STERNUM OF THE STORK. 389 



the central part. The coracoids are short, strong, and 

 much enlarged on their posterior sides. The clavicle 

 is open, though but slightly arched in the plane of the 

 opening. It is much enlarged toward the shoulder- 

 joints, and much more arched toward the front than 

 laterally. The blade bones are long, flat, and slightly 

 bent, but not so large in proportion as in the agami. 

 The preceding figure of the sternum of the white 

 stork, on a scale of half the natural size, may be con- 

 sidered as an average specimen. 



Profile of the same bone on the same scale. 



On examining this sternal apparatus it will be seen 

 that though the keel is well developed, and the 

 shoulder also moderately firm for flight, yet that the 

 extent of the scapular, the arching toward the front 

 of the clavicle, and the union of that bone with the 

 angle of the sternal keel, throw a portion of the sup- 

 port upon the back and thence to the legs, which in 

 all the species are well adapted for walking. Still, 

 though these birds cannot be considered as possessing 



