238 PROF. W. K. PARKEE ON THE 



lumbars and sacrals proper ; but the first two uro-sacrals have riblets, not separate as 

 cartilages, but with distinct osseous centres ; the feeble caudals are very Tinamine. 



Referring to my published papers for a description of the shoulder-girdle and sternum 

 (op. eit. plate 16), and the wing of the adult Semipod'ms varius (Trans. Zool. Soc. vol. v. 

 plate 35), I may remark that in the young bird * the manus is remarkably long, 

 bein"- one-third lona-er than the ulna ; the humerus is one-fourth longer than the ulna. 

 In the adult Hemipodius varius the humerus is a little shorter than the ulna, which is 

 of the same length as the manus. In this young bird the intercalary metacarpal behind 

 that of the index is much smaller than in the Fowl, but the rudiment of the 4th 

 metacarpal is as large. The ungual phalanges of the pollex and index are not distinct ; 

 the proximal joint of the pollex and the 2nd of the index are rather long and slender; 

 this in the latter is one-third longer than the free joint of the pollex. 



The single phalanx of the 3rd digit is short, but has an " elbow " on its hinder side, a 

 vestige of a phalanx of the 4ith digit. The vertically displaced 1st distal carpal is 

 remarkably long, and by its free radial end articulates with its own metacarpal, but 

 joins it at a right angle. In the strangely metamorphosed Avrist of a bird, this instance 

 is one of the best in proof of the nature of that displaced carpal. 



XIV. — The Pelvis and Sind Limb o/'Turnix rostrata (jtw.). 



The pelvis, which in this young bird is just escaping from the Tinamine stage, is less 

 Dinosaurian than that of the Fowl's (Plate XXV. figs. 5 & 4), for the prepubic process is 

 suppressed in Tiirnix. Indeed, this part is seldom quite so completely lost ; in this 

 Turnix agrees with Thinocorus. Even in Attagis and Chionis there is a rudiment. On 

 the whole this pelvis is more like that of a feeble Plover than of a small Fowl ; the absence 

 of fusion of the hip-plate with the sacrum shows this (Plate XXV. fig. 5, and Trans. 

 Zool. Soc. vol. V. plate 35. figs. 5 & 8). 



There is one thing in the hind liml) that has a Dinosaurian appearance, namely, the 

 length of the femur ; it is one of the longest, relatively, in the Class. In the young bird 

 the lengths are as follows : — femur 16"5 mm. ; tibio-tarsus 22 mm. ; tarso-metatarsus 

 15 mm. In Tinamus rohustus (adult) the measurements are : — femur 70 mm. ; tibio- 

 tarsus 100 mm. ; tarso-metatarsus 67 mm. In Talegalla Lathami (nearly adult) : — femur 

 90 mm. ; tibio-tarsus 125 mm. ; tarso-metatarsus 85 mm. And in Oalliis domesticm 

 (adult) : — femur 92 mm. ; tibio-tarsus 130 mm. ; tarso-metatarsus 88 mm. 



In these three other instances the femur in no case is three-fourths the length of the 

 tibio-tarsus ; it has exactly that proportion in Turnix rostrata, and it has about the 

 same proportions in the adult Hemipodius ixirius. In the Dinosaurs the femur has a 

 very elephantine size, both in bulk and height, and one of the most striking charac- 

 teristics of the bird's hind limb is the relative shortness of that bone, and it is also the 

 least variable in length of the three main segments of the leg. 



The tibio-tarsus (Plate XXV. fig. 7) is remarkably below the average as to ornithic 



* This wing «-ill. 1 trust, be ligiired and described in a memoir on the Morpholog}- of the wing in the whole Class. 



