44 AxNAi.s OF THE Carnf.ciie Museum. 



off behind lamelliform, upturned processes that are a prominent fea- 

 ture in this bone. The vomer is pointed in front, and the supra- 

 occipital foramina are present. 



Tringa maciilata and Trifiga alpina possess skulls very much alike 

 in many of their characters — in the arrangement of the maxillo-]:)ala- 

 tines, the presence in each of the glandular depressions with a similar 

 form. Both have the supraoccipital foramina and great deficiency of 

 bone in the anterior wall of the brain-case and interorbital septum. 

 They differ in the form of the ethmoidal wings. T. niaculaia shows a 

 little bony loop, projecting forwards from the outer borders of this 

 plate, which is absent in the Dunlin. In the Pectoral Sandpiper this 

 ethmoidal ])late is not carried up so far as it is in T. alpina, in which 

 bird it absorbs the lacrymal on either side. 



The little osseous loop on the ala-ethmoid, referred to as a charac- 

 ter in T. iiiaculata, is seen also in RJiyacopJiilus soUiarius. Here, 

 however, its upper limb comes down from the lacrymal to throw in 

 its lower limb at a right angle to the ethmoid. This explains the man- 

 ner in which it is developed and accounts for its presence. The vomer 

 is pointed anteriorly in the Solitary Tattler. A deep median pit char- 

 acterizes the cranio -frontal region in 7\ pusilhis. 



In Acfitis macularia the glandular depressions on the roofs of the 

 orbits are long and narrow and bound the entire supra-orbital peri- 

 phery. This constitutes a real difference as compared with all true 

 sandpipers, and also denotes in some degree a relationship to the 

 curlews. 



A. //laci/Ian'a has also the supraoccipital foramina present, and of 

 some considerable size. Very large vacuities occur in the interorbital 

 septum, and the foramina for the optic, olfactory, and other nerves 

 have all run together to form one large irregular foramen. 



BarfraDiia lo)igicauda does not possess the supraoccipital foramina, 

 and the glandular depressions above the orbits are still narrower than 

 they are in Aciitis. In this latter Sandpiper we find a minute sjjur 

 on the anterior margin of the pars phvia, directed forwards ; and its 

 maxillo-palatines have each such a large vacuity in their bodies that 

 either one is reduced to a mere hair-like rim of bone. Its vcvner is 

 long and jjointed. 



The skeleton of the remarkable Spoon-bill Sandpiper {Eiirv/iorhvii- 

 c/ii/s pyg/!i(ei/s) has been examined by Mr. J. Anderson, and he com- 

 pletes his paper on the subject by saying that " The foregoing exami- 



