CICONIID^E. Gl 



North- Western Railway, and is described and figured by 

 Owen in his ' British Fossil Mammals and Birds,' p. 556, 

 fig. 236. The crossing of the coracoidal grooves is dis- 

 tinctly shown ; in the high level at which the carina is 

 given off from the body of the sternum, this specimen 

 agrees with Ardea and differs from Phoenicoptems, in 

 which there is an overlapping of the coracoids. 



WethereU Collection. PvrcJiased, 1871. 



Section B. CICONIiE. 



The tarso-metatarsus is usually somewhat compressed laterally, 

 with the anterior channel occupying the greater part of the length 

 of the bone, and two impressions for the tibialis anticus ; the talon 

 is unusually simple, consisting only of two main crests, separated 

 by a wide open channel for the flexor tendons ^ ; the distal 

 trochlei-B are placed in a strong curve, the second trochlea being 

 slightly shorter than the fourth (fig. 15). The facet for the haUux 

 is long and narrow, terminating infcriorly in a tubercle. 



The tibio-tarsus is nearly straight, with the distal extremity 

 laterally compressed, the anterior intercondylar gorge deep, the 

 posterior trochlear surface shallow, with prominent borders, and 

 the bridge over the extensor groove prominent and placed near 

 the inner border. The fibular crest is short ; but the fibula itself 

 extends at least two-thirds down the shaft of the tibia. The 

 coracoid is always shorter than in the Herodice, with a weU- 

 developed subclavicular process, which may or may not have a 

 perforation at its base. 



The humerus is of moderate length, and considerably shorter 

 than the iilna, with a sigmoid curvature from back to front ; the 

 proximal extremity is large, with the moderate subtrochanteric 

 fossa pierced by a foramen; the groove for the coraco-humeral 

 ligament is deepest in the Plataleida; ; the distal condyles are but 

 slightly prominent ; the surface for the pectoralis minor is distinct 

 and triangular (fig. 17), while that for the bi'achialis anticus is large. 



The cervical vertebrae are of medium length. 



Family CICONIID^. 



This family includes the larger forms, in which the beak is 

 generally straight and conical. 



' In Scopus there are closed chauuels for the teudous. 



