Osteology of the ('hut hum Islund Snipe. 705 



"which we get no orbital rim below and in wliicli we 

 obtain an uninterrupted view of the whole of the quadrate 

 {cf. text-figure 12, B). 



This deficiency of the antero-inferior portion of the 

 orbital rim, in a form which is undoubtedly Scolopacine, 

 might very naturally be thought to be due to its having 

 been lost in the specimen examined, or to its having broken 

 away in the preparation of the skull, especially as there was 

 only one skull available for examination. That this is not 

 the case is rendered certain by the comparative examination 

 carried out on seven or eight fossil examples of C. cha- 

 thamica, and two of C. pusilla, in which exactly the same 

 anatomical peculiarities are observable. 



While the orbital rim in C. pusilla is deficient to this 

 extent, it is to be noted, however, that the postorbital and 

 squamosal processes, although preserving their identity, have 

 been pushed or rotated forwards as if foreshadowing a 

 complete union with the lacrymal or antorbital plate {cf. 

 text-fig. 12, B). In this rotation forwards the quadrate, 

 tympanic cavity, pterygoids, and palatines have shared. 

 The amount of rotation forwards may be appreciated by 

 noting the position of the quadrate in comparison with its 

 position in a type like Erolia. Attention is also called to 

 the large squamosal process in C. pusilla, and its gradual 

 diminution in the Common and Jack-Snipe until its identity 

 is practically lost in the Woodcock {cf. figures). In the 

 Woodcock the postorbital and squamosal processes will be 

 noticed to have been carried forwards to a greater extent 

 than in the other thi'ee forms depicted in the text-figure. 



The consideration of this rotation forwards of the inferior 

 portions of the skull (in conjunction with the rotation 

 backwards of other p^rts) brings us to a consideration of 

 the relative position of the quadrate in the forms we have 

 under consideration: — 



(1) In the Woodcock the quadrate may be said to be 

 extraorbital, since it has been pushed so far forward as to 

 occupy a position below and in front of the orbital rim of 

 bone forming the antero-inferior margin of the orbital 



