Vol. XIII. 



1913 



] Shufeldt, Osteology of the Red Wattle-Bird. 1 1 



osteology of the sternum and shoulder -girdle in my above-cited 

 Proc. Zool. Soc. paper on Arachnothera magna, rendering it 

 entirely unnecessary to reproduce such descriptions here, especially 

 as the matter of space is to be taken into consideration. 



The Appendicular Skeleton : The Pectoral Limb. 



Such sesamoids as the os hwnero-scapulare at either shoulder- 

 joint, and the patellce at the knees, completely ossify in all Passeres 

 as a rule ; and, as it is the case of many of the birds mentioned 

 above, it is fair to presume that these elements are also performed 

 in bone in the Red Wattle-Bird, though they have all been lost 

 in the skeleton now at hand (figs. 6 and 7, Plate I.) 



As is the case with nearly the entire skeleton of Anthochcura 

 carunculata, the humerus is a completely pneumatic bone, and has 

 an extreme length of 3.5 cms. The shaft is smooth, sub- 

 cylindrical in form, and nearly straight, exhibiting but little of 

 the usual sigmoidal curvature seen in the humeri of many species 

 of birds. Thoroughly surrounded by a conspicuous and thickened 

 margin, the pneumatic fossa is both large and deep, exhibiting 

 several foramina at its base. 



The radial crest is short, straight, and not lofty, ending abruptly 

 on the shaft, nearly opposite where the ulnar tuberosity terminates 

 on the other side. 



At the distal end of the shaft we meet with all the features 

 present there in the humerus of any Passerine bird, they being 

 unusually large and prominently produced — in fact, distinctly 

 more so than they are in Prosthemadera or Entomyza. We in- 

 variably meet with a small sesamoid at the elbow in all of these 

 birds. 



Structurally, the skeleton of the arm in Anthochcsra comes 

 much nearer Prosthemadera than Entomyza — that is, in the form 

 and proportionate lengths of the bones composing it. 



So well are the bones of the antibrachinm, carpus, and maniis 

 shown in fig. 6 of Plate I. that any special description of them 

 would seem to be almost superfluous. 



None of the phalanges ever supports " claws," while especial 

 attention is invited to the prominent and much individualized 

 olecranon process of the ulna ; to the peculiar little tubercle for 

 the guidance of special tendons on the upper side of the distal 

 extremity of the bone ; and to the deep tendinal groove passing 

 down the entire length of the index metacarpal on its anterior 

 aspect. This is for the passage of the tendon of the flexor 

 digitorum profundus muscle, and occurs in other species.* 



The Pelvic Limb (fig. 7, Plate L'^ 



This limb seems to be non-pneumatic in all the species mentioned 

 in the present paper, such being the rule throughout the Passeres 

 generally. 



Femur has an extreme length, in Anthochara carunculata, 



* Shufeldt, R, \V., " The Myology of the Raven," p. 140, fig. 39. 



