrictor longitudmaUs, which is attached to the posterior elevator, and to the second half-ring; the constrictor ohliquus, which also moves the hinder extremity of the second half-ring, and the constrictor transversalis, which goes to the anterior end of the same half-ring. This group of muscles is characterised by the faetj that they work not on the middle convex portion of the half-rings, but on their ends, to which they diverge forwards and backwards after leaving the sides of the trachea. The consequence of this division of the moving force is a complete change of position, and a rotation of the half-rings, as described by Savart, which is consequent on the raising of their ends. It is not my aim to describe the mechanism of this larynx or of its cords, memlrana tym/paniformis and car- tilago ari/taenoidea, which latter is so often present in this region, nor the other parts which may be observed here, since they may be supposed to be known from the descrip- tions of Cuvier and Savart. Cuvier found this complex muscular organ of voice in Sparrows, Titmice, Blackbirds, Thrushes, Buntings, Larks, Ravens, Rooks, Nuthatches, ■^ Magasin encyclopaedique ou journal des sciences, des lettres et des arts, redige par Noel et Warens, T. II. N. VII. p. 330 ; Reil's Archiv f. Phys. V. p. 67. B 2 Historical Remarks on the Distinction between Singing Birds and Magpies, and asserted that it was generally present in the Passerines with the exception of the Swifts {Gypsel%i), Goatsuckers, and Kingfishers, which, like many birds not placed among Passerines, but belonging to the Accipitres, Scansores, and Palmipedes, possess only a single median muscle on either side of the lower larynx. Tiedemann^ and MeckeP confirmed these results, but pursued the subject no further. Savart^ confirmed them in essential points, but did pursue the subject; he described six muscles, three anterior and three posterior pairs, in the Ravens, Shrikes, and Starlings^ and five (two anterior pairs) in the Thrushes and Larks. In Naumann's work on the Birds of Germany, Nitzsch pointed out the presence of the muscular organ of voice in every genus of European Songster which he had been able to examine. In his different ornithological Essays, for example in those on the nasal glands of birds *, and on the carotids ^, in his Anatomical Appendices to Naumann's work ^, in his posthumous notes [Article ' Passerinen ' by Burmeister, in Ersch and Gruber's Encyclopaedia], and in his Pterylographie'^, be attempts to separate those Passerines which do not possess this complex organ of voice, but possess only one muscle, like the majority of the Scansores, from the Singing Birds or Passerines, and to unite them with the Scansores into one order of Wood-peckers (Spechtvogel) or Picariae. He sought eagerly after other osteological, splanchnologieal, and angeiological characters of Singing Birds ; and in this way many interesting peculi- arities in and differences among them were brought to light. But it can be seen at the same time that no one of these characters is absolute, and that there are important exceptions to each of them. Many birds, in which the muscular organ of voice is absent, have the manubrium of the sternum bifurcate, as Ampelis, Gymnocephahis, Rupicola, Pipra, Furnarius, Thamnophilws, Tyrannus, Maenia, and many others. No Passerine, it is well known, with two notches on each side' of the sternum, possesses the muscular organ of voice ; but the sternum of very many Passerines, in which I have not found the muscular organ of voice, has only one notch on each side, e.g. Eurylaimus, Ampelis, Gymnocephalus, Psaris, PacJiyrJiampTms, Phibalura, Bupicola, Pipra, Tyrannus, Elaenia, Myiohius, Fluvicola, Thamnophilus, MyiotJiera, Tiuactor, Furnarius, Cinclodes, Chamaeza, GonopopJiaga, Synallaxis, Xenops, Anabates, Dendro- colaptes, and others. ■^ Zoologie. II. Band. Heidelberg, 1810, p. 669. 2 Syst. d. vergl. Anat. VI. Halle, 1833, p. 488. 2 Froriep's Notizen. XVI. Band. 1826, N. 331. * Meckels Deutsches Archiv f. d. Physiologie, VI. 234. ° Obs. de avium arteria carotide communi. Hake, 1829. 4. * Naturgeschichte der Vogel Deutsohlands. Leipz. 1822. ' System der Pterylographie. Halle, 1840. 4. and other Passerines, founded on their Vocal Muscles. 