708 Mr. P. R. Lowe on the 



(3) In both the Chatham Island Snipe and the Jack- 

 Snipe the high culmen-ridge is a noticeable character. In 

 C. pusilla the slope formed by the nasal processes of the 

 premaxillse is identical with a line representing the inter- 

 orbital slope, and this condition is also noted in the Dunlin. 

 The flattened edge of the orbital margin is to be noted in 

 C. pusilla. 



(4) Another very striking feature common to both the 

 Woodcock and the Chatham Island Snipe is the flat, 

 somewhat quadrilateral, and slightly roughened plane 

 immediately posterior to the tympanic cavity. This is most 

 highly developed in the Woodcock, and, so far as I am aware, 

 has not previously been remarked upon. For want o£ a 

 better term I have called it the squamosal plane. It is well 

 marked in HomoptAlura. 



(5) Diff'erences in the form and shape of the orbital rim 

 are also to be noted : — In the Chatham Island Snipe this 

 may be described as taking the form of an incompleted 

 rhomboid with its angles rounded off" — that is to say, it is 

 reminiscerit of the shape of the orbital rim in Erolia. 



In the Woodcock the orbital rim is nearly circular, in 

 the Common Snipe it is more nearly oval ; while in the 

 Jack-Snipe the rim is somewhat more circular than is the 

 case with the Common Snipe. 



7%e ventral aspect of the skull. 



Transferring our attention from the lateral to the inferior 

 aspect of the skull, we may direct attention more especially 

 to the palatal region. In text-figure 13 the palatal region 

 in the Chatham Island Snipe, Woodcock, Common Snipe, and 

 Jack-Snipe is depicted, and the first thing which strikes one 

 in a comparative examination of this region in the forms 

 under consideration is the fact that, in as far as the several 

 structures composing this region are concerned, the Chatham 

 Island Snipe is neither Gallinagine nor quite typically 

 Eusticoline. It may be said, however, to be much more 



