552 Mr. W. P. Pycraft o?i the 



considerable distance behind the eye, when a bird is 

 examined in the flesh. But to get to the bottom of this 

 matter, it is necessary to carry the investigation a little 

 deeper — to study the skull, in short. And to properly 

 apj^reciate the nature of this very remarkable departure 

 from the type which the Snipe and Woodcock exhibit, a 

 survey of the skulls of a few other less specialized birds is 

 necessary. That of the Gannet affords an admirable illus- 

 tration. Herein attention may first be drawn to the position 

 of the quadrate, behind the articular head of which lies the 

 external auditory aperture (text-fig. 2, E) , This bone, then, 



Text-fig. 2. 



Q 



Side view of the skull of a Gannet {Sida bassana), shewing the position 

 of the external auditory meatus (E) and the long basicranial axis 

 running parallel with the long axis of the beak, indicated by the 

 line A-B. 



= Orbit. E = Aperture of the ear. Q = Quadrate. 



is, as it were, suspended from the extremity of a short flying 

 buttress springing from the hinder portion of the brain-case, 

 almost the whole of which, it will be noticed, lies in front 

 of this buttress; furthermore, it may be remarked that it is 

 roughly cordiform in shape. A'^ery well. Now as to the 

 aperture of the ear. This, it will be seen, is small, lies 

 immediately behind the articular head of the quadrate, and 

 is overhung by a projection from the buttress just referred 

 to — the paroccipital process. Furthermore, it will be 

 noticed, this aperture is far removed from the orbit. 



In the Guillemot (text-fig. 3, p. 553) it will be seen that 

 while the shape of the temporal region of the skull agrees 

 roughly with that of the Gannet, it has been brought more 



