614 Mr. W. H. Workman on the Functions of the 
ce. og. Lake Tinero, Baro River, March 26th. 
d,e. @. Ibaga, Baro River, March 27th. 
The male bird described by Mr. Neumann as belonging 
to a new subspecies was procured at Lake Tata, on the 
Gelo, within a hundred miles of the Baro River; but our 
specimens from the same district do not differ in any way 
from the typical V. waalia. Among the examples collected 
by Mr. E. Degen in Abyssinia there is one agreeing more or 
less with the description of V. w. cinereiceps. 
143. NuUMIDA PTILORHYNCHA. 
Numida ptilorhyneha Licht.; Grant, p. 469; Butler, 
p. 388. 
a,b. 2. Tbaga, Baro River, March 27th. 
XXXIV .—Suggestions as to the Functions of the Entotympanic 
Muscle in the Common Snipe. By W. H. Workman, 
i Der OR UE 
Wut I was snipe-shooting. towards the end of last year 
my attention was specially drawn to the construction of the 
bill of the Common Snipe (Gallinago calestis) ; and IL 
examined the heads of a number of specimens with a view 
to finding out the means by which the soft and pliable 
anterior part of the upper mandible is lifted. 
The fact of this bird being able to raise the tip of the 
upper mandible seems to be well known, as Professor Newton 
says :— 
“The flexible part commonly lies behind the nasal cavities, 
but in Trochili and Scolopacide far in front of the nostrils, 
so that only the anterior part of the upper mandible is 
movable, and motion can be effected while the mouth is 
closed. In some Plovers and Ibises, and probably a few 
other birds also, such a flexible region exists besides the 
usual fronto-nasal one.” * 
M. Hérissant, in an article entitled “ Observations Anato- 
miques sur les Mouvements du Bec des Oiseaux,” in ‘ Histoire 
* Dict. B. p. 877, note 2. 
