Pterylograjjhy of the Tinamiformes. 17 



invaluable work of Dr. Gadow (5^ 6) than I ; it is, therefore, 

 in no spirit of captious criticism that I here point out that he 

 has fallen into an error in so unreservedly accepting Nitzsch's 

 •work. The error lies in this, that what Nitzsch found in 

 the Crypturi Dr. Gadow has applied to the whole of the 

 Tinami formes, and, as the present paper abundantly 

 proves, such application is incorrect. 



The distribution of the down is a point which has probably 

 Hitherto been wrongly interpreted. Of the two birds which 

 form the subject of this paper, down-feathers were only 

 present in one — Calodromas eleyans — and in this bird in 

 a place not previously recorded, viz. on the base of the remiges 

 and major coverts, and nowhere else on the body. The 

 powder-down-feathers of Nitzsch and Gadow will probably 

 prove to be degenerated semiplumes ; at any rate, such is the 

 case of the two birds now under discussion. These semi- 

 plumes are confined almost entirely to the inner margin of 

 the femoral tract and that portion of the pt. spinalis opposite 

 it, and appear to be nothing more than degenerated contour- 

 feathers of the row to which they belong; there was but one 

 semiplume to each row. 



Powder-down-feathers are undoubtedly present in some 

 genera, e. g. I have found them in a stuffed specimen of 

 Tinamus major. I believe these will prove to be homo- 

 logous with the semiplumes just described. Are powder- 

 down-feathers the result of the degeneration of semiplumes 

 or of down-feathers ? 



As touching the simple construction and universal distri- 

 bution of the nestling-down, it has already been shown that 

 this is not actually the case. 



I have endeavoured to restrict the limits of the present 

 paper as much as is compatible with clearness ; later I hope 

 to be able to say something further as to the structures of 

 the rhamphotheca and the associated papillae. The muscular 

 system is just now engaging my attention, and, should any- 

 thing of interest come to light, I shall not fail to commu- 

 nicate it to the readers of ' The Ibis.^ 



The net results of this contribution, in so far as taxonomic 



SKK. VII. VOL. I. c 



