332 SHUFELDT. [Vou. II. 
the outline of the posterior border of the blade of the proximal 
joint of index finger. 
Equal correspondence of characters in the pectoral limbs of 
Plovers, Sandpipers, and Turnstones, as compared with the 
bones of the skeleton of the arm, in Aphrzza seem to prevail, 
as they were found to prevail among the shoulder girdles and 
sterna of the same species. Practically, the description I have 
just given for the arm bones of the Surf-bird will answer all 
purposes of exactness for the representatives of the genera 
Tringa, Arenaria, and most, if not all, true pluvialine types. 
This, of course, does not apply to the mere question of the 
difference of size, but to the salient features only. Our engag- 
ing little 7: mznutzlla has a pectoral limb, the skeleton of which 
corresponds, in so far as its available taxonomic points are con- 
cerned, with the same parts in the Surf-bird, to a degree of 
nearness most exasperating to the comparative anatomist, and 
discouraging to one eagerly searching for strong diagnostic dis- 
tinctions in the structure of such types. Turning to the skele- 
ton of the black Oyster-catcher we find but one sure point of 
difference that can be relied upon, apart from its size, as distin- 
guishing the fundamental plan of the structure of the skeleton 
of its arm from the above species. In this bird we find a claw 
upon the end of the pollex phalanx, which, by the way, is also 
found in some Curlews. 
Aside from this character, then, we might, were it possible, 
reduce the arm bones of this Oyster-catcher until they equalled 
in size those of a Surf-bird, and it would puzzle the best of us 
to correctly decide to which species either belonged, after such 
a hypothetical reduction. 
These limicoline birds all seem to lack the os humero scapu- 
Jare at the shoulder joint, and I have yet to find in any of 
them the sesmoidal ossicles at the elbow, such as we do find, 
for instance, in some of the Puffins. 
Of the Skeleton of the Pelvic Limb. —In Aphriza virgata the 
Jemur possesses only a moderately sized, semi-globular head, 
with barely any depression on the top of it for the insertion of 
the teres ligament. The trochanter is lofty and thick, reaching 
conspicuously above the articular summit of the bone, which 
latter is broad and smooth. Little or no curvature is met with 
as we descend the shaft, and this is quite cylindrical for its 
