DISCOVERIES IN AVIAN PALAEONTOLOGY. 401 



are now confined to, or have recently become extinct in, the 

 Southern hemisphere. Between these and the primitive 

 generalised rails there must have been many intermediate 

 forms, one of which, in the opinion of Milne Edwards, is to 

 be found in this new genus, Eldphrocnemus. 



Other new genera of which the affinities are more doubt- 

 ful are Orthocnemns, which resembles the Storks and Bus- 

 tards in some respects and the Rails in others, and Tapinopus, 

 which seems to have been a short-legged wading bird. We 

 may also notice Necrobyas, a genus of owls presenting a 

 combination of characters not found in any recent form ; 

 TacJiyornis hirundo (previously described by Lydekker as 

 Aigialornis gallicus), which is referred to the Cypselidce ; 

 Dynamopterus velox, a cuckoo closely resembling Eudynamis 

 orientalis, an inhabitant of the Austro-Malayan region ; 

 Geranopterus, allied to the Rollers and Momots ; and, 

 lastly, Pterocles vatidus, a sand-grouse considerably larger 

 than any recent species. 



Although many of the genera and species above noticed 

 are founded on single or, at best, a very few bones, still in 

 the hands of one so experienced in avian osteology as 

 Professor Milne Edwards such material is sufficient for 

 a fairly certain determination of the affinities of the fossil 

 forms ; and in this case the importance of the results from 

 the point of view of geographical distribution cannot easily 

 be over-estimated. It is much to be regretted that this 

 valuable paper is not illustrated, since even the most careful 

 descriptions of bird bones are very unsatisfactory without 

 fio-ures. 



From the Middle Miocene of La Grive-St.-Alban in 

 South-Eastern France, Lydekker (5) has described a 

 small collection of bird bones. These, which do not in- 

 clude any very striking novelties, are referred to a new 

 species of Owl, a large Pheasant, previously recorded by 

 Milne Edwards from beds of about the same age at 

 Sansan, a number of quail-like birds {Palcsortyx\ a Sand- 

 piper and an undetermined Picarian bird. 



The next addition to the ranks of fossil birds to be 

 considered is by far the most important that has been 



