28 Annals of the Carnfxhe MuseuiM. 



next five following sacral vertebrae are compressed from above down- 

 wards, allowing for a swell in the neural canal within, which is to ac- 

 commodate that enlargement which here takes place in the myelon. 

 The ninth sacral vertebra has its transverse processes strengthened and 

 lengthened to act as sustaining abutments opposite the acetabulae. To 

 still further insure strength, the outer ends of these processes are verti- 

 cally expanded. 



Four rows of interapo]>hysial foramina, two upon either side of the 

 sacrum, constitute one of the main features of the pelvis of a plover, 

 when we come to regard it upon its dorsal aspect. 



Either post-pubic style is of nearly uniform caliber, and is produced 

 considerably beyond the ischia behind. The posterior extremity of 

 either ischium is produced, long and pointed, and rests during the life 

 of the bird, against the upper surface of the post-pubic style. Mergence 

 of the obturator space and the small obturator foramen may or may 

 not take place. It even may vary for the same species or be different 

 on the two sides of the same pelvis. I must note here that in a pelvis 

 of a Killdeer Plover before me the ilia do not meet the sacral crista ; 

 that character does not go for much, however. Including the pygo- 

 style, from seven to eight vertebrae make up the skeleton of the tail in 

 Plovers. I find eight in ^E. voa'fera, and seven in .£. ino)itana. 

 VancUus also has eight. Probably specimens of the Mountain Plover 

 will eventually come to hand having eight of them, also. 



Coming next to th.ii.slernin/1 and slioiihicr-girdlc, I find the entire ap- 

 paratus to be non-pneumatic in nature. No foramina are to be ob- 

 served. 



The OS fiirciila is the perfect miniature of that bone as it occurs in 

 much larger birds of the present suborder, N'limcuiiis loiigirosfn's, for in- 

 stance. The clavicular limbs are of uniform thickness throughout, and 

 only very slightly increased in bulk where they unite, mesiad and 

 below, to support a small (juadrilateral hypocleidium. Substantially, the 

 method of articulation of the shoulder-girdle bones with each other is 

 the same as Ave found it among the Phalaropes. The form of the cora- 

 coid is almost identically the same in yE. vocifera and Phalaropus 

 lobatiis and there is very little diff"erence in the shape of the scapulje 

 — either species having the bone fully twice as long as the s]iaft of a 

 coracoid ; and in ^-E. moiitana its blade is curved, broad, and rounded 

 at its posterior extremity. It reaches well back towards the ilium, over- 

 lapping the ribs. 



