76 



condyle is wanting. There is the same large surface for 

 the brachialis anticus and palmar depression as in Ihis 

 loncfirostris, the inner border of the depression being 

 bounded by a similar prominent ridge ; and there is a 

 distinct ectopicondylar tuberosity. Hastinrjs Collection. 



Suborder VIII. ODONTOGLOSS^. 



Desmognathous birds in which the angle of the mandible is pro- 

 duced and recurved ; the hind limbs are greatly elongated, the femur 

 being extremely short, the tibio-tarsus typically not very much 

 longer than the tarso-metatarsus, and the hallux rudimentary. The 

 cervical vertebriB (fig. 24) are much longer and more slender than 

 in the Herodiones, with very simple lateral arches. 



The long and slender tarso-metatarsus is at once distinguished by 

 its extreme lateral compression. The talon may be similar to that 

 of the typical Ciconiidce, or more complex, but the intercotylar 

 tuberosity is always very wide and occupies more than half the 

 width of the proximal extremity ; the distal trochleas form a very 

 curved arch, the second trochlea being much shorter than the fourth 

 and thrown backward ; the third trochlea is very long and sepa- 

 rated by a narrow interval from the fourth, which is much com- 

 pressed ^ There is no distinct facet for the hallux on the tarso- 

 metatarsus ; and the long and slender proximal phalangeals are 

 much compressed. 



The tibio-tarsus is long, slender, and compressed from front to 

 back, the inner surface being wider than the outer, and the upper 

 portion of the latter forming a sharp edge ; the anterior extensor 

 groove occupies at least a considerable portion of the length of the 

 shaft ; the anterior intercondylar gorge is very wide, and expands 

 superiorly so as to occupy the whole width of the bone immediately 

 above the condyles, this feature being absolutely characteristic ; the 

 extensor bridge, which may or may not carry a tubercle (fig. 21), 

 has its superior border nearer the middle line than in the Cico- 

 niidce. The fibular ridge is very short, and the fibula itself scarcely 

 longer. 



The femur in the typical forms is very short, with a nearlj- straight 

 and cylindricalshaft, very short neck, and an enlarged distal extremity. 



' The distal troehlere are arranged in nearly the same manner in the Gruidce, 

 although in the latter the second is still shorter, and the fourth less compressed 

 and more widely separated from the third. In the Gruidm the inner border 

 of the anterior groove is more prominent than the outer one, whereas the reverse 

 is the case in the present group. 



