^"'loi^,'^'] SHrFKi.DT, Material for a Studv of the Megapodiidcc. 121 



(;.s- fiinii/a is of till' typical r-shajird pattern, with a laiT^c. 

 tlat, triaiii;ulai Inpoclcidiuni. Tlu' clavicular linil)s arc. 

 supcrioiiv. inucli flattened from side to side, while below this 

 Hatti'iiini; takes ]ilace from before, backwards — the two passing 

 graduallN- into each othir. At tlu' upper clavicular ends, the 

 expansion often si'cn there is here very moderate, and but httle 

 thickening taki's place. 



" Of the shoulder-bones," says Parker, in speaking of Cathctiinis 

 {Talegalla). " onl\- thr furcuhnn has diverged from the type : its 

 angular proct'ss is smalli'r and turns up more than in the l*"owl 

 ancl the Curassow : the whole bone is more U-sliaped than is usual 

 in the h'owl tribe : but little change either way would convert 

 such a furcidnm into that either of a Plover or a Crow " {loc. cit., 

 p. i()5). 



This Fowl-like Megapode of Nicobar has an mterestmg stern urn, 

 stamped in the curious way it is with the characters of that part 

 of the skeleton among the Galhnaceous fowls generally. Its body 

 is somewhat short longitudinally, when we consider the great depth 

 of its keel. Anteriorly, this has a depth of about 26 mm., being 

 65 mm. long in a straight line below — that is, from the pointed 

 carinal angle to the middle of the small, median notch of the 

 xiphoidal end. This lower border has a very much thickened 

 rim, which is, especiall\- in the middle third, broad and flat, its 

 lateral edges being sharp ; while from before, backward, it is 

 moderately convex. Not so, however, the anterior border of this 

 keel, for it is uniformly and very deeply concaved between the 

 manubrium and carinal angle. The lower half of this border 

 is sharp, while above it is much thickened, the thickening being 

 marked by a median groove, in the middle line of which the sharp 

 border below is carried upward toward the manubrial process, 

 but fades away before reaching it. 



Wedge-shaped in form, with the thickened i)art above, tlu' 

 manubrium agrees with that process as it occurs on the sterna of 

 the majority of the great group to \vhich the Megapodes belong. 

 The thickened part is very moderately bifurcated in front, while 

 the plate-like part below is pierced by a foramen, as already referred 

 to above, through which the articulated coracoids duly meet each 

 other in life. This arrangement ensures their firm retention in 

 their sternal grooves during flight, which, it appears to me, would 

 be more necessary among the powerful fliers among the fowls 

 than in these Megapodes. However, the arrangement exists 

 here, and it is a character found in many Gallinaceous birds.* 



The anterior border on either side of the manubrial process is 

 markedly concaved and thickened, each becoming thin and 

 sharper, however, as it is continued upwards as the anterior 

 margin of either costal process. These costal processes are broad 

 and lofty, with doubly truncate upper borders. Posteriorly, they 



* Shufeldt. R. W., " Osteology of the North American Tetraoiiidae," 

 ITayden's 12th Ann.. U.S. Geolog. and (icogr. Snrv. of the Terr.," \n\. vi., 

 No! 2, i.SSi, pi. \i., licr. 82, and otluTs. 