3 These osteological differences are no more important in the Passerines than in the Gmllinaceae. As in the latter there are genera with one notch, as Crypiurus and Hemipodius ; and with two ; so are there among the Passerines species with one notch, and others with two {Pteroptoehus, Scytalopws, Colius, Coracias, Uurystomus, Merops, Prionites, Alcedo) ; and while this notch may become a foramen, as in Ampelis, the sternum in some eases becomes quite solid, as in Trochilus and Cypselus. In this same natural family, as in the family of Tracheophoni, discovered by me, there are genera with one notch in the sternum, as Thamnophilm, Myiothera, Tinactor, Furnarms, Cinclodes, Ghamaeza, Conopophaga:, Synallaxis, Xenops, Anahates, Dendrocolaptes ; while there are, on the other hand, closely related genera with twOj as Pteroptoehus and Scytalopus. It is just the same in the genus Todm L. ; Todirostrum Less., and Orehilus Cab. {Todms megacephalus Sw.), . have only one notch, while the true Todus [T. viridis L.) has two notches in the sternum. Nitzsch considered that the genera Trochilus, Cypselus, Caprimulgus, Coracias, TJpupa, Merops, and Alcedo did not conform to the Passerine type ; and he separated Cypselus from Hirundo, which latter possesses the muscular organ of voice, into quite different orders of birds. In his paper on the Carotids he errs slightly, through considering only the genera which should be separated from the Singing Birds, and not those which should be left with them. Among the false Passerines out of Trochilus, Cypselus, and Hemiprocne he formed his Faniily Macrochires ; out of the genera Upupa, Buceros, Epimachus (?) and Alcedo, his Lipoglossae ; out of Caprimulgus, Nyctornis, Podargus, Coracias, and Merops, together with some of the Scansores — Galhula, Cuculus, PAoenicophaeus, Coccygius, Centropus, Crotophaga, Scythfops, Leptosomatus, Indicator, Trogon — his family Cuculinae. Then follow the Psittacidae, and finally the Amphibolae : Musophaga, Colius, and Opistko- comus. In the System of Pterylography Nitzsch carried his classification further by the aid of the not very useful 'feather-tracts;' he was obliged to assign a position to all the birds which he took for Singing Birds, but as he based his arrangement of the genera of which he did not know the larynges, on other grounds, he must have erred through the untenableness of his assumptions. His division of Singing Birds contains a large number of genera which possess no singing muscles ; his division of Picariae consists of the Macrochires, Capriinulginae, Todidae, Cuculinae, Picinae, Psittacinae, Lipoglossae, and Amphibolae. The very useful anatomical work of Nitzsch gave, as was natural, great weight to his systematic views, and consequently they have been recognised, and accepted, by eminent zoologists in Germany. A. Wagner, Burmeister, Count Keyserling, and Blasius B a 4 Distinction between Singing Birds and other Passerines. have followed them ; and although Wagler in his Classification of Birds has made but little use of Nitzsch's work^ he has called Nitzsch the Master of Ornithologists, so far has his authority extended. Later on, Blyth^ put forward views similar to those of Nitzsch, as to the necessity of separating the Singing Birds from the false Passerines. As the internal differences between Singing Birds and the Picariae were regarded as thoroughly established, several ornithologists directed their energies to discovering the external differences between these divisions. Keyserling and Blasius^ fancied that they could recognise a striking difference in the covering of the feet of the Singing Birds and Picariae ; and indeed, within certain limits, this peculiarity does enable us to form conclusions as to internal structure. The exceptions, which Burmeister ^ pointed out, may for the greater part be disregarded, as the genera which appear to form the exceptions were^ for the most part, wrongly classified by Nitzsch. But the birds whose larynges I have examined offer some very striking and inexplicable exceptions to the law discovered by Keyserling and Blasius, and in these cases as to the structure of the larynx, a wrong conclusion would be arrived at from the characters of the foot. I shall return to this subject in the systematic portion of this treatise. Sundevall has lately discovered a difference in the arrangement of the wing feathers, and has made use of it in the separation of Singing Birds and Picariae {Coccyges Sund.) ; this difference may have its value, as a characteristic of families and genera, but can possess no greater. The separation of Singing Birds and Picariae, according to an internal difference described by Nitzsch, is untenable for a large number of genera, after my re- searches into the organ of voice and other parts. The vocal organ in the Passerine birds is by no means so exactly constructed upon two principal types, for