1898.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 497 



regard to the Fygopodes. After a careful examination and com- 

 parison of the skeleton of Palamedea, all of our United States Ans- 

 eres except one or two species ; the Flamingoes including the extinct 

 ones, and Palseolodus; and a great many species and genera of 

 Herons, Ihises, Storks, Scopus, and their allies near and remote ; 

 and finally an equal number of the Steganopodes, I was led to 

 believe a year or two ago, that the duck tribe in its widest sense, 

 with the allied suborders containing the Palamedeidse, the Phceni- 

 copteridre and their fossil relatives, constituted a group, the nearest 

 related branches to which were the Steganopodes upon the one hand 

 and the Herodiones upon the other. An opinion, practically quite 

 similar to this is entertained by Dr. Sharpe and Dr. Stejneger, 

 while on the other hand, Dr. Gadow places the Anseriformes between 

 the Falconiformes upon the one hand and the Crypturiformes upon 

 the other, — which of course is an utterly different view of their 

 relationships. To discuss these latter here, is obviously out of the 

 question, as it would carry the present paper far beyond its limits. 



Fig. 2. 



Fig. 1. (Upper figure) Right lateral view of the skull of Dendrocygna 

 autumnalis, showing complete bony ring surrounding orbit. Pterygoids lost. 

 From a photograph by the author. § nat. size. 



Fig. 2. Right lateral view of part of trunk skeleton of same specimen. 

 § nat. size. 



Before turning from the Anseres, however, I desire to say that I 

 have found some interesting osteological points in the skeleton of 

 Dendrocygna autumnalis, — one of the tree-ducks. Although present- 



