ShUFELDT : OSTKOLOON (il I UK I.I.MICOI./K. 45 



nation of the osteology and other characters of Eurynorhynchiis reveals 

 only one important feature wherein this bird structurally differs from 

 the genus Triih^a, namely, the singular expansion of the bill, the 

 structural e^iuivalent of a similar modihcation in Flatalca Iciicorodia. 

 Indeed, this species, as pointed out by Mr. Harting, was originally 

 jjlaced in the genus Platalca by Linn;v;us." ' 



A careful study of the skull of Ilcteractitis incanus convinces me 

 that in that part of its anatomy it indicates rather close affinity with 

 such forms as Totaiius flai'ipcs and 7'. DiclaiioU'iicits. 



We will now pass to the consideration of the skull in some of these 

 birds, as well as of the (lodwits and others. 



Skull of tJie Goihoits, M'illcts, Tattlers, and Otlicrs. — In Totaiiiis nic- 

 hmoleiiciis the glandular depressions above the orbits are wider again, 

 and the supraoccipital foramina are present. A median notch is found 

 in the upper border of the foramen magnum. In Tofainis flavipes 

 nearly half the anterior wall of the brain-case is deficient, and the 

 interorbital septum is not formed in bone at all. This latter char- 

 acter does not occur in the \\'illet {Syiiiplic/nia se/iiipaliiiata). In this 

 interesting bird we find the supraoccipital foramina to be of some size, 

 and of an elliptical outline. The glandular depressions are barely 

 perceptible. Just beyond the cranio-facial region, on the culmen, we 

 note the persistence of the premaxillary sutures. This shows to some 

 extent how for the nasals must extend forwards. The vomer is pointed 

 anteriorly, and the interorbital vacuity is divided by an os.seous bar. 

 Upon a basal view we find that the lower borders of the maxillo- 

 palatine plates appear. They are attached to the palatines anteriorly, 

 being directed backwards as free lamina. Their connection anteriorly 

 with the maxillaries is by their outer angles. In the mandible of 

 Symphonia the true ramal vacuity has become a mere slit, filled in 

 with a plate of bone ; while the small foramen I described in the 

 Curlews is here very large, and has more the appearance of the true ramal 

 vacuity as seen in other birds. 



This condition likewise exists in Liinosa fcdoa and Z. tuFinastica. 

 The rims of the orbits in the former bird are rounded, differing in this 

 respect from the Curlews. In this (iodwit, too, we note a jjointed 



'Anderson, J. "On ihe O.steolot^y and Ptcrylosis of the Spoon-billed Saiulpiper 

 [E. pygnurus).'^ Trans. Linn. Soc. (2 ser. ). 1. Zoology. London, 1879, pp. 213- 

 217. The quotation is from p. 217. .\ handsome plate (osteology) illustrates this 

 memoir. 



