644 MR. A. H. GARROD ON THE HUIA BIRD. [May 21, 



The following notes relate to its anatomy, and may, I trust, assist 

 in enabling its affinities to be more easily determined. 



Pterylosis. — The arrangement of the feathers is completely 

 passerine. The rhombic saddle of the spinal tract does not enclose 

 any ephippial space, therein differing from the Crow's and resembling 

 the typical Starling's. There are nineteen remiges, of which ten are 

 on the hand ; they increase in size up to the fifth. The rectrices are 

 twelve in number. The oil-gland is nude. 



Tongue. — Simple, horny, one third the length of the beak. It 

 forms a flat elongated triangle, slightly bifid at its apex, and a little 

 prolonged backwards at its lateral borders, enclosing a curved line 

 for the base, the concavity being backwards and carrying retroverted 

 papillse. 



The mucous membrane of the palate extends forward as far as 

 the middle of the tongue ; that of the mandible goes a little further. 



At the angles of the mouth, just below the eyes, are two yellow oval 

 cutaneous expansions, fixed in front and free at their borders else- 

 where ; they appear as if they were prolongations outwards of the 

 mucous membrane of the angles of the mouth, which had been 

 reflected backwards — they being continuous in front, round the 

 margins, with the mucous membrane. 



Syrinx. — As in Corvus and most of the Old-World Passerines. 



Intestines. — The gizzard is well developed. The intestines are 

 16 inches long, with the bile-ducts 2\ inches from the gizzard. 

 The caeca are one inch from the cloaca and \ inch long, being 

 cylindrical. 



Arterial System. — There is one carotid artery, the left. 



Foot. — The hind toe is slightly longer than the middle anterior 

 toe. In arrangement the tarsal scutes are similar to those of Corvus 

 and most Passerines. Their colour is blue-black. 



Skull. — The palate (fig. 2) is strictly segithognathous ; that is, the 

 vomer is truncate in front abruptly, and cleft behind ; the postero- 

 external angles of the palatines are produced ; the maxillo-palatines 

 are slender, and approach towards but do not unite with one another, 

 nor with the vomer, which they partly embrace. There is no 

 ossification in the nasal septum anterior to the vomer. 



The whole cranial configuration (fig. 1) closely resembles that of 

 Sturnus; but the mandible, instead of being bent upwards, is straight. 

 Like it, the palatines are narrow and approximate ; the antero-internal 

 angles of the posterior portions of those bones are reduced and 

 rounded off, as is sometimes the case with Sturnus (Mus. Roy. Col. 

 Surg. No. 1539, Ost. Coll.). The vomer is completely truncated 

 in front, and is not prolonged forwards at its external angles, as in 

 Corvus and its allies. 



The zygoma is not so slender as in Sturnus ; but the curves are 

 similar. The articular surfaces on the quadrate bone for the man- 

 dible are proportionally very large. 



The anterior extremities of the pterygoid bones articulate with the 

 sphenoidal rostrum much as in Corvus, meeting in the middle line 

 behind the posterior extremities of the palatines for a short distance. 



