CARINATiE 



Serpentariiformes 



Secretary Bird. Gypogeranus vel Serpentarius serpentarius. 



Plate XXXI. 



The general color of the eyeground is dull gray, pitted with mixed 

 light and dark brown pigment grains or dots, the darker being about 

 double the size of the lighter granules. Mixed with these dots is a 

 dense mass of minute, bright points that cover the whole fundus, but 

 they can be observed only when the reflected light of the mirror is 

 thrown on them. These deposits give the background the appear- 

 ance of a rough surface. A thin layer of translucent nerve fibres 

 surrounds the papilla for a short distance, particularly along the long 

 axis of the nerve-head. 



A little above the upper end of the optic disc and towards the 

 nasal side is the fovea centralis, a round white dot enclosed by a 

 narrow ring of bright green. On the temporal side of the disc, and 

 above the end of it. is also a long, narrow, sensitive area. This 

 part is enclosed by a shimmering reflex of green light. 



The optic disc is long and rather narrow, both ends being rounded 

 off. It is quite white and deeply pigmented at its outer and upper 

 borders. 



The pecten is of a lighter brown than usual, is plainly serrated 

 on either side and appears as a narrow band that extends the whole 

 length of the disc. Just before its junction with the optic nerve- 

 head it is stippled with bright, orange-red grains. The central part 

 of the pecten does not project far forward into the vitreous; it ap- 

 pears to be quite narrow while the whole length of its upper edge or 

 crest seems rather wavy. 



Accipitriformes 

 Lammergeier. Bearded Vulture. Gypaetusbarbatus. Plate XXXII. 



The eyeground is slate-gray and presents everywhere a granular 

 appearance. The lower half of the fundus is covered with dull 

 orange-red choroidal vessels that run in a vertical direction, parallel 

 to the sides of the optic disc. 



Above the papilla (about two disc breadths from it on the nasal 

 side) is a small, round, dark-brown pigmented pit, surrounded by 

 two distinctly marked, brilliant reflex rings, each having a greenish 

 tint. On the nasal side of the nerve-head, but nearer the latter and 

 much less distinctly outlined than the depression just described, is 

 the second macular region with its fovea. It has a soft, indistinct 

 but dark centre. The optic entrance is pure white with an orange- 

 red central area from which arises the pecten. This body is very 

 narrow and tapers on its upper aspect for about one-fifth of its length. 

 It then becomes much broader and almost covers the outer zone of 

 the disc. 



I.iO 



