240 



STRUCTURE AND CLASSIFICATION OF BIRDS 



by GARROD,' and more recently and more fully (also with 

 illustration) by PARKER.* The skull is quite owl-like in 

 general aspect with its decurved beak, and in the equality 

 between greatest length and greatest breadth. The lacryinal 

 is very small and is ankylosed to the orbital wall. The 



FIG. 121. SKULL OF Podargus (AFTER HUXLEY). LETTERS 

 AS IN FK;. 118. 



maxillo-palatines are completely fused across the middle 

 line, the skull being desmognathous. The palatines also in 

 their middle part meet across the middle line. The vomer 

 is divided into two parts, one lying behind the other. The 

 anterior part is small, like the posterior part ; they both 

 measure 5.5 mm. The posterior vomer is probably the 

 equivalent of the medio-palatine of Caprimulgus and other 

 birds. The basipterygoid processes are well developed. The 



1 ' On some Points in the Anatomy of Stcatornis,' P. Z. S. 1873, p. 526. 

 - ' On the Osteology of Steatornis caripensis? ibid. 1889, p. 161. 



