234 SnuFKLDT, Osteology of Cereopsis novcc-hoUandice. I^J'a^u 



middle of the base of the hypotarsus on its mesial side ; the other 

 occurs at the distal ending of the first canal on the outer side. 

 This is also the case in other Geese, as Branta and Chen, while in 

 the representatives of the latter genus there are but two grooves, 

 and two closed canals traversing the hypotarsus. 



Mid-trodilea is very large, and situated much lower on the shaft 

 than is the one on either side of it. Each is markedly individ- 

 ualized, and the foramen for the anterior tibial artery is of con- 

 siderable size, occupying its usual site. It communicates with 

 another perforation — a much smaller one — which passes longi- 

 tudinally through the isthmus below it, connecting the middle 

 and outer trochlea. This secondary foramen is also present in 

 this locality in Chen and Branta, and perhaps in other Anserince. 



First metatarsal is free and rather small in this Australian 

 Goose, and the toe it supports with its claw or ungual joint is 

 somewhat feebly developed. On the other hand, the three 

 anterior toes of pes, with their 3, 4, and 5 joints, taken in their 

 order from the inner to the outer one, are stout and short, as we 

 would expect to be the case in a bird that spends so much of its 

 time upon the ground. 



The ungual joints are big, sharp-pointed, and considerably 

 curved. At their proximal extremities the three basal joints 

 are somewhat massive, while each one, palmad, has its basal 

 moiety deeply grooved in the longitudinal direction for the 

 accommodation of certain plantar tendons. 



The proportional lengths of these pedal joints are well shown 

 in fig. 24 of Plate XXXII. of the present contribution. 



There appear to be no sesamoid bones at the interarticulations 

 of the joints of the toes in the sole of the foot of this Goose, such 

 as we find in some birds which by habit are largely terrestrial, 

 or spend considerable of their time upon the ground. 



On the Affinities of Cereopsis nov.e-hollandle. 



Apart from the skull, the remainder of the osteology of this 

 Goose presents nothing to indicate that it is an anserine outlier 

 among the Anseres. As a matter of fact, many of the characters 

 of its trunk skeleton — and more especially is this the case with 

 respect to the appendicular skeleton — are practically in agree- 

 ment with the corresponding one in the skeletons of such typical 

 Geese as we have in Anser, Branta, and Chen. 



As to the skull, in some particulars, as have been set forth above, 

 it exhibits a number of very marked differences as compared with 

 that part of the skeleton in such genera of Geese as have just been 

 mentioned in the last paragraph. Nevertheless, this skull is 

 withal anserine in its characters, though indicative of belonging 

 to a somewhat aberrant type. 



Further, its osteological characters point to the fact that it 

 belongs to a sub-family — ^the CereopsincB — distinct from the 

 sub-family Anserince, and is more nearly related to Chen hyper- 



