. XIX. 



i9iy 



] Shufeldt, Material for a Sludy aj the Me^apodiida'. II5 



directed between tlie " hooks " of the inaxiLlo-j)ahitines, but well 

 separated from them. The termination of the vomer rests against 

 the nether sick' or base of the column of bone, described above as 

 occurring in the fore part of the rhinai chaml)er. This latter 

 appears to be of the nature^ of an ethmoidal ossification, removed 

 forwards from the mescthmoid, from which the hiteral ethmoids 

 spring {pars plana) : in any e\ent, it is tonnected with it above 

 and beneatli the nasals and premaxillar\-. 



Coming next to the mandible, it is seen to be of a typical 

 (Gallinaceous pattern, witli all the essential characters present as 

 found in this bone in that assemblage of birds. It is of the 

 \'-shaped form, with rather less than its anterior moiety curved 

 downward. At its apex it is rounded off, while the symphysis 

 — half a centimeter in length is concave aboxe and correspondingly 

 convex beneath. Unfortunatc^ly, at its articular extremities, or 

 the extremity of either ramal branch, the- upturned, hook-like, 

 posterior articular processes are broken (jff, only their stumps 

 remaining. In life they were doubtless as they occur in most 

 Gallinaceous birds, as, for example, in Melca^ris* 



This jaw of the Nicobar Megapode has about the same depth 

 of sides throughout, the dentary portion being only a trifle 

 shallower. Its lower margin is rounded, while the ramal portion 

 above is sharp, where again it becomes rounded as we pass to the 

 dentary half. The well-developed internal articular processes 

 are tilted upward, while either -articular end has an extremely 

 shallow facet on the outer side for articulation with the quadrate. 

 This is divided by a longitudinal ridge from an inner, smaller, 

 and deeper facet, which articulates with the inner and small, 

 though conspicuously distinct, facet of the quadrate, which has 

 been referred to in the description of that bone in a previous 

 paragraph. 



There is no splenial foramen present in the side of this bone in 

 either ramus, and a marked concavity exists between the articular 

 end and the small coronoid apophysis present. 



For the most part, this jaw is pneumatic, as is nearly all the 

 rest of the skull, the pneumatic foramina occupying their usual 

 sites. 



The sclerotal plates of the eyes, as well as the osseous parts of 

 the hyoidean apparatus, have been lost from this specimen, and 

 this prevents my describing them in this paper. 



The osseous stapedial element, however, is present in either car, 

 but they do not appear to offer anything worthy of special note. 



The description of the skull of Megapodiiis nicobariensis here 

 given should be carefully compared with the description Parker 

 left us of the skull and associated osseous parts in the Brush- 

 Turkey (Cathetunis lathami) (loc. cit., pp. 160-166). Speaking of 

 the lower jaw in that bird, he says that it is " strictly Gallinaceous, 

 and yet the internal angular process is thicker and more clubbed ; 



* Shufeldt, K. \\'., loc. cit., p. J19, fig. 36, pci-p. 



