SllLl'Kl.DT : USIEOUJGV Of THK Ll.MlC<JL.K. 29 



The manubrium of the sternum is a stumpy jjrocess, shaped like a 

 wedge, being notched al)Ove and sharp below. Above this jjrocess the 

 coracoitlal grooves nearly meet at a i)oint in the mesial plane at its 

 base, Avhile the lateral processes of the same name, of a triangular 

 form, rise only to a moderate degree above the superior margin of the 

 bone, to bear along the posterior border of either one, the facettes for 

 the costal ribs, six on each side. 



The xiphoidal extremity of the body of the sternum of -£. ntontana 

 is four-notched, the notches being deep, and gi\ing rise to five proc- 

 esses, a median one, the under surface of which supports the hinder 

 part of the carina, and a pair on each side of it. In Vaiiellus the 

 inner pair of jjerforations are subelliptical foramina and not notches. 



Fio-] 



Fig. 7. Pelvis of Charadriiis doininicus, right lateral view. Natural size 

 (Spec. 16715 Coll. U. S. Nat. Mus.). 



Fig. 8. Pygostyle and last caudal vertebra of Cliaradrhis doininiciis ; right 

 lateral view. Natural size. Same specimen. 



Jn the sternum of a Killdeer Plover at my hand (^. vocifera) the 

 inner notch on the right-hand side is also converted into a foramen. C. 

 squatarola has them as in ^. moutana. Viewed laterally the sternum 

 of a Plover very closely resembles that l)one as we see it in Aphriza 

 virgata ; indeed, in so far as shape is concerned, irrespective of mere 

 size, this bone is of a very uniform pattern throughout the majority 

 of our typical Limicolce — the Woodcock, (^Philohela,^ and Wilson's 

 Snipe, i^Gallinago,') being conspicuous departures therefrom. 



Ossification in Plovers is normally extended, as in so many other 

 birds, to the plate of the superior larynx, the rings of the trachea, and 

 a few tendons and sesamoids. 



Of the Appendicular Skeleton. — The chief j)oint of interest that 

 attaches to the limbs of our Plovers is that they are, in every case, 

 absolutely non-pneumatic, both the pectoral and pelvic extremities 

 presenting, in all the bones that compose themj those characters, after 

 maceration, so well described by Hunter.' The long bones are also 

 non-pneumatic in Gallinago and F/iilo/iela, which are other l)irds of 



'Observations on the Animal CEconomy, Palmer's ed., 8vo, 1837, p. 17S. 



