SHUlF.l.lvr : OsiEOLOGY OK THK HEROI)I()Nr-:S. 215 



the tarso-metataisus is the same, and is dilVerent from what we find in 

 Ardea (see character 25 of the Table). 



From an examination of my osteological material then, I would say 

 that if we allow Botaiirus /cnfii^inosiis to represent the American Bit- 

 terns, its nearest affine among the true Herons is Ardea virescens, and 

 next Ardea ccerii/ea ; and this connection is through Ardetta exilis. 

 On the other hand, Botaiirus lenti^^inosns is directly linked to the Night 

 Herons, through Nyctiiorax n. nceviits, and next in order Nycticorax 

 violaceiis. 



Osteo/oi^y of Tantalus loculator. 



(Wood Ibis.) 

 (Ske Plate V. ) 



To the U. S. National Museum I am indebted for the loan of a 

 skeleton of this interesting species of Stork. It is complete all to 

 the few terminal vertebrae of the tail and the pygostyle, and the skel- 

 etal parts of the sense organs. From the same institution I have also 

 an extra skull of Tantalus. One skull is considerably larger than the 

 other and is probably from a male specimen. The smaller skull 

 probably belonged to a female bird. Both are from fully adult indi- 

 viduals. 



Characters of the Skull. — The superior mandible is three and one- 

 half times as long as the cranium, measuring from the well-marked 

 cranio-facial hinge. Seen from above, it is to be observed that the 

 cranial vault is but moderately rounded, and as broad between the 

 supero-orbital peripheries as it is in the parietal region. The fronto- 

 lacrymal sutures are not obliterated, but all sutural traces of the nasal 

 bones have entirely disappeared. The superior mandible tapers grad- 

 ually to a moderately decurved point. For its anterior moiety it is 

 completely rounded from side to side, while posteriorly the sides be- 

 come flat. 



The external narial apertures are rather small and subelliptical in 

 outline. They are not far separated from each other, nor are they 

 very far in advance of the cranio-facial hinge. At the hinder part of 

 the skull the crotaphyte fossae fail to meet in the median line, to the 

 full extent of a centimeter. ISut at the sides of the skull these " crota- 

 phyte " or temporal fossae are very deep, giving marked prominence 

 to the squamosal process, while the insignificant sphenotic process is 

 double. A narrow, elongated excavation passes down the antero- 



