ON THE AUSTRALIAN BUSTARD. 243 
alive, and could find no trace of a sublingual orifice, and, what is 
more, felt and saw a median frenum lingue quite distinctly. This 
made me doubt the correctness of Dr. Murie’s inference, that, because Page 472. 
the neck of Eupodotis australis becomes distended much during the 
sexual season, therefore there is a gular pouch. 
This individual bird, which formed the subject of Dr. Murie’s plate 
(“ Proceedings of the Zoological Society,” 1868, pl. xxxvi.), died on 
May 11, 1874, having shown off in its wonted manner during the few 
preceding weeks. An excellent opportunity was thus afforded for the 
decision of the question whether or not this specimen had a gular 
pouch. 
Fig. 1. Fig. 2. 
Fig. 1. The esophagus, trachea, and gular pouch of a specimen of Otis tarda, 
seen from the side. The crop is here ps8 rawn as in the actual preparation, 
projecting backwards, and not forwards as usual. 
Fig. 2. The esophagus and trachea of the specimen of Eupodotis australis here 
described. The wsophagus is much dilated, and, like that of the Pouter 
Pigeon, can be distended with air by the living bird. No trace of a pouch 
or crop is to be seen. 
There was no gular pouch. There was no sublingual orifice. The 
freenum lingue was well developed, it being necessarily quite absent in 
the adult male of Otis tarda. How unsafe therefore is it to infer that, 
because the neck distends and depends during the “ show-off,” there 
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