CHIONIS MINOR. 97 



above mentioDed being, iu fact, tboiigh not bomologically, tbe principal 

 suspender of tbe liver. Tbe posterior margin of tbe rigbt lobe presents 

 two deep incisions, separating tbree pointed processes of liver tissue. 

 The left lobe is sbarply unciform, tbe concavity of tbe book looking 

 upward. A decided tbickening of tbe istbmus, on tbe superior surface 

 of tbe livei', indicates tbe tbird lobe. Gall-bladder distinct, empty j 

 biliarj^ ducts very large. 



Tbe left ovary was found to have been quite active, resembling a 

 buncb of grapes. We counted twenty-six vesicles as large as No. (3 sbot, 

 eleven of tbese being as large as No. 3, besides very many large enougb 

 to be distinct. 



Oviduct tortuous; much enlarged; longitudinal plicae very distinct 

 and laminated, like tbe leaves of a book. The sex of this specimen, 

 which bad black wing-spurs, proves that that feature is not distinctive 

 of male birds, as we bad supposed.* 



Kidneys ara large, 1.95 inch ; moulded on their superior (dorsal) surface 

 to lit the irregularities of the sacrum. Near tbe termination of the 

 ureter, in tbe cloaca, are noticeable two small glandular bodies. 



Palate is wide i)Osteriorly, bounded at tbe sides and anteriorly by the 



projecting edges of the bill. Half an inch from tbe tip of beak, in tbe 



median line, is a minute longitudinal crest; 0.10 inch behind this a 



decided tooth-like, bony process, directed backward ; 0.20 inch posterior 



to this are six tooth-like villi, directed backward and arranged, likeacomb, 



in a horizontal row. Here tbe lateral palatal ridges become prominent. 



Marking tbe anterior end of tbe aperture of the posterior nares, and 



0.30 inch behind the last-named process, are two longer tooth-like villi; 



on eacb side of this slit, in the sulcus between central and lateral palatal 



ridges,, are six minute separate villi iu a longitudinal row. Behind the 



slit for tbe Eustachian tube there is a transverse comb-like row of villi 



on each side, directed backward and limiting tbe upper and back part 



of the pharvnx. 



SKELETON. 



Skull. — On examination of the skull as a whole, tbe brain cavity 

 appears relatively very large and high. The frontal region is much 

 infltited, and tbe whole arch very convex. Tbe attacbments for muscles 

 are generally not well marked, and the depression (crotophyte) for the 

 insertion of the temporal muscle is almost obsolete.t Prominent points 



* B 11. No. 2, Nat. Mus. 1875, p. 1. 



t Tbese observations are very different from those of Mr. T. C. Eyton on the skull of 

 Chionis alba. He found the " cranium with a very small cavity for the braiu ; occipital 

 7 K 



