Vol. XIII. 

 igi3 



] Shufeldt, Osteology of the Red Wattle-Bird. 



No. 



289. Cyanerpes cyanea. 



345. Arachnothera longirostris. 

 318. ,, magna. 



497. Leptocoma grayi. 



340. Cinnyris chalybeus. 



426. Diglossa baritula. 



500. Anthreptes malaccensis. 



No. 



306. Cccreha chloropyga. 



781. Acanthorhynchits, sp. ? 



365. Prosthcmadera novcs - zea- 



landicB. 



702. Entomyza cyanotis. 



725. Anthogenys rufignlaris. 



712. Climacteris scandens. 



In the excellent work by A. J. Campbell (2 vols., 8vo) on the 

 " Nests and Eggs of Australian Birds," we find the following 

 arrangement — that is, the NectariniidcB, or Sun-Birds, containing 

 the single species Cinnyris frenata, followed by the Meliphagidcs, 

 or Honey-eaters, thus : — 



Families. Sub-families. 



iZosteropincB . . . . 27 species 



MeliphagidcB . . .A Myzomelince . . . . 27 ,, 



yM eliphagincB . . . . 69 „ 



DiccBdicB. (Flower-peckers, with 10 species). 



Several species of Anthochcera are listed under the Meli- 

 phagidcB, some of which are differently classified by Sharpe in 

 his "Hand-list"; as, for example, Anthochcera ruflgiilaris is there 

 listed as Acanthogenys rufigularis, and so on. 



Sharpe gives but two species of Anthochcera — namely, A. carun- 

 ciilata and .4. inauris (p. 89). 



Anthochcera mellivora (Campbell) is Anellohia chrysoptera of 

 Sharpe's " List," and Anthochcera lunulata (Campbell) is Anellobia 

 lunulata in the same work. 



In any event, it will be appreciated, after reviewing the fore- 

 going material at my command, that a very fair comparative study 

 of the skeleton of Anthochcera carunciilata can be made through 

 its use, and to this I shall now proceed without further delay. 



The Skull (Plate I., fig. i, and Plate III., fig. 16).— With respect 

 to its general fades, the skull, including the lower mandible, of this 

 Red Wattle-Bird possesses all the characteristics of that part of 

 the skeleton in any of the ordinary Passeres of a more or less 

 similar size. On its upper surface the cranial portion is smooth, 

 and the vault of the brain-case semi-globular. The superior 

 margins of the orbits are sharp and somewhat elevated above the 

 depressed frontal region standing between them. Anteriorly, over 

 the cranio-facial part, the aforesaid depression is best marked, 

 while beyond it the upper surface of the somewhat broad mandible 

 slopes gently away. Beyond this again, the culmen between the 

 very large, subelliptical narial apertures is notably narrow ; the 

 rest of the mandible is slightly decurved, and terminates rather 

 acutely at its apex. 



When thus viewed from above, the skull of Creadion carunculatus 

 very much resembles A. carunculata, as will be observed by com- 

 paring figs. 15 and 16 of Plate III., where it will be noted that 

 Creadion simply has the fore part of the skull narrower than in 



