504 MESSRS. SCLATER AND SALVIN ON THE CRACID&. [June 9, 
10. Synopsis of the Cracide. By P. L. Scrarer, M.A., 
Ph.D., F.R.S., and Ospert Sarvin, M.A., F.L.S., &c. 
ABSTRACT OF CONTENTS. 


Sect. I. Introductory remarks ............ss0:0c20000 p. 504. 
» LI. History of the group ..........sccceceeeeeees p. 505. 
», LIL. Synopsis of the species .....-...0se ee ceeeeeeee p. 512. 
», LV. Geographical distribution...................4- p. 541. 
Sect. I. Introductory Remarks. 
In his article on the classification and distribution of the Alectoro- 
morphe, published in this Society’s ‘Proceedings’ for 1868, Professor 
Huxley has clearly pointed out the characters which divide the 
Gallinaceous birds into two divisions, the Peristeropodes and the 
Alectoropodes. ‘In the former division the foot is pigeon-like, the 
long hallux being on a level with the other toes; while in the latter 
it is fowl-like, the hallux being short and raised.”’ This difference 
in the structure of the feet is accompanied by well-marked osteo- 
logical characters, particularly in the form of the sternum, which 
Professor Huxley then proceeds to speak of. 
The Peristeropodous Gallinze embrace only two families, the Cra- 
cide and Megapodide—the former peculiar to the tropics of the 
New World, the latter characteristic of the Australian region of the 
Old World, whence it extends into the adjacent districts of the 
Indian region. 
Professor Huxley states that he is unable to discover “any im- 
portant osteological differences whatever ”’ between these two families; 
and there can be no doubt that as regards the structure of their 
osseous skeleton they are very intimately allied. But they are ex- 
ceedingly different in other respects, particularly in their nesting- 
habits and general mode of life. While the Megapodide spend 
their existence on the ground, and lay their numerous eggs in vast 
mounds raised for the purpose, leaving them to be hatched out by 
solar heat, or by that arising from the decay of vegetable matter, 
the Cracide are essentially arboreal, only occasionally descending to 
the earth beneath the dense forests in which they dwell. The latter 
also are true nest-makers, build these structures upon the branches 
of trees, lay but few eggs, and perform the duties of incubation like 
orthodox birds. 
In continuation of former papers of the same sort upon the birds 
of the New World, we have now to offer to the Society a revision of 
the species contained in the last-named family. This has been 
founded mainly upon the following collections :—(1) the collection 
of Messrs. Salvin and Godman ; (2) that of the British Museum ; 
(3) that of the Smithsonian Institution, which has been most 
liberally sent over to us from Washington for this purpose; (4 
and 5) those of the Museums of Paris and Berlin, which have 
been examined by Sclater during recent visits to those cities ; and 
(6) the living collection in the Society’s gardens, which embraces 
twenty-six specimens, belonging to sixteen species. We have likewise 
