3l6 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



I can not safely use for a description of its spinal column the 

 imperfect skeleton I have at hand of Dendrocygna 

 a u t u m n a 1 i s . Doubtless some of the vertebrae have been lost 

 from it. There are but i6 belonging to the cervical region, but this 

 may be onc^ or at the most, two short of the number possessed in 

 life. In the cervicodorsal portion of the skeleton, as seen in this 

 particular specimen {see fig. 40], the leading vertebra has a rather 

 long pair of ribs that support uncinate processes. This vertebra is 

 followed by iiz'e true dorsals, the vertebral ribs of which connect 

 with the sternum by means of haemapophyses. This arrangement 

 agrees with Branta and Chen. Sixteen vertebrae seem to be 

 grasped by the pelvic bones, or one less than I find in either Anser 

 or Chen, but agreeing in this particular with not a few genera of 

 ducks. Probably Dendrocygna has 5 or 6 free caudal vertebrae in 

 its tail skeleton, with the pygostyle, but these, all save three, have 

 been lost in the specimen now at hand. 



Turning again to the spinal column of Branta canadensis, 

 I find in the case of the atlas that the cup for the occipital condyle 

 is deeply notched above, and the lateral vertebral canals are en- 

 tirely surrounded by bone ; this is likewise the case in Dendrocygna 

 and Chen, but the span across the notch upon either side in Anser 

 a 1 b i f r o n s is extremely feeble. In all geese and the tree ducks 

 the lateral vertebral canals of the axis are more or less completely 

 arched over with bone, and in Branta the parial parapophysial 

 spines of this vertebra are quite conspicuously developed, being 

 less so in the smaller geese, and still less so in Dendrocygna. A 

 very low neural spine is present in the case of the Canada goose, 

 while the haemal one is pronounced. From the 3d to the 14th 

 vertebrae inclusive in the spine of Branta there is found the carotid 

 Cc.nal ; it being for the most part shallow, and entirely open 

 throughout its course. The lateral canals in this region are long 

 and entirely shielded over by bone ; they materially shorten in the 

 I5th-i8th vertebra, after which free ribs occur. In the mid cervical 

 region of the neck of this goose the vertebrae are not much elon- 

 gated, and, as a rule, the outstanding processes are but inconspicu- 

 ously developed. This applies especially to the neural spines, the 

 pre- and postzygapophyses, and the parapophyses, whereas the 

 haemal spines are hardly present at all, being only noticeable in any 

 degree in the 15th, i6th and 17th vertebrae, where the postzyga- 

 pophyses are rather better elongated. In Chen, 11 vertebrae, at 

 most, assist in forming the carotid canal, while in Dendrocygna 



