412 ON THE PETEELS COLLECTED DURING 



below the first are incomplete anteriorly, whilst behind there is a box 

 formed by the last two tracheal and first four bronchial rings. 



Majaqueus is very like Diomedea in its syrinx, the penultimate tracheal 



ring, however, being ossified anteriorly, as well as its five successors, 



Zool. Chall. which remain free in front. The second bronchial ring is the last 



pt^i^ 4! en ^ er ^ n g i Q * the composition of the triangular pessular box behind, the 



third and fourth rings remaining free. 



In Diomedea brachyura and some of the allied species, the bronchi 

 seem to be, according to the late Mr. Swinhoe's notes, long and con- 

 voluted, in a way reminding one of that which occurs in Ciconia nigra. 

 I have not observed such convolutions in any Albatross or other Petrel 

 dissected by myself. I herewith append the descriptions given by 

 Swinhoe of this peculiarity. 



Diomedea brachyura. " In the male of this Albatross the bronchi 

 on leaving the trachea bulge considerably as they run horizontally, then 

 contract, and bend forwards and downwards, and lastly, turning sharp 

 round, rise upwards and bulge again before entering the lungs " (Swin- 

 hoe, Ibis, 1863, p. 431). 



" A female Diomedea bracliyura had the swollen and convoluted trachea 

 which I thought before was peculiar to the male " (1. c. 1867, p. 227). 



Diomedea nigripes. " In this species the trachea of the female is 

 simple, but that of the male is terminated by large, swollen, convoluted 

 bronchi. In a male specimen, procured in May, the bronchi ran down right 

 and left, almost straight for about ly 7 ^ inches, then took a bend forward 

 for a short space, and narrowed, and lastly bending inwards and upwards, 

 bulged largely and entered the lungs " (1. c. 1863, p. 432). 



In five adult males of Diomedea deroyata examined, all had contorted 

 bronchi. These " bulge and go downwards and sidewards, then bend 

 under the ribs on each side into a large globe, pressing between itself 

 and the ribs as each enters the lung at the back " (Proc. Zool. Soc. 

 1873, p. 785). 



6. Osteology. 



M. Alphonse Milne-Edwards having described at length, with figures, 

 the osteology of the Tubinares in his classical work on fossil birds (vide 

 supra, p. 370), whilst other points of their osseous structure have been 

 elucidated by Brandt, Huxley, Reinhardt, and others, as already men- 

 tioned in the introductory part, there is not the same necessity for 

 dwelling here on this part of the organization of the Petrels as was the 

 case when describing the softer and more perishable parts. Moreover, 

 no amount of detailed description of bones, however elaborate or well 

 illustrated, can serve the purpose of scientific research so well as actual 

 specimens, which can in most cases be comparatively easily obtained for, 

 and permanently preserved in, museums. 