there are no doubt a greater number of peculiar forms, the most important variations of which are as yet unknown; and it will be only after a complete knowledge of these that the que'fetion of the classification of the Passerines can be again taken up with success. Later classifications of birds are no better than those of Nitzsch. Vieillot, Cuvier, Temminck, Vigors, Swainson, Wagler, Boie, and Gray have done excellent work in increasing our knowledge of the genera of birds, but their classifications are not based upon scientific principles; they bring birds together into a family according only to their own opinions, so that we can scarcely wonder at their families being of no more value than irrational groups without characters, nor that these groups vary with different authors. The works 1 Mag. Nat. Hist. Vol. II. ^ Wiegmann's Archiv, 1839, I. 332. K. and B. die Wirbelthiere Europa's, 1840. ^ Wiegmann's Archiv, 1840, I. 220. Cf. K. and B. ibid. p. 362. Review of the Genera whose Larynx has been already examined. 5 of Nitzsch and his followers start at least from earnest inquiries into the structure of birds; he was for a long time the only man who struggled for the goal, but he did not find it. II. Review of the Genera the Larynges op which have been ALREADY EXAMINED. The investigations of Cuvier were altogether limited to the European Passerines ; of those without the muscular organ of voice he only examined Alcedo, Gaprimulgus, Cypselus, Coracias, and Vpupa. Nitzsch observed the complex muscular organ of voice in the European genera Lanius, Turdus, Sturnus, Muscicapa, Corifus, Homhycilla, Oriolus, Frin- gilla, Tyrrhula, Umberiza, Saxieola, Accentor, Begulus, Troglodytes, Anthus, Motacilla, Tarus, Ginclus, Hinndo, Alauda, Certhia, and Sitta. His investigations on European Passerines without the complex organ of voice were made on Alcedo, ' Caprimulgus, Cypselus, Coracias, JJpupa, and Merops. In his investigations on the carotids he only made use of the non-European genera Nectarinia, Crateropus {Sphenwra acaciae Licht.), Caereia, and Icterus, which possess vocal muscles, and Trochilus, which is without them. What Nitzsch did for European birds, Audubon did for those of North America in the fifth volume of his 'Ornithological Biography/ Edin. 1839. Fully impressed with the importance of this investigation, and convinced of the uselessness of the work of those who founded their classification on the skins of birds ('Dry-skin Philosophers^'), he examined the larynx and digestive organs of a large number of North American birds, among which were many Passerines. He found the muscular organ of voice, with four muscles, in the genera Lanius, Fireo, Turdus, Sturnus, Icterus, Fringilla, Tanagra, Farus, Sylvia, Hirundo, and Alauda. The Thrushes examined by him belong to the genera Seiurus, Mimus, and Icteria ; the Starlings to Quiscalus, Sturnella, Scolecophagus ; the Icteridae to the genera Icterus, Tphantes, Agelaius, Molothrus ; the Fringillidae to the genera Chrysomitris, Corythus, Spizella, Ammodramus, Passerella, Spiza, Frythrospiza, Loxia, Coturni- cuhis ; the Sylvidae to the genera Myiodioctes, Sialia, Trichas, Syl/eieola, Vermivora, Megulus, Thryothorws, Troglodytes, and AntTius. Of the Passerines without the muscular organ of voice the American Muscicapidae were first made known by him. The genera forming his Muscicapidae are Tyrannus Sw. (M. tyrannus), Tyrannula Sw. {M. crinita), and Setophaga Sw. {M. ruticilla). ' Loc. cit. V. 547. 6 Review of the Genera whose Larynx has been already examined. The numerical relation of the so-called false Passerines to the Singing Birds appears from his investigations to be pretty much . the same in North America as in Europe and the Old World. Alcedo, Cypselws, and Caprimulgus ^ belong to both worlds ; instead of TJpupa, Merops, Coracias, and Hwrystomus, there appear in the New World Trochilus, Tyrannus, Tyrannula, and Setophaga ; the great majority of Passerines, both in the Old World and in North America, belong to the true Singing Birds. Prince Max von Neuwied, Eyton, v. Tschudi, and myself have described several of the South American Passerines with reference to their organs of voice. Prince Max gave a figure ^ of the external appearance of the lower larynx of Chasmo- rhynchns nudicollis, from which it can be seen that the organ of this bird is very muscular, but it leaves it doubtful whether the organ belongs to the so-called muscular organ of voice. Blyth finds the muscular organ of voice in the Cotingidae and Manakins^; he says that he has opened several broad-billed