TIIK GENUS MU ir.l-KIIUI AMPIirs. 51 



of the sternum, which seems to be very like that of Buteo 

 vulgaris, and the eggs, which are not yet known, although 

 nests of both M. anderssoni and M. alcinus have been dis- 

 covered, will probably be of the same type. My father 

 uses the English name of " Andersson's Pern " *, and 

 puts Macharirhamphus between the Honey-Buzzards and 

 Rostrhamus, tenth in the subfamily Milvinae, remarking 

 that : — "All the Pernine genera consist of birds with rela- 

 tively short tarsi, except Macharhamphus, in which the 

 tarsus is proportionately longer, as it is also in Rostrhamus 

 amongst the Milvinae, a similarity which induces me to con- 

 sider Machcerhamphus in immediate succession to Rostr- 

 hamus, notwithstanding the great difference in the form of 

 the bill.. This form in each case is unique, but affords a 

 strong contrast between the extremely elongated upper 

 mandible of Rostrhamus and the remarkably contracted one 

 of Macheerhamphus , in which genus the bill is smaller in 

 proportion than in any other Raptorial bird, though this 

 peculiarity is combined with a gape proportionally larger 

 than that of any other of the Ilaptores. The outline of the 

 bill and the very wide gape in both species of Macheerhampkus 

 may well remind the observer of the corresponding parts in 

 the Caprimulgine genus Nyctibius." ('Ibis,' 1879, p. 4G4.) 

 His remarks on the plumage of Machcerirhamphus, and 

 particularly on the fuliginous colour of the Madagascar 

 examples, will repay perusal. He also dwells on two charac- 

 teristics which have not been elsewhere noticed : — " The 

 first of these is the unusual relative length of the feathers 

 composing the under tail-coverts, the upper coverts being 



also long, but less remarkably so than the lower 



The second peculiarity which I am desirous of noticing is 

 that the interdigital membrane between the middle and 

 outer toe, which exists in many birds of prey, is developed 

 to an unusual extent in the genus Macheerhamphus, reaching 

 to the first joint of the outer, and beyond the first joint of 

 the middle toe, and filling up almost the entire space between 

 these two points." (L. c. p. 166.) 



* And in the Museum MS. Catalogue "' Keel-bill Pern." 



