No. 3.] THE OSTEOLOGY OF THE PIGEONS. 507 



fuse the ultimate cervical {Melopelid). Five {Starnauias) or six 

 {Ectopistes) free caudal vertebrae. A good-sized pygostyle present. 

 Pelvis broad and shallow ; no prepubic spine present. 



14. Os furcula U-shaped, without hypocleidium, and very slender. 



15. Sternum large, with very deep carina ; two pair of flaring xiphoidal 



processes, usually making the bone four-notched, but the posterior 

 or more inconspicuous internal pair of xiphoidal processes may unite 

 by their extremities with the mid-xiphoidal prolongation and thus 

 create fenestras behind. Manubrium small, corpus sterni often 

 narrow for its entire length. Usually four articular facets upon 

 either costal border. 



16. The humerus is straight, pneumatic, and its radial crest is triangular 



in form. The radius is straight and the tilna is bowed. 



17. Trochanter of /^/««r elevated above the summit of the shaft. Patella 



may be very small and in two pieces, or it may be larger with a 

 single minute piece near it {Starnccnas). Ossific centers in tibial 

 cartilage. 



18. Hypotarsus of tarso-inetatarsus of short cubical form, and is both 



pierced and grooved for the passage of tendons. Hallux on a level 

 with the other toes, and its metatarsal peculiarly twisted. Pha- 

 langes of pes 2, 3, 4, 5 for the 1-4 toes, respectively. 



Affinities of the Pigeons. 



Our suborder of ColiimbcB in the United States contains but 

 one family — the Colimibidce. Whether the quail-doves of 

 the genus Starncrnas should constitute a subfamily of the 

 ColnmbidcB can only be settled when we are in possession of 

 a full knowledge of their anatomy. So far as the osteology of 

 Siarncsnas cyanocephala goes, it would seem to indicate that 

 a subfamily line separates it from our other pigeons. One of 

 the best-established facts in ornithology is that the Colnmbidcs 

 are nearly related to the great gallinaceous group of birds ; 

 so then the nearest relatives they have in our avifauna are the 

 TetraonidcB, especially the grouse. Then beyond them the 

 CracidcB and turkeys. Huxley has said, as we have already 

 noted elsewhere, that " on the other side they seem to be 

 allied with the owls and vultures." Such afBnities, however, 

 must be quite remote. There is no question about the links 

 that connect the columbine types with the grouse and ptarmi- 

 gans {Lagopns), for they are most perfectly seen in the 