Tyraniiidae and that they all possess the characters of Singing Birds*; and that Phytotoma is in all structural peculiarities a Singing Bird^. But it is certain that neither the Cotingidae, Manakins, or Tyrannidae possess the muscular organ of voice ; all the genera of these birds which I have examined wanting it. Eyton makes in the Appendix to Darwin's Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle, part iiij Birds, London 1841-4, some anatomical remarks on Serpophaga alhocoronata, Furnarius cunicularius, TJpucerthia dumetoria, OpetiorhyncJms vulgaris, 0. antarcticus, 0. patagonicus, Pteroptockos Tamil, P. albicollis, Synallaxis maluroides, Phytotoma rara, and Trochiluf! gigas. A. Wagner expresses in his Jahresbericht ^ his regret that Eyton had only directed his attention to the Sterno-tracheal muscles, and not to the proper muscles of the lower larynx also; and really, his information on the organ of voice of genera, then examined for the first time, is very meagre and unsatisfactory. It is said of Serpophaga that the trachea is supplied with the same muscles as in Songsters. Of Phytotoma he says, Trachea with one pair of Sterno-tracheal muscles ; and further on we learn nothing more than that the skeleton as well as the soft parts resemble those of the genus Loxia. Eydoux and Souleyef have quite overlooked the larynx in their ^ The North-American forms of Cypselus (Acanihylis Boie), Caprimulgus (Antrostomus Gould), and Chordeiles (Sw.) were examined by Audubon. ^ Beitrage zur Naturgesohichte von Brasilien, B. III. fig. i. " Mag. Nat. Hist. Vol. II. p. 264. * Ibid. p. 360. ° Ibid. p. 600. * Erichson's Archiv, 1841, II. p. 64. ' Voyage autour du monde sur la corvette la Bonite. Paris. Zoologie, T. I. p. 92. Review of the Genera whose Larynx has been already examined. 7 anatomical notes on JPhytotoma. Since Vhytotoma belongs to the Ampelidae, according to the structui-e of the foot, it may be said beforehand with great probability, that the larynx does not resemble that of Loxia. Phytotoma is in all probability not a Singing Bird. Of Tlpucerthia dumetoria Eyton says : the trachea with one pair of sterno-tracheal muscles. From the upper ring of each bronchus, a process goes to the place where the muscles arise. Only as far as this do the rings of the trachea reach, and beyond it are two spaces, devoid of osseous matter, and bounded laterally by the processes above- mentioned, inferiorly by the upper rings of the bronchi, and superiorly by the lower ring of the trachea, which is slightly enlarged. As well as the fine vibrating anterior and posterior half-rings, in this portion of the trachea there are the elastic bands, which fasten these half-rings, and pass under the two true laryngeal muscles of either side ; moreover, it is incorrect to say that the membranous portion of the trachea is connected with the processes of the bronchi. In Furnarius cunicularius the trachea is as in Opetiorhynchus (Cinclodes) vulgaris, and 0. {Cincloies) antarcticus. In 0. [Qinclodes) pata- gonicus, the trachea does not differ from the usual simple form found in most other birds, the inferior rings reaching as far as the bronchi, which arrangement is different from that found in 0. vulgaris and 0. antarcticus; the trachea has one pair of muscles. In Synallaxis maluroides the trachea is the same as in Furnarius and Upzicert/iia. In Fteroptochus tarnii the trachea is provided with a pair of sterno-tracheal muscles, a portion of which is prolonged to the upper bronchial rings. Since Scytalopus, which is closely allied to Pterojptochus, has no tracheal larynx, according to my observations, it may be fairly presumed that the information about Pteroptochus also is not sufficient. Eyton has given us more exact information about some birds from New Holland. The vocal organ of the Guacharo, Steatornis caripensis, has been described and figured by myself^. It is without the complex vocal muscles, and possesses a peculiarity, of which till now no example has been known among birds. At the lower end of the trachea there is no lower larynx, the bronchi have the same structure as the trachea, that is perfect rings, the left bronchus has sixteen, the right eleven, perfect rings reaching as far as the organ of voice, which is a bronchial larynx, and is thus double. The ring that follows on these bronchial rings is thicker, and not perfect, after which there is a thicker half-ring with the under edge concave, on which the vocal muscle works. The outer wall between it and the next half-ring, which has its upper edge convex, is ^ Bericht