XIII 



PHYLUM OHORDATA 



427 



The skull of Birds is generally remarkable for its huge orbits 

 separated by a thin interorbital septum, and for the comparatively 

 small size of the ethmoid bone and the turbinals. The most 

 striking exception is afforded by the Kiwi (Apteryx] in which the 

 orbits (Fig. 1064) are small and indistinct, while the olfactory 

 chambers (Ec. EtJi) extend backwards between the eyes; the orbits 

 being therefore separated from one another by the whole width of 

 the organ of smell. The same thing occurs, to a less degree, in 

 the Moas. 



In its essential features the skull is remarkably uniform 

 throughout the class. The rounded form of the brain-case, more 

 or less concealed externally by ridges for the attachment of 

 muscles ; the upper beak composed mainly of great triradiate 



NvV 



.oc.pr 



;. 10ti4. Apteryx mantelli. Skull of a youn^ specimen, side view. The cartilaginous 

 parts are dotted. Al.sph. alisphenoid ; Ang. angular ; Cn. 1, Cn. 2, condyle of quadrate ; Dent. 

 dentary ; '/. fa:, </. />r. descending processes of nasal and frontal ; Ec.Eth. ecto-ethmoid ; Ex. Col. 

 extra-columella ; Ex. oc. exoccipital ; Jv. jugal ; Lac. lacrymal ; Inc. for. lacrymal foramen ; 

 Xn. nasal; ;m.. n/>. nasal aperture; Xr. If. Iff, 1 F, optic foramen, transmitting also the 3rd 

 and 4th nerves ; Jfv. F', foramen for orbito-iiasal nerve ; Nv. VII, for facial ; Oc. Cn. 

 occipital c' iidyle ; PH. parietal ; Puf. palatine : pa. oc. pr. par-occipital process ; Pmx. pre- 

 maxilla ; Pr. ot. pro-otic ; Qu. Ju. quadrato-jugal ; Qu. quadrate ; Qu. (orb. pr.) orbital process 

 of quadrate ; S.orb.F. supra-orbital foramen ; -Sty. squamosal. (After T. J. Parker.) 



premaxillse ; the single, small, rounded occipital .condyle; the 

 slender maxillo-jugal arch; the large parasphenoidal rostrum;' 

 the freely articulated quadrate, with its otic, orbital, and articular 

 processes ; the absence of the reptilian post-frontals ; and the early 

 ankylosis of the bones ; all these characters are universal among 

 Birds. There are, however, endless differences in detail, some of 

 which, connected with the bones of the palate, are of importance 

 in classification. 



In the Katitae and the Tinamous (Crypturi) there are large 

 basi-pterygoid processes (Fig. 1065, B,ptg. pr} springing, as in 

 Lizards, from the basisphenoid, and articulating with the ptery- 

 goids near their posterior ends. The vomer ( Vo) is large and 

 broad, and is usually connected posteriorly with the palatines (Pal), 

 which do not articulate with the rostrum. The maxillo-palatine 



