146 ON THE STKUCTURE OF PHILEPITTA. 



tines are nearly parallel to each other throughout*. In the Eury- 

 laemidaD f the maxillo-palatines, though slender, are nearly transverse to 

 the axis of the skull, and the " transpalatines " tend to become obsolete. 



Judging from M. Milne-Ed war ds's figure (I. c. pi. 112. fig. 3), the 

 manubrium sterni is but slightly bifid, therein approaching that of the 

 Eurylaemidse. 



As regards other points, in its pterylosis Philepitta, which was one of 

 the few important forms unexamined by Nitzsch, is perfectly Passerine. 

 There is a longish oval ephippial saddle, with a large space, much as in 

 some of the Eurylsemidae (vide supra, p. 138) ; in Pitta, according to 

 Nitzsch, the saddle is undivided. But Philepitta differs from the Eury- 

 IsemidsB, and agrees with all other Passeres, in the absence of any 

 vinculum in the deep plantar tendons, as was ascertained by Prof. Garrod 

 from the examination of a skin, and recorded by him in MS. 



P. Z. S. 1880, As regards the alimentary canal, there is nothing peculiar. The 

 p. 389. tongue, in the specimen forwarded from Paris, was removed ; but, as we 

 know from M. Milne-Edwards's figure, it is triangular and bifid at the 

 end. There is no crop developed ; and the zonary proventriculus is half 

 an inch deep. The stomach is a strong gizzard, rather elongated in 

 shape, with thick and considerably plicated epithelium. The liver is 

 unequilobed, the left lobe being half the size of the right ; it has a gall- 

 bladder. The total length of the intestines is seven inches, of which 

 the last half -inch is large intestine. The caeca are truly passerine, being 

 mere nipples, and rather widely separated. 



The syrinx of Philepitta being hitherto entirely unknown, I herewith 

 give a description and figures of it. 



Fig. 2. Fig. 3 Fig. 4. 



Fig. 2. Syrinx of Philepitta, from before. Fig. 3. The same, from behind. 

 Fig. 4. The same, from the right side. (These figures are magnified about 4 times.) 



* . Cf. Prof. Parker's fig. of Pitta melanocephala, Trans. Zool. Soc. ix. pi. Ivi. figs. 6, 7. 

 In this species the " transpalatine " processes are far less developed than in P. cyanura. 



f Figures of the palates of Euryl&mus ochromelas and Catyptomena viridis are given 

 in Prof. Garrod's paper, P. Z. S. 1877, p. 449. 