der Akad. d. Wissenschaft z. Berlin 1841, p. 172 ; Miill. Archiv, 1842, p. i. 8 Review of the Genera whose Larynx has been already examined. membranous, and forms the outer membrane of the tympanum^ between the concavities of these two rings ; further on are half-rings. The simple vocal muscle arises from the end of the trachea, where the lateral muscle of the trachea stops. The sterno- tracheal muscles are of the usual form. In the same paper is a notice of the larynx of Opisthocomus orisiaius, which has no muscles^. V. Tschudi has described the trachea and organ of voice of Cephalopterus ornatus 2. He points out that the trachea widens into a flattened tympanum 14'" long, and 7'" broad, shortly beyond the upper larynx. Before the widening it has a diameter of 3"', after it of a"'. The vocal muscle is simple, arises from the end of the trachea, and is inserted into the fourth half-ring of the bronchi. Of the forms of Passerines peculiar to Africa, I have described the organ of voice in Colkis and Gorythaix ^ Colms has a simple thick vocal muscle : CorytJiaix has no laryngeal muscle. Of the forms peculiar to the East Indies, and the Sunda Islands, we still know very little. Stannius* has described the larynx of Podargus ; it has one simple muscle, as in the allied Caprimulgus. Of the Australian Singing Birds Eyton has only examined a few species, namely Menura h/ra, Cracticus tibicen, and Fsophocles crepitans^. Memtra is peculiar. Besides the usual sternotracheal muscles it has two pairs of laryngeal muscles, the anterior inserted into the end of the fourth bronchial ring ; the posterior into the three upper rings, and the posterior ends of the fifth. The muscles are very strong. The author remarks, that Menura agrees in the structure of its soft parts with the Insessores, and especially with Grallina in the complex muscular arrangement of the lower larynx ; but the larynx of Grallina is not known, and it would have been well if the author had described its muscles. PsopJiodes crepitans V. H. has five pairs of muscles, as have the Rooks and Warblers ; Cracticus tiiicen resembles the Corvidae in its vocal muscles. The suppo- sition that the anatomy of the South American genus TJiamnophilus, which Eyton has not examined, agrees with Psophodes, is not correct. Lesson and Garnot have examined two of the rare birds of New Guinea, Phony gama ^ Bericht der Akad. d. Wissenschaft z. Berlin, 1841, p. 177 ; Miill. Archiv, 1842, p. 10. ^ Archiv f. Anat. u. Physiol. 1843, p. 473. ' Bericht der Akad. d. Wissenschaft z. Berlin, 1841, p. 179 ; Miill. Archiv, 1842, p. 11. * Lehrb. d.Vergl. Anat. II. 2, Berlin, 1846, p. 321. ° Annals of Nat. Hist. Vol. Ill, 1841, p. 49, VIII. p. 46. New Investigations into the Distribution of the Vocal Muscles. keraudrenii Less^ and Paradisea apoda^. Of the former they have only mentioned the windings of the trachea beneath the skin of the abdomen, and thorax, but have forgotten the larynxj and their description of the trachea with its muscles is unintelligible. III> New Investigations into the Arrangement of the Vocal Muscles,, in the Old and New World forms. Having been for a very long time convinced that there still remained much to be done in the classification of birds by the aid of Anatomy, and that Cuvier had left this portion of his Regne Animal quite unfinished, I have for many years striven to collect . a large number of birds, in spirit, for this purpose. I have lately also studied the Passerines in the Anatomical Museum. The first object that I placed before myself, was to learn the arrangement of the vocal muscles. And thus, at the same time, new facts presented themselves, which led further than this aim of mine. As regards the Passerines of the Old World the views put forward by Nitzsch have not been changed in any essential particulars : I have met, among them, with no 6ther forms of larynx than . the muscular organ of voice, and the larynx of the so-called Picariae with only one muscle. I have examined seventy-two genera of the Singing Birds of the Old World with the muscular organ of voice. The number of Passerines of the Old World without the muscular organ of voice is, on the contrary, very small; namely, Oypselus, Cajarimulgus, Podargus, Coraeias, Burystomus, Eurylaimus, Golius, Alcedo, Merops, Upupa, and Bueeros, to which probably Calyptomena should be also added, although this genus has not yet been examined. As regards the New World, and especially South America, my views about the Singing Birds and Picariae have been completely changed. I have examined over one hundred