94 Prof. R. Owen on the Solitaire. 
‘ Solitaire’ as observed by him, nor that it should furnish an 
explanation of the curious bony growth on the distal end of the 
ulna and radius already mentioned as presented by the speci- 
mens of supposed males. All the perfect specimens of the meta- 
carpal have on the radial side a more or less spherical bony 
knob or callus-like mass developed immediately beyond the 
proximal end and the pollex. . . . The appearance of the knob 
is much that of diseased bone; it has probably been covered 
by a cartilaginous integument ” (ib. p. 342). The author then 
repeats the quotation given by Strickland in his excellent 
work :— L’os de Vaileron grossit & l’extrémité, & forme sous 
la plume une petite masse ronde comme une balle de mousquet : 
cela & le bec sont la principale défense de cet oiseau””*. 
The specimens of metacarpus of the larger, combative 
sex of Pezophaps in the British Museum show the same 
structure, which may be seen in the articulated skeleton of 
the, probably, male Solitaire now there exhibited (Pl. VIL. 
iris, Wl.) 
“This hard, irregular, prominent mass, which holds the place 
of the spine in the Spur-winged Goose, may be compared to a 
“knuckle-duster ;” with it the combative sex delivered his 
blows, in the hard and well-contested fights to which Leguat 
testifies :—‘‘Tls ne volent point, leurs ailes sont trop petites pour 
soutenir le poids de leurs corps. Ils ne s’en servent que pour 
se battre, & pour faire le moulinet, quand ils veulent s’appeller 
Yun Vautre.” 
I here infer the writer to mean that one function of their 
stunted wing was to do battle with each other ; and the pecu- 
liar development in question I take to have been the com- 
bative weapon. ‘The entire wings were in action in executing 
the amorous pirouettes :—“ Ils font avec vitesse vingt ou trente 
pirouéttes tout de suite, du méme cété, pendant l’espace de 
quatre ou cing minutes.” 
Of the bones of the hind limbs, the greater relative length 
of both femur, tibia, and metatarsus, as compared with the 
skull and sternum, is first notable in Pezophaps in contrast 
with Didus. 
The columbine characters of the metatarsus are manifested 
in both species. These characters in Pezophaps are recorded 
in Trans. Zool. Soc. vol. vii. pl. lxvi., and are repeated in that 
bone of the subject of Plate VII. 
The following are admeasurements of the skeleton of the 
two extinct species of Ground-Doves :— 
* Strickland, ‘The Dodo and its Kindred,’ 4to, 1848, quoting the 
‘Voyage et Avantures de Francois Leguat,’ 2 vols. 12mo, 2nd ed. 1720, 
vol. 1, p. 98. 
