l82 Shufeldt, Material for a Study of the Megapodiidcs. [„f")"n. 



that of a male bird, kindly loaned me for this purpose by the 

 United States National Museum (No. 225,130, Celebes, Lembeh, 

 collected by H. C. Raven, 6th June, 1916 ; No. 2,720). I have 

 pleasure in thanking Dr. C. W. Richmond, Assistant Curator of 

 the Division of Birds of that institution, as well as his assistant, 

 Mr. J. H. Riley, for their kindness in so promptly placing this 

 material at my disposition. At the time the specimen was 

 collected it appears to have received a very severe body wound. 

 This carried away all the vertebral ribs on the right side ; broke 

 up the sternal end of the right coracoid ; cut the right scapula in 

 two (the distal half is missing), and badly fractured the last free 

 cervical vertebra. Otherwise this skeleton appears to be in a 

 very fair condition. It is interesting to note, however, that this 

 bird some time previous to its death — perhaps months before — 

 received a blow in the middle of the superior surface of the 

 peculiar casque engrafted upon the dorsal surface of its cranium. 

 A depressed fracture resulted, the free edges of which sub- 

 sequently healed and united, there being but a very small opening 

 left anteriorly. This may have happened by the bird flying 

 forcibly against some hard object, as a tree, or mass of rock, in its 

 efforts to escape some enemy. This casque is firmly and 

 inseparably joined with the true cranium, and as a flat surface 

 is carried "as far forwards as the fronto-nasal hinge, where it is 

 notched in the median line to receive a small backward projection 

 of the united premaxillaries. 



The entire surface of this casque presents a system of ramifying 

 markings, which appear to be intended to harbour the small 

 vessels of the superficies of the region, and these are well shown 

 in fig. 36 of Plate XVII. 



The naso-premaxillary region, just beyond the cranio-facial 

 \i\xige — or line, in the present instance — is broad, centrally 

 flattened, with all sutural traces eliminated. The culmen is 

 moderately convex for its entire length, while the tomial margins 

 are cultrate. Either external narial aperture is large and sub- 

 eUiptical in outline ; they are separated from each other by a 

 median osseous septum of no great , thickness. At the external 

 middle point of either nasal bone an osseous tubercle is present, 

 which is a distinctive feature of this skull. 



The rather large orbits are separated from each other by an 

 unperforated osseous interorhital septum ; anterior to this, upon 

 either side, there is to be seen a rather large, thoroughly ossified, 

 quadrilateral pars plana. They form a common plate which, 

 anteriorly, in the vertical median line, is marked by a sharp, 

 raised crest of bone formed by the mesethmoid. Beyond this, 

 and the above described nasal septum, we find no further ossifica- 

 tion in the rhinal chamber, except on its floor, where the long 

 vomer, the palatines, and maxillo-palatines are in sight. 



Speaking of the vomer, it is seen to be sixteen millimeters in 

 length — a very narrow, transversely flattened rod, freely articu- 

 lating with the palatines posteriorly, and having a slightly 

 enlarged distal end squeezed in between the maxillo-palatines. 



