Siiri'Ki.Di' : OsiKdi.odv ok thk I.imicol/K. 43 



The iiuDhiihle of .^facrorliaiiiphiis agrees with that l)One in Gallifuv^o, 

 and the hyoidean apparatus in the two species is practically alike. 

 Its osseous parts are extremely delicate in point of structure. 



The skull of Micropii/tu/ta hiiiiaiitopus offers us a most perfect go-be- 

 tween, standing as it does exactly between the Dowitchers {Macfo- 

 rhamphiis) and the Tn';io;as. It is undoubtedly a Snipe-sandpiper in 

 every sense of the word. The structure of the upjjcr bony bill, as de- 

 scribed above for Ga//i/iai;o, has, in it, a///iost mellowed down to 

 what we find in the typical Sandpipers, while the mandible shows 

 the posterior flexure to some degree, and its cranium is truly scolo- 

 patringine. 



Ahyfi's upon the MorpJioh\^y of t/ie Ski/// in t/ie Sandpipers. — There 

 is at mv hand a complete skeleton of jyini^a niaritinia, and its skull, 

 except in point of size, ap])ears to be almost exactly like the skull as 

 we find it in P/ia/aropiis /o/>aiiis. So far as the essential characters 

 are concerned they are absolutely identical in the skulls of these two 

 birds, and it is only slight variation in pattern that causes any differ- 

 ences to exist at all. The bill of the Phalarope is straigJit ; the bill of 

 the Sandpiper is somewhat decurved, but withal, the characters of this 

 part of the skull are the same. T. niaritinia has the supra-occipital 

 foramina present, but they are likewise so in Crymoplii/us, and I count 

 very little on that tact. 



Tringa ptitocneniis has a skull that very closely resembles the skull 

 as found in Apliriza virgata. The differences between the two are 

 hardly worthy of notice. 



Tringa niiniitii/a has a skull of the most delicate construction, but 

 it is typically limicoline and scolopacine as well. 



Most noticeable in Tringa is the absence of the supra-orbital glandu- 

 lar depressions and the extreme narrowness of the region of skull 

 where they occur in the other forms. Tringa fuscicoi/is\\'&.f, the supra- 

 occipital foramen and the fenestra in the interorbital septum, as in the 

 curlews. There seems to be in the mandil)le an inclination for the 

 hinder ends to bend downwards. 



This character is also observable in Tringa niiniitil/a, and in this 

 sandpiper the space between the orbital margins, on the superior aspect 

 of the skull, is reduced to a very narrow isthmus. It is much wider, 

 comparitively, in Tringa iniirdi ; and this form also faintly shows the 

 glandular depressions. They are quite well marked behind. The 

 mandible shows the posterior bend, and the articular extremities throw 



