Snui Ki.ni' : OsiKoi.ocv ok thk Limicol.e. 53 



broadish and roniprcssed from above downwards ; the ilio-ischiac 

 notch distinct ; and the ischia very much ])roduced behind, l)eing car- 

 ried along on tO]) of the ])Ost-piibis, on either side, as a debcate 

 pointed spine, reaching ahiiost to its end behind. 'I'his si)ecies has, 

 inchiding the jiygostyle, ten coccygeal vertebra;. Other Sandpipers 

 possess pelves much upon the same plan. 



In Limosa, Totaiius, Hctcractiiis and in the Willets {Sy//if>/ie/>iia) 

 the ])elvis comes considerably nearer the ])attern as we found it above 

 among the Curlews. 1 am confident that in the Liniicolcc the number 

 of coccygeal vertebra: is liable to vary even within the genus. They 

 range from seven to eleven, and may or may not be constant, although 

 I think that the number which may fuse with the pelvic sacrum, in any 



Fig. i8. The os furcula of Nioiicniiis lom^irostris ; a three-quarter ohlicjue view 

 from the right side ; natural size. 



species, has not a little to do with it. The count in immature birds 

 would be the most accurate. 



Of the Shoulder- Girdle (Fig. i8). — We find in Niimeniiis loiigi- 

 rostris the usual l)ones allotted to this arch free and articulated in the 

 manner as commonly seen in many of the class. The sha])e of the os 

 furcula is u])on the broad U-variety, and is l)roader in this Curlew 

 than it is in others of the same genus, and still more so than in the 

 Plovers. \'iewing it laterally, we observe also that it is very decidedly 

 curved upon itself, with the convexity directed forwards when /;/ situ. 

 When articulated, the long and pointed clavicular heads rest on either 

 side against the inner aspects of the summits of the coracoids, while 

 the tips extend backwards to meet the usual process furnished by each 

 scapula. This brings the hypocleidium oi)])Osite the middle of the 

 anterior border of the sternum, from which it is separated by quite an 

 interspace. 



