PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



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variation, so that the slieleton would seem to offer the most stable char- 

 acters for classification, although, as has so often been said, it is by 

 the resultant of characters that we must be guided. 



The members of the Co^rebidte herein discussed are Ccereba cymiea, 

 C. coerulea, Certhiola cahoti, C. bahamensis,* and Glossoptihi campestris. 

 The palatal regions of the skulls of these genera are figured, and refer- 

 ence to them will be better than any detailed description. 



Fig. 1.— Views of palatal region of (1) Ccereba cynnea; (2) Certhiola caboti; (3) Olossoptila eampes- 

 iiis; all enlarged. 



The crania agree in the following particulars: the prepalatiue bar 

 is slender, the postpalatine portion produced backward and overhang- 

 ing the anterior ends of the pterygoids. The anterior, interpalatine 

 angle is small, almost abortive; the transpalatine process slender and 

 spine-like. The more noticeable differences are as follows : In Ccereba 

 the prepalatiue is carried forward beneath the premaxillary ; in Certhiola 

 and Olossoptila it abuts upon and interlocks with the posterior, ventral 

 part of the iiremaxillary. In Coereba the palatine and pterygoid are 

 completely fused ; in Certhiola and Olossoptila they are separate. The 

 pterygoids are anteriorly in contact, or very nearly so, in Cwreha and 

 Certhiola; in Olossoptila they are separated by the sphenoid. 



Certhiola and Olossoptila have septomaxillary splints united with the 

 vomer. Dr. Parker figures them in Chlorophanes atrieilla, and they 

 are present in Coereba ccerula, although I foiled to find them in C. eyanea. 



The tendinal perforations of the upper end of the tarsus, while 

 arranged on the same general plan in those passerine bn-ds examined, 

 show a number of variations in the executions of details, some of which 



* Also crania of C. tricolor and C. portoricensis. 

 produced of any species of Certhiola examined. 



This last has the angle of jaw most 



