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Aasvogel
(Carrion-bird), the name given to some of the larger Vultures by the Dutch
colonists in South Africa, and generally adopted by English residents (Layard,
B.
S. Africa, pages. 5,6).
Abadavine or Aberduvine
Etymology and spelling doubtful. A name applied in 1735 by Albin
(Suppl.
Nat. Hist. B. p. 71) to the Siskin, but perhaps hardly ever in use,
though often quoted as if it were.
Acanthiza
The scientific name given in 1826 by Vigors and Horsfield to a genus
of birds commonly ranked with the Sylviidae (Warbler), and used
as English since Gould's time for the eight or more species which inhabit
Australia.
Accentor
Bechstein's name for a genus of Sylviidae (including the Hedge-Sparrow
and its allies) which some British authors have tried with small success
to add to the English language.
Accipitres
The name given by Linnaeus to his first Order of the Class
Aves,
consisting of what are commonly known as Birds-of-Prey, namely, the Vultures, the
Eagles and Hawks, and the Owls.
Acorn-Duck
A name given in some parts of North America to the Carolina or Wood-Duck,
Aex
sponsa.
Acromyodi
Garrod's name (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1876, p. 507) for a group of birds
practically the same as the Oscines, Polymyodi or true Passeres of various
authors, "an acromyodian bird, being one in which the muscles of the Syrinx
are attached to the extremities of the bronchial semi-rings." The Acromyodi
are
further divided into two groups, one (abnormales or Pseudoscines)
consisting
of, so far as is known, only the genera Atrichia (Scrub-Bird) and
Menura (Lyre-Bird), the other (normales) containing all the rest of the
Oscines.
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Adjutant
Aegithognathae
The fourth and last Suborder of Carinatae, according to Prof. Huxley's
arrangement (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1867, pages 450-456, 467-472), founded
chiefly on palatal characters, containing two groups, the Cypselomorpae
and Coracomorphae, and possibly a third, the Celeomorphae (or Gecinomorphae).
In the true aegithognathous structure the vomer is broad, abruptly
truncated in front and deeply cleft behind, so as to embrace the rostrum
of the sphenoid; the palatals have produced postero-external angles, the
maxillo-palatals are slender at their origin, and extend obliquely inwards
and backwards over the palatals, ending beneath the vomer in expanded extremities,
not united either with one another or with the vomer, nor is the last united
with the ossification of the anterior part of the nasal septum - a not
uncommon condition. As a whole the Aegithognathae
correspond pretty
well with the Insessores of Vigors.
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Aetomorphae
Professor Huxley's name (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1867, pages 462-465) for
that group of his Suborder Desmognathae, which includes the Birds-of-Prey,
commonly so called, and therefore practically equivalent to the Accipitres
of Linnaeus and the Raptores of many authors. Prof. Huxley makes four divisions
of the Aetomorphic birds, namely, Strigidae (Owls),
Cathartidae
(Vultures
of the New World), Gypaetidae (Vultures of the Old World, Eagles
and Hawks), and Gypogeranidae (formed by the Secretary-Bird alone).
Aftershaft
The aftershaft or hyporhachis is the generally small counter-part of a
typical feather which springs from the inner surface of the quill common
to both. The aftershaft is of the same size as the shaft in the Cassowary,
Emu, and in the Moa: it is well developed, but forms an unimportant part
of the whole feather in Parrots, most Birds-of-Prey, Herons, Gulls: it
is very small and feeble in most Passeres, Grallae, and many
Gallinae;
and
absent or extremely small in the Ostrich, Rhea, Kiwi, Pigeons, Owls,
Woodpeckers,
Steganopodes, Anseres, and others. As a rule, the aftershaft
is best developed in downs, and in the smaller contour-feathers, while
it is wanting or minute in the remiges and rectrices. While the absence
of an aftershaft is certainly due to its subsequent reduction or loss,
it is probable that its great size in the Emu is not a primitive but a
secondary acquired feature, because the feathers of the first or nestling
plumage of this bird consist of two very unequal halves (see also Feathers).
Air-Sacs (or sacs)
Albatross
Albino (colloquial
noun albinism)
A case of Heterochrosis, produced by the partial or total absence of the
normaIly-present black pigment in the feathers and other parts, In complete
albinos the pupil and iris are red, owing to the blood-vessels shining
through these otherwise strongly pigmented parts. A lesion of the pulp
of a growing feather not unfrequently prevents the deposition of pigment
therein, but the pulp recovers as a rule after one or more moults (see
Colour).
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