genera of Passerines from America. The larynx, without the muscular organ of voice, of the kind peculiar to the Picariae, is found among very many of the American genera of Singing Birds. Almost the half of all the genera of American Passerines examined — without counting the Scansores — are not Singing Birds with the muscular organ of voice, according to my observations. The majority of them have only the simple Picarian larynx ; but there are among them peculiar and more complex larynges with one, or more than one muscle, which are very different from the so-called muscular organ of voice, and formed on quite another principle. Finally the most complex musculature, so far as the number of muscles is concerned, is that ' Voyage autour du monde sur la corvette la Coquille par Duperrey. Zoologie. Paris, i826,,p. 636. ^ lb. p. 596. C lo New Investigations into the Distribution of the Vocal Muscles. found in the so-called muscular organ of voice ; but there is a far more muscular form, of voice-organ which produces tones in the highest degree harmonious and capable of modulation^ and yet is totally unlike in structure the so-called muscular organ of voice. Most of the so-called Ampelidae of the Picarian type (Nitzsch) have only one muscle, and are not Singing Birds. Gymnooephalms [G. calvus), Antpelis or Cotinga [A. pompadora), Bupioola (5. cabana), and PMtalura resemble Gephalopterus. All these birds have only one, very slender^ laryngeal muscle, which looks like a prolongation of the lateral muscle of the trachea. The hitherto complex and varied family of the Ampelidae contains moreover birds with the muscular organ of voice — viz. Bomlycilla ; and further contains the most extreme form of larynx known in birds, although constructed on a different model; viz. Chasmarhynchus. The genus Zanius Cuv., which belongs to the family, contains Singing Birds, and Picariae, mixed up with one another. The European, African, and American Zani, and the Australian Barita, or more correctly Gymnorhina Gray (G. tiUcen), are birds with vocal muscles. The genera Psaris, PackyrAampAus, and TAamnopMlus have no muscular organ of voice. Of the true Shrikes with vocal muscles^ America possesses only Zanius, Vireo, and Cyclorhis Sw., of which the first two come from North America. Cyelorhis is the sole representative of this family in South America. Thamnophilus Vieill., of which Cuvier knew so little, that he placed it with the true Zanii, has only one laryngeal muscle, but a perfectly peculiar larynx in the trachea itself, which brings it closer to several American Passerines, which have been placed with the Ply-catchers, Thrushes, Wrens, and Tree-creepers. The sub-family TAamnophilini should not be placed with these, since Malaconotus Sw. completely agrees, in its muscular organ of voice with the true Zanii. This genus Malaconotus is exceedingly ill defined, as are so many that have been made without a knowledge of their anatomy. Indeed the single muscle, and the peculiar larynx of Thamnophilus are found again in Myiothera, Conopophaga, and Chamaeza, which have been placed with the Thrushes, or the Ant-catchers, of the Old World. Fumarius, Cinclodes, Synallaxis, Xenops, Anabates, Tinactor, and Bendrocolaptes, which have been partly placed with the Thrushes and partly with the Tree-creepers, have two laryngeal muscles on either side, while the peculiar larynx situated in their trachea, unites them closely to Thamnophilus, Myiothera, Conopophaga, Chamaeza, and Scytalopus. The genus Muscicapa Cuv. presents great differences from the arrangement found New Investigations into the Distribution of the Vocal Muscles. 1 1 in Lanius Cuv., and Certhia Cuv. The Muscicajoidae of the. Old World, Muscieapa in the narrowest sense, both the European, Asiatic, and African forms, as well as the African Muscipeta Sw., and Plai^stera Jard. Selb. possess the complex muscular organ of voice of Singing Birds. The American Muscicapidae, or Tyrannidae, have no muscular organ of voice, but only one muscle, which may be thick, as in Tyrcmnua, Saurophagm, Tyrannula, and Maenia, or very thin as in Myiobitts, Arundinicola, Pyrocephalus, Todirostrum, and others. The genus Culicivora Sw. [Sylvia bivittata Mus. Berol.), which is provided with a muscular organ of voice, would make an exception, and would be the sole representative of the Muscieapa of the Old World, in North America, and America generally, if this genus, belongs to the Muscicajiinae, with which Gray places it. But Culicivora appears to have been more correctly placed by Swainson with the Sylvianae in