[3] L.K. Schmarda, Die geographische Verbreitung der Thiere (Wien, 1853).
[4] P.L. Sclater on the general geographical distribution of the members of the class “Aves,” 2. Linn. Soc. ii. pp. 130-145, 1858.
[5] A.R. Wallace, The Geographical Distribution of Animals, with a study of the Relations of Living and Extinct Faunas as elucidating the Past Changes of the Earth’s Surface, 2 vols. (London, 1876).
[6] T.H. Huxley, “On the Classification and Distribution of the Alectoromorphae,” P.Z.S., 1868, pp. 313-319.
[7] The following old-fashioned rough computation may serve as an indication of the relative size of the orders and suborders of recent birds:—
| Ratitae | 20 | Gruiformes | 250 | |
| Colymbiformes | 20 | Charadriiformes | 650 | (incl. Columbae 350) |
| Sphenisciformes | 15 | Cuculiformes | 600 | (incl. Psittaci 400) |
| Procellariiformes | 90 | Coraciiformes | 1600 | (incl. Trochili and Pici) |
| Ciconiiformes | 150 | Passeres Clamatores | 1000 | |
| Anseriformes | 150 | Passeres Oscines | 5000 | |
| Falconiformes | 360 | ——— | ||
| Tinamiformes | 40 | Total about | 10,300 | species |
| Galliformes | 370 |
BIRD-LOUSE, any small flat degenerate wingless neuropterous insect of the group Mallophaga, parasitic upon birds and mammals and feeding upon dermal excretions or upon the softer parts of hair and feathers. The term “biting-lice” is sometimes given to these parasites, in allusion to the mandibulate character of their mouth-parts, which serves to distinguish them at once from the true lice of the order Rhynchota in which the jaws are haustellate.
BIRD’S-EYE, a name applied to various small bright flowers, especially those which have a small spot or “eye” in the centre. The primula is thus spoken of, on account of its yellow centre, also the adonis, or “pheasant’s eye,” and the blue veronica, or germander speedwell. The word is also applied to a sort of tobacco, in which the stalks (of a mottled colour) are cut up together with the leaves. From a similar sense comes the phrase “bird’s-eye maple,” a speckled variety of maple-wood, or the “bird’s-eye handkerchief” mentioned in Thackeray’s novels.