2l8 Shufeldt, Osteology of Cereopsis nnvfr-hollandics. fisfA^rii 



vomer in the middle line, and at this place of meeting, beneath 

 the prcsphenoid, they articulate with each other. More pos- 

 teriorly they diverge, to meet and articulate with either pterygoid 

 bone. On the under surface of a palatine there is a distinct ridge 

 formed, commencing at the pterygoid articulation, to be carried 

 forwards as the mesial edge of the bone, to the point where it 

 comes in contact with the maxillo-palatine of the same side. The 

 intero-anterior palatine vacuity, divided mesially by the vomer, 

 is oval in outline and very broad in Cr;ro/).sis (fig. ig). Tt is con- 

 tinuous above with the spacious rhinal chamber of this Australian 

 Goose. 



Tachyeres cinereus has its palatines straighter, narrower, and 

 placed nearer together than in Cereopsis. It also has that which 

 the latter has not — a large pneumatic foramen on the outer aspect 

 of the bone. In both of these birds the postero-external angle 

 of the palatine is slightly produced — that is, not rounded, as we 

 find it to be in Chloephaga hyhrida, and perhaps in other species. 

 In Tachyeres, again, the palatines — from where they meet 

 superiorly behind, where they clas]! the vomer — each sends forward 

 a process that moulds itself upon and contributes to the superior 

 rounded and projecting border of the vomer. This appears also 

 to be the case in Cereopsis, in which species the vomer is a weak 

 and imperfectly ossified bone, the antero-superior apex of which 

 fuses with the maxillo-palatines in the median plane. 



Tachyeres, among the Fuligulina', has a big. deep vomer, convex 

 above and straight below, with its supero-anterior free end carried 

 forwards as a sharp spine. 



Chloephaga poliocephala also has a large vomer, while it is free 

 anteriorly and poorly ossified in the skull I have at hand of C. 

 hyhrida. In the American Geese of the genera Chen, Anser, and 

 Branta, it is fairly well developed — especially in B. canadensis. 



The mesethmoid in Cereopsis is almost hidden from view by the 

 bones on either side surrounding it ; but its abutment above, 

 beneath the cranio-facial region, is not extensive, while it is 

 particularly so in Chloephaga and Tachyeres, where, owing to the 

 formation of the surrounding bones in the dried skull, one may 

 appreciate its entii^e extent, and observe the broad table it affords 

 for the frontals, nasals, and premaxillary processes to rest upon. 



In all the Geese named above, the mesial anterior border of the 

 mesethmoid is sharp, it being short from above downwards in 

 Branta, where, at its lowest point, a sharp spine protrudes forwards. 

 This last is furnished by the anterior apex of the presphenoid, all 

 this part of the cranium having become thoroughly fused together 

 in the adult. 



In the skull of Cereopsis novce-hollandicB at hand the ossicles 

 of the middle ear have remained intact, and it is to be noted that 

 the medio -stapedial element is performed in bone, it having the 

 usual form, and the shaft rather long. The snpra-stapedial, extra- 

 stapedial, and the itifra-stapedial, all being in cartilage, present 

 the usual avian characters for this group of birds, and, morpho- 