consequence of the presence of this organ. The Fluvicolinae have only a single vocal muscle. The Piprinae also have not the complex muscular organ of voice, but a single vocal muscle, sometimes thicker, sometimes thinner. The following is a list of all the genera of American Passerines without the complex muscular organ of voice, which I have examined. Ghasmarhynclms Temm. Cotinga Briss. Gymnocejphalus Geoffr. Rupicola Briss. Phibalmra Vieill. Pipra L. Jodoiplewra Less. Calyptura Sw. Psaris Cuv. Pachyrhamphus Gray. Tyrannus Cuv. Sawrojohagus Sw. Machetomis Gray. Tyrannula Sw. Platyrhynchus Desm. Maenia Sund. Myiobius Gray. Arundinicola Cab. Pyrocephalm Gould. Fluvicola Sw. Centrites Cab. {Alauda rvfa aut.) Colopterus Cab., n.g. Orchilus Cab. (Todus megacephalus Sw.) Todirostrum Less. Todus L. Thamnophilus Vieill. Myiothera 111. Conopophaga Vieill. Chamaeza Vig. Tinactor Pr. Max. Furnarius Vieill. dnclodes Gray. Synallaxis Vieill. Xenojps Hofim. Anabates Temm. Bendrocolaptes Herm. ca 12 New Investigations into the Distribution of the Vocal Muscles. Scytalopus Gould. Ci/pselus 111. Phaetornis S\v. Caprimulgus L. Orthorhynchus Cuv. Steatornis Humb. Ornismyia Less. Alcedo L. Lampornis Sw. ' Prionites 111. Campylopterus Sw. Opisthocomus Hoffm. If the genera Setophaga Sw., Cephalopterus GeoflFr., and Pteroptochws Kittl., be classed with the above, there are as many as fifty genera of the Passerine order already known as wanting the muscular vocal larynx, of which the greater number are South American. I am acquainted with sixty-four American genera, which conform to the type of the European Singing Birds ; namely, Lanius, Fringilla, Tanagra, Syhna, Hirundo, Cassieus, Turdus, Quiscalus, Sturnella, Caereba, Bacnis, Troglodytes, and their subgenera. If we reckon the American Scansores as Picariae, in Nitzseh's sense, in addition to the already mentioned fifty genera, the number of Picariae in the New World will amount to more than half of all the Insessores of this hemisphere, that have been observed. And this explains the well-known fact that the forests of tropical America resound much more with cHes than songs. In the Old World, that is in Europe, Asia, and Africa, there are to my knowledge seventy-two genera of Passerines with a vocal larynx^ but there are only nine Picariae — without reckoning Scansores — namely : Upupa L. Cypselus 111. Alcedo L. Caprimulgus L. Coracias L. Podargus Cuv. JEurystomus Vieill. Colius Briss. Phirylaimus Horsf. There have been only five genera altogether of Passerines from Australia and Polynesia, that have been examined. PsopJiodes and Gymnorhina, examined by Eyton, and the latter dissected by myself also, together with the species of Brepanis from the Sandwich Islands, which I have examined, appear to be true Singing Birds, while Eyton thinks that Maenura and Grallina also belong to the group. From my examina- tion of the East Indian genus Phyllornis, I have no doubt that the Australian Meliphagidae are also true Singing Birds. The number of birds dissected by me, for my first communication (1845) amounted to some hundreds of species of Passerines, which belonged to about one hundred genera or subgenera. The American forms were obtained in their travels by V, Olfers, Sello, New Investigations into the Distribution of the Vocal Muscles. 1 3 Deppe, Richard Schomburgk, and v. Winterfeld, the African by Krebs and Peters ; many were obtained by purchase, and have been for a long time collected for this purpose ; for perfect and undissected animals, preserved in spirit, are of much more value for the progress of science than anatomical preparations of separate parts. I was enabled from this material to investigate the typical difiPerences in the structure of the larynx of the Passerines, and to settle the matter, of which I gave a full account in the Monatsbericht of the Academy in June, 1845; but it was not sufficient for me to be able to draw from them all those conclusions on the subject of the Classification of Birds, which could be gained from these anatomical facts. Since that time the number of birds which I have examined has greatly increased. Of several collections, th^ materials with which my friend Professor Eschricht most kindly supplied me were exceedingly useful in increasing my knowledge as to the distribution of the observed forms of the larynx in America, and in aiding me to draw conclusions as to their classification. I gave an account of my work to the Academy, in an Appendix to my earlier paper. (See the Monatsbericht of the Academy for May, 1846.) I have lately received