164 Prof. Reinhardt's Remarks on the Genus Balseniceps. 



ceps was last autumn laid by him before the Zoological Societj'^ 

 of London^ of which he has the honour to be a foreign member, 

 and was printed in the Society's 'Proceedings'*. He has, 

 nevertheless, again treated the subject here, because he feels 

 convinced of being still better able to substantiate the correctness 

 of his opinion. Until a short time ago, nothing had been made 

 known concerning the internal structure of this remarkable bird. 

 The author himself, when making his first communication on 

 the subject, had but a single stuffed specimen at his disposal, 

 and therefore was only able to consider its outward form. He 

 was, however, of opinion that the question of its affinities could 

 be solved with tolerable safety from its external characters. 

 He does not share the somewhat general opinion that the so- 

 called anatomical characters derived from the internal structure 

 should of themselves, and in all cases, be preferred to the external 

 ones ; but he of course acknowledged that, in Balceniceps, these, 

 and especially its skeleton, might furnish important elucidation 

 of its real affinities. He is now able to take at least the skeleton 

 into consideration, partly since he has lately procured a cranium 

 of this rare bird for the Royal Museum, and pai-tly because Mr. 

 W. K. Parker has made use of the opportunity offered by the 

 death of jone of two Balanicipites brought alive last year to 

 London, to make its osteology the subject of an investigation, 

 which he had communicated to the Zoological Society at the 

 meeting immediately preceding that at which the author's notice 

 of this bird was read, and an account of which has been since 

 printed in the Society's ' Proceedings ' t- 



First, as regards the skull, in which certain peculiarities are 

 at once perceptible, to be found neither in Scopus nor in Can- 

 croma, indeed neither in the Storks nor Herons. But these, in 

 fact, are only the result of the extraordinary development of the 

 bill; and some of them, at all events, are noticeable in parti- 

 cularly large-billed birds belonging to entirely different orders. 

 Of such peculiarities, very interesting in themselves, but of little 

 moment in regard to the affinities of Balceniceps, must particu- 

 larly be named the complete anchylosis of all the different bones 

 forming the lower jaw, so that there is not the least trace left of 



* P. Z. S. 1860, p. 377. t P- Z. S. 1860, p. 324. 



