124 Shufeldt, Material for a Study of the Megapodiido'. [,sf"^'^, 



posterior extremit}- is the only bone in it that chances to be 

 pneumatic. A rather large pneumatic foramen is found to exist 

 on the supero-anterior aspect of the shaft, close to the summit, 

 under the ledge of bone formed by the projecting trochanter 

 major. Through it air permeates the entire anterior of the shaft, 

 but not the head of the bone or the condyles. These latter are 

 bulky and large, especially the outer one, which is likewise the 

 lower one on the shaft. The " rotular channel" between them 

 is deep and wide, though the popliteal concavity posteriorly is 

 rather shallow. In front, the upper part of the external condyle 

 gradually merges upon the shaft, while in the corresponding 

 locality the internal condyle forms a pointed, conspicuous little 

 promontory. As to the shaft itself, it is smooth, nearly straight, 

 and, for its middle third, almost cylindrical in form. The linea 

 nspera is but faintly seen, and the pneumatic foramen is not 

 plainly in evidence. 



Perfectly globular in contour, the smooth caput femoris — 

 marked as it is by the usual pitlet for the insertion of the 

 ligamenhim teres — is considerably individualized and not sessile, 

 or entirely without " neck," as it often is in birds. To the outer 

 side of this head of the femur, the summit of the shaft is of a broad, 

 triangular outline, smooth, and at right angles to the longitudinal 

 axis of the shaft. Still further, externally, there prominently 

 rises the superior rim of the great trochanter, a projection which 

 is carried down anteriorly for a short distance on the shaft. It 

 is at this point that it arches over the pneumatic foramen, 

 as described above. 



On the outer aspect of the shaft, a short distance below the 

 trochanter major, there are two rather prominent little tubercles 

 for the insertion of the tendon of the gluteus niinimus. 



A careful examination of what constitutes the patella in this 

 Megapode convinces me that it is preformed almost entirely in 

 tough cartilage, and in this particular specimen there is not a 

 single osseous cell in that sesamoid. 



Another bone of the leg characterized by great strength for a 

 bird the size of the Nicobar Megapode is the tibio-tarsus ; especi- 

 ally does this apply to its massive proximal extremity, which 

 must, of necessity, be so, in order to accommodate itself to 

 articulation with the big condyles of the femur. Internally, the 

 side of the head of this tibio-tarsus is broad and flat, and only the 

 very narrow margin of it, anteriorly, is contributed by the low 

 entocnemial process. In fact, the cnemial process as a whole 

 hardly rises at all above the summit of the bone ; and the ecto- 

 cnemial part, with its hook-like, flat-topped ending, stands out 

 directly from the side, or at right angles to the entocnemial 

 process. This latter has a length of about a centimeter and a 

 half, while from a direct front view the ectocnemial process hides 

 the head of the fibula from sight when the latter is articulated, 

 as in life. Posteriorly, the head of the tibio-tarsus projects 

 considerably beyond the shaft, which lattrr is stout, smooth, and 



