INTRODUCTION 83 



(p. 766) and Carinat^e (p. 76). The Saururae have the metacarpals well 

 developed and not ancylosed, and the caudal vertebrae are numerous and 

 large, so that the caiidal region of the spine is longer than the body. The 

 furcula is complete and strong, the feet are very Passerine in appearance. 

 The skull and sternum were at the time unknown, and indeed the whole 

 Order, without doubt entirely extinct, rested exclusively on the celebrated 

 fossil, then unique, Archxoipteryx just mentioned. The Ratitee. comprehend 

 the "Struthious" Birds, which differ from all others now extant in the com- 

 bination of several peculiarities, some of which have been mentioned in the 

 preceding pages. The sternum has no keel, and ossifies from lateral and 

 paired centres only ; the axes of the scapula and coracoid have the same 

 general direction ; certain of the cranial bones have characters very unlike 

 those possessed by the next Order — the vomer, for example, being broad 

 posteriorly and generally intervening between the basisphenoidal rostrum 

 and the palatals and pterygoids ; the barbs of the feathers are disconnected ; 

 there is no syrinx or inferior larynx ; and the diaphragm is better developed 

 than in other Birds.^ The Ratitse, are divided into five groups, separated 

 by very trenchant characters, principally osteological, and many of them 

 afforded by the cranial bones. These groups consist of (i.) Struthio 

 (Ostrich), (ii.) Rhea, (iii.) Casuarius Cassowary, and Lrom3e.us (Emeu), 

 (iv.) Dinornis (Moa) and (v.) Apteryx (Krwi) ; but no names are here 

 given to them. The Carinatee comprise all other existing Birds. The 

 sternum has more or less of a keel, and is said to ossify, with the possible 

 exception of Stringops (Kakapo), from a median centre as well as from 

 paired and lateral centres. The axes of the scapula and coracoid meet at 

 an acute, or, as in Diclihs (Dodo) and Ocydromus (Weka), at a slightly 

 obtuse angle, while the vomer is comparatively narrow and allows the 

 pterygoids and palatals to articulate directly with the basisphenoidal 

 rostrum. The Carinatse are divided, according to the formation of the 

 palate, into four "Suborders," and named (i.) DROM^EOGNATHiE, (ii.) 



SCHIZOGNATH^, (iii.) DESMOGNATHiE and (iv.) iEGITHOGNATH^.2 The 



Dromseognathx resemble the Ratitse, and especially Dromxus, in their 

 palatal structure, and are composed of the Tinamous. The Schizognathae 

 include a great many of the forms belonging to the Linnoean Orders 

 GalUnse, Grallse and Anseres. In them the vomer, however variable, 

 always tapers to a point anteriorly, while behind it includes the 

 basisphenoidal rostrum between the palatals ; but neither these nor the 

 pterygoids are borne by its posterior divergent ends. The maxillo- 

 palatals are usually elongated and lamellar, uniting with the palatals, and, 

 bending backward along their inner edge, leave a cleft (whence the name 

 given to the " Suborder ") between the vomer and themselves. Six groups 

 of Schizognathx are distinguished with considerable minuteness : — (1) 

 CharadriomorpHjB ; (2) GERANOMORPHiE ; (3) Cecomorph^ ; (4) 



^ This peculiarity had led some zoologists to consider the " Struthious " Birds 

 more nearly allied to the Mammalia than any others. 



^ These names are compounded respectively of Drmnseus, the generic name applied 

 to the Emeu, ffxi-^o., a split or cleft, Sicfia, a bond or tying, aiyidos, a Finch, and, in 

 each case, yvddos, a jaw. The constitution of the several groups is explained in the 

 body of this work under n^mes here printed in small capitals, but is repeated for the 

 convenience of the reader. 