a great addition to my material from the collection of Indian Birds in spirit, made by Dr. Philippi in Tenasserim. I must also thank Herren Stannius of Rostock and Focke of Bremen for their assistance. It was necessary for the object of the work that the systematic position of the animals to be dissected, not only as regards their species, but also subgenera and synonymy, should be perfectly certain. The author has not dared to rely on his own ornithological knowledge and studies, but an experienced ornithologist of the department, Herr Cabanis, Assistant in the Zoological Museum, from whom we may expect the description of the new birds obtained by Richard Schomburgk in his travels, has compared the spirit specimens with the dried birds in the Zoological Collection, and has named them. Table of the Genera and, Species examined, possessing a Muscular Organ of Voice. (The Species examined by the Author are marked with an asterisk.) Gbnus. Subgenus. Species. Lanius L, Enneoctonus Bole L. collurio L.* Cfr. Nitzsch in Naumann,_II. 3. Lanius L. L. ludovicianus L. Audub. V. 435. L. septentrionalis Gm. Audub. V. 434. Laniarius "Vieill. L. eubla Lath.* (Genus Dryoscopus Boie.) L. barbarus L* (Genus Malaconotus Sw.) L. bulbul Sh.* (Genus Malaconotus Sw.) Tehphonus Sw. L. bakbakiri Sh.* L. coUaris L.* Vireo Vieill. V. flavifrons V. Audub. V. 428. 14 New Investigations into the Distribution of the Vocal Mttscles. Genus. Subgenus. Species. Lanius L. Vireo Vieill. F. ^i?t)i« Bonap. Ebend. V. 431. Cyclorhis Sw. C. guianensis Sw.* Barita Cuv. Gymnorhina Gray Banto ^iJicen Cuv.* (Eyton. Mag. Nat. Hist. VIII. 47-) Pardalotus Vieill. Prionoohiltts Strickl. P. sp. ? Tenessarim.* Dicrurus Vieill. Dicrurus V. D. m««icMs v.* (Miiicicopa emarginata Licht. Doubl. Verz. 544-) Edolius griseus Temm.* .B. longus Temm.* Campephaga V. Campephaga \. Muscicapa labrosa, Sw.* Turdus L. Merula Boie T. merula Nitzsch. TViriui L. T. viscivorus, musicus, pilaris, torquatus, Nitzsch. T. carbonarius, Licht.* (Jlavipes Spix.) T. rufiventris Spix.* T. migratorius L. Audub. V. 442. T. minor Gm. Ebeud. 445. T. mustelinus Gm. Ebend. 446. T. Wilsonii Bonap. Ebend. 446. Petrocbssyphus Boie T. cyanus L.* T. manilensis L. Gm.* Seiurus Sw. T. aquaticv,s Wils. in Audub. V. 284. T. auricapillus Lath. Ebend. 447. Crateropus Sw. Sphenura acaciae Licht.* Doubl. Verz. 454. Mimus Boie T. polyglottus L. Audub. V. 438. T. /eZicoiK Vieill. Ebend. V. 440. T. ™/m« L. Ebend. 441. T. rubripes Temm.* /aios Temm. T. capensis L.* T. atriceps Temm.* T. xantJiopygus Mus. Berol.* Lanius jocosus L. Gm.* Sturnus L. Sturnus L. S. vulgaris L. Nitzsch in Naumann II. 186. QmsscoZms Vieill. Q. spec. Guian.* Q. versicolor V. in Audub. V. 481. Q. major V. Ebend. 480. Sturnella Vieill. Sturnus ludovicianus L. in Audub. V. 492. Scolecophagus Sw. Quiscalus ferrugineus Bonap. Audub. V. 483. Dilophus Vieill. Gracula earunculata Gm.* Sturnus capensis L.* Pastor caniceps Hodgs.* Gracula sturnina Gm.* Euldbes Cuv. E. religiosa C* Lamprotornis T. Turdus morio L.* T. auratus L. Gm.* Muscicapa L. Muscicapa Sw. M. atricapilla L.* ilf. grisola L.* Cf. Nitzsch in Naumann. II. 216. M. atroniteus Mus. Berol.* Mozamb. New Investigations into the Distribution of the Vocal Muscles. 15 Genus. Subgenus. Species. Muscicapa L. Muscicapa Sw. ilf. pondiceriana L. Gm.* Muscipeta Sw. M. paradisi L.* Platystera Jard. Selb. ikf. succincta Mus. Berol.* Corvus L. Corvus Cuv. C. eoraa; L.* Cf. Nitzsch in Naumann. II. 41. C. americoraus L. Audub. V. 477. Pica Cuv. C. pica L.* Gar™i«s Cuv. G. Glandarius C* Cyanocorax Boie Corvus cristatus L. Audub. V. 475. Pemoreus Bonap, C. canadensis L. Audub. V. 210. Bombycilla Briss. Bombycilla Br. 1 B. garrula Br.* Nitzsch in Naumann. II. 141. B. carolinensis Br. Audub. V. 494. Oriolus L. Oriolus L. 0. gaibula L.* Nitzsch in Naumann. II. 170. 0. larvatus Licht.* Doubl. Verz. 192. Cassicus Cuv. Cassicvs C. C. persicus C* C. cristatus C* Yphantes Vieill. Icterus Baltimore Audub. V. 278. Icterus C. J. vulgaris Da'ud.* I. s^uWits Bonap. Audub. 485. J. xanthornus Daud.* Xanthornus C. A', cayennensis C* Chrysomus Sw. C. icterocephalus Sw.* Agelaius Vieill. Icterus phoeniceus Daud. in. Audub. V. 487. Molothrus Sw. J. pecoris Bonap. in Audub. V. 233. Dolichonyx Sw. D. oryzivorus Sw.* Fringilla L. Carduelis Briss. F. carduelis L. Nitzsch IV. 432. Estrelda Sw. F. bengalus L. Gm.* Cannabina Brehm F. cannabina L. Nitzsch IV. 432. ^madina Sw. Loxia atricapilla Vieill.* Amadina spec. Mozamb.* F. leuconota Temm.* Chrysomitris Boie F. spinus L. Nitzsch IV. 432. F. pinus Wils. in Audub. V. 509. rea;