158 OSTEOLOGY OF SPOTTED TINAMOU. 



iug for the loss of strength occasioned by the great lateral compression 

 of these bones. 



Four ribs are connected with the sternum, one more than in Tinanm.s 

 robustns or Cryptiirtis megapodius. A fifth sternal rib is present, 

 although .sei)ai'ated by a wide interval from its corresponding dorsal 

 rib. The sixth and last rib is very peculiar, for instead of pointing 

 downward it is turned so abruptly backward that the terminal portion 

 very nearly touches the great preacetabular i)rocess of the pubis, the 

 two being intimately connected by ligament. 



Judging from the published figures, this condition does not exist in 

 either Tinamus rohustus or Cryptums megajwtUus, although curiously 

 enough it is a modification of what is found in Apteryx ansiralis. In 

 Apteryx, however, the last rib has its origin almost directly over the 

 preacetabular process, points downward, and is joined to the pubis by 

 ligament at its median portion. 



Like other Tiuamous, yothura has rather feebly-developed wings. 

 Still the crest of the humerus seems to be more prominent than in its 

 relations, and so far as I can ascertain Xotlmra excels them all in 

 flight. My friend. Mr. W. B. Barrows, who spent some time in Uruguay 

 and tiie Argentine Republic, and who collected the specimen under con- 

 sideration, tells me that the Spotted Tinamou flies for considerable dis- 

 tances as often as occasion requires. The Paifons Tinamou {Ehynchoim 

 rvfescens), on the other hand, usually rises but three tiaies in succession, 

 each successive flight being shorter than the preceding, until after set- 

 tling for the third time the bird is forced to rely upon its legs alone. 



The radius and ulna are widely bowed apart. As this occurs also 

 in the fowls and in the humming-birds, and as all these birds move 

 their wings very rapidly, this peculiar curvature would seem to have 

 some direct relation to the frequency of the wing beats. 



Dr. Parker notes that in Tiiuwms rohustus there is no calcaneal 

 ossicle, and tbat the nails have a reptilian sprawl. 



In Xothura, on the contrary, a large calcaneal sesamoid is present, 

 and so far as may be determined by the terminal phalanges the nails 

 themselves diverge no more than in GalUmc. 



In all the particulars above mentioned (save the modification of the 

 last rib) the Spotted Tinamou more nearly approaches the fowls than 

 do other described species, and would therefore seem to deserve a lead- 

 ing place in the order to which it belongs. 



It may not be out of place in this paper to add a word or two con- 

 cerning the habits of the Tiuamous. It has been quite positively 

 stated that these birds are strictly terrestrial in their mode of life and 

 never alight in trees. IN'ow it is a fact that some spc^cies reside in 

 regions subject to sudden floods, where, like the historic beaver, it 

 would seem that they imist take to a tree, and Waterton states that a 

 species found in Guiana habitually sleeps in trees, the peculiar scutel- 

 lation of the tarsi enabling the bird to roost in safety, although the 

 structure of the feet does not permit a firm grasp of the boughs. 



