2 A MANUAL OF THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



latter bearing a more or less strongly developed helmet, peculiar hollow spines as 

 the wing feathers and a peculiarly developed inner claw, and also having the head 

 bare and fleshy wattles on the neck. The superficial features are described under 

 the generic names, so we may just cite the known internal characters. Osteologically 

 the skull is dromaeognathous, a term introduced by Huxley, for the style of palatal 

 formation found in connection with these birds, but which has proved to be of less 

 value than was anticipated, as a similar state occurs in the Tinamous and Kiwi which 

 have no near relationship. It may be noted that Huxley separated the Ratite from 

 the Carinate birds, and then divided the latter by means of the palate, providing 

 dromseognathous for the Tinamous on account of their perfectly Struthious palate, 

 and since then the term has been used in connection with the Struthious birds. The 

 nasals are holorhinal and the basipterygoid processes are very large and peculiar, 

 articulating with the pterygoids at their extreme end, instead of half-way along, as 

 commonly in the higher groups. The lachrymals show a foramen in the descending 

 process. There is no furcula, only rudimentary clavicles being present, the coracoids 

 fused with the scapula and the sternum has no keel ; there are twenty cervical 

 vertebrae in Dromiceius, and eighteen or nineteen in Casuariua. The pelvis is peculiar, 

 there being no osseous connection between the pubes and ischia and ilium. There 

 are two carotid arteries and the digestive system is considered to represent the lowest 

 avian type of coiling. The syrinx is indistinct, showing no pessulus or intrinsic 

 musculature, a peculiar modification being seen in connection with Dromiceius. 

 The leg muscle formula is complete, being ABXY+, while the biceps slip is absent. 

 The oil gland is missing and the aftershaft is remarkably long, nearly the same length 

 as the main feather. The pterylosis is not well known, while the nestlings are striped, 

 the down being of a peculiar hair-like texture. Fossil remains in Australia may be 

 accredited to ancestral forms of this group, such as Oenyornis newtoni suggested as a 

 gigantic Emu-like form. 



SUBORDER CASUAR11FORMES. 

 FAMILY DROMICEIID.E. 



Characters as of the genus Dromiceius below, save that in size and proportions 

 the extinct genus Peronista differed. We have no record of any other details in 

 connection with the latter. We should note that there is a singular opening in the 

 front of the windpipe, communicating with a tracheal pouch, which has a literature 

 of its own and varied conjectures as to its usage, but this item has been entirely 

 neglected by recent field observers. 



Genus DROMICEIUS. 



Dromiceius Vieillot, Analyse nouv. Ornith., p. 54, April 14th, 1816. Type (by monotypy) : 



Casuarius novcehottandice Latham. Also spelt Dromaius on p. 70. 



Tachea Fleming, Philos. of Zool.. VoL II., p. 257, June 1822. Type (by monotypy) : 



Casuarius novcehottandice Latham. 



Emou Griffith and Pidgeon's ed. Cuvier's Anim. Kingd., Vol. VIII., p. 443, " 1829 " [? 1830]. 



New name for Dromaius Vieillot. 



Large Dromseoruithes with small heads, long necks, strong bodies, minute 

 flightless wings, no tail, very stout legs and feet, three toes but no hind-toe. The 

 bill is as long as head, the culmen ridge pronounced and narrow, the shape is 

 elongately triangular, the sides sloping behind the nostrils, which are placed a little 

 in front of the middle, flattened anteriorly. The nostrils are obliqu e slits . The under 

 mandible is very shallow, the rami sloping slightly, the interramal space large and 

 sparsely feathered ; there is a narrow strip between the two rami at the tip. The 



