XIV,1 Shufeldt: Osteology of Porphyrio 91 
of the opposite side by quite an interval. The vomer is keeled 
inferiorly; it is slightly spreading above and is pointed at its 
free anterior apex. 
Fulica has all of these bones far more delicately constructed 
and slenderer. In this species the prepalatines are extremely 
slender rods, the postpalatine parts being short, and far removed, 
on either side, from the pars plana. Moreover, a maxillopalatine 
is a shell-like bone, distinct from its fellow, being attached at 
the point of union of the zygoma, the nasal, the prepalatine, 
and the dentary part of the premaxillary. It is elliptical in 
outline, with its major axis parallel to the slender prepalatine, 
while its outer surface is concave, and the mesial correspondingly 
convex. 
The external narial openings in the coot are very large and 
elongate, which is not the case in Porphyrio (Plate II, fig. 10). 
As in many birds, the mandible is a V-shaped bone, with deep, 
thin rami and extensive symphysis in this species. There are 
no postarticular processes present; in fact, the hinder aspects 
of the articular ends of this mandible are substantially flat 
surfaces, only slightly concaved and lying in planes perpendi- 
cular to the long axis of the bone. The free margins, both 
above and below, are moderately rounded, while the dentary ones 
above are cultrate, terminating in a subacute apex anteriorly. 
There are two foramina in either ramal part; that is, the 
usual splenial one, which is elliptical in outline, and another, 
smaller one, posterior to it, halfway between the first and the 
articular extremity, which is circular in outline. 
Posteriorly, the ramal portion of the bone is thin, it being con- 
siderably heavier for its anterior portion. Most of the former 
moiety exhibits some pneumaticity, and this condition is present 
in a good part of the cranium and associated bones of the palatal 
region and face; it is also true of the ossa quadrata. 
The ear bones have been lost. 
In Fulica we also find a V-shaped mandible, with a number 
of its general characters agreeing with the corresponding ones 
in Porphyrio. The former, however, has the bone more elongate, 
narrower, and with a shorter symphysis. Finally, its ramal sides 
are not nearly so deep nor so thin. Then, too, in Fulica there 
is a special character not found in Porphyrio, which is well 
worthy of notice. It consists of little semicircular plates of 
bone attached, one on either side, just above the splenial foramen 
on the superointernal margin of the ramus. These platelets 
are directed horizontally and toward the median line. My im- 
pression is that each is covered with the horny theca of the 
