leg-musculature, and | | in comparative serology | | of saline-soluble | | proteins. | | FAMILY THRAUPIDAE | | Subf. Richmondeninae |Subf. Richmondeninae | Subfamily | | Pyrrhuloxiinae | | Subfamily Thraupinae |Subfamily Thraupinae | Subfamily Thraupinae | | Subfamily Emberizinae |Subfamily Fringillinae| [In Parulidae above] |(including Emberizinae| [Subfamily Fringillinae]| and Geospizinae) | Subfamily Carduelinae | | [Subfamily Geospizinae] | | ------------------------+----------------------+----------------------- SUMMARY It has long been recognized that the Family Fringillidae includes some dissimilar groups. Specifically, the relationships of the subfamilies Richmondeninae, Emberizinae, and Carduelinae of the Family Fringillidae are poorly understood. Data from two recent studies, one on patterns of jaw-musculature and the other on features of the bony palate, emphasize the dissimilarity of these subfamilies but have given rise to conflicting concepts of the relationships of subfamilies within the Family. This paper reports the results of studies involving morphological and biochemical features that I consider less sensitive to external environmental factors than are features which have been studied previously. Patterns of leg-musculature were chosen for study because earlier work showed that muscle patterns in the legs of passerine birds are highly stable and vary but little. Variations, therefore, which are consistent in separating groups of species should be significant. Serological techniques were used because the biochemical systems involved seem to be relatively slow to change in response to environmental influences and because the data obtained may be used in a highly objective manner to measure resemblance among species. Individual differences in the patterns of leg-musculature were found to be slight and involved mainly the sizes and shapes of muscles. For this reason variations involving origin, insertion, or relative position of a muscle, were judged significant. In leg-musculature the Richmondeninae, the Emberizinae, and the Thraupidae resemble one another closely. Several differences in muscle pattern were found, however, which distinguish these groups from the Carduelinae. The leg-musculature of the carduelines closely resembles that of the Ploceidae.