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NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



TABLE OF VERTEBRAE AND RIBS IN COCCYGES 



It will be observed in this table that Coccystes is stated to have 

 but 13 cervical vertebrae, as compared with 14 in all the other 

 cuckoos. As my skeleton of that species, at this writing, is a dis- 

 articulated one, it is just possible that one of the cervicals may have 

 been lost, although the count may be right, and there is no ques- 

 tion about the difference in the number of the caudal vertebrae, 

 but these are far more apt to vary in number as compared with the 

 cervical series. Otherwise, this table is substantially correct, as I 

 have compiled it with great care, a labor that has given me the 

 opportunity to revise in these particulars some of the work pre- 

 sented in previous publications on these birds. However, in any 

 event, setting exceptions aside, it may be said that the cuculine 

 type possesses 18 free vertebrae between the skull and pelvis ; that 

 there are five or six caudal vertebrae, usually five ; that there are 

 from two to three pairs of cervical ribs ; and that there are invari- 

 ably four pairs of dorsal ribs, of which three or four connect with 

 the sternum by costal haemapophyses. In all that I have examined, 

 the pygostyle has a long superior border, the exception being in 

 Crotophaga, where it is pointed. This bone is pneumatic as are 

 all the other vertebrae, with the possible exception of the atlas. 



