18/2.] DR. J. MURIE ON THE SKELETON OF TODUS. 665 



will stand for all," implying thereby the main features of the 

 type. 



I had proceeded in describing this skeleton, and elicited its probable 

 relations, but upon one point doubted if my interpretation was correct. 

 On consulting my friend Mr. Parker, to fortify or modify my opinion 

 thereon, I fell in luck's way ; for, besides discussing the moot ques- 

 tion, he put in my hands a good skeleton of the Green Tody, T. viri- 

 dis, authenticated by Mr. Osbert Salvin, the original possessor. This 

 increased material happily enables me to substantiate characters 

 doubtless generic. 



My text, in its detail, and the illustrations apply specially to 

 Prof. Newton's specimen ; but they agree so closely with the un- 

 doubted T. viridis, that I have not required to alter or amend state- 

 ments appertaining to the former. 



Under the subfamily Todince, Mr. Eyton* enumerates a few of 

 the salient osteological distinctions of the Green Tody (T. viridis), 

 which I here quote in full : — " Cranium similar in shape to Merops ; 

 the maxillaries much flattened, covering the roof of the mouth for 

 nearly one half the length of the cranium ; impression for the mas- 

 seter muscles very slight ; a deep impression at the base of the nasal 

 bones, from which a ridge proceeds over the top of the bill. Palatine 

 bones similar in shape to Merops. Interarticular bones long, bent back- 

 wards in the middle. Sternum, pelvis, and other bones also similar." 

 His illustrations comprise a profile of the skeleton f and under view 

 of the sternum J, both of the natural size; and, besides, a somewhat 

 enlarged sketch of portion of the palatal region §. The small size of 

 the figures mar considerably their usefulness for purposes of com- 

 parison. His analysis of osseous configuration, good in its way as a 

 limited diagnosis of the genus, is, notwithstanding, imperfect when 

 one attempts to gather the threads of structural relationship which 

 the skeleton bears to divers others of the feathered tribe. These 

 words are not to be interpreted as a wish to cavil with the labours of 

 the said author. Rather, to Mr. Eyton' s credit, be it said that he has 

 been one of the few English ornithologists who have thoroughly ap- 

 preciated the dominant stamp of characters impressed on avine 

 skeletons, as is the case in other groups of the Vertebrata. His 

 valuable volume, indeed, may be likened to a strong outpost com- 

 manding the flank of the enemy, and which I have the advantage of 

 using as a basis of further operations, in sending a raking fire towards 

 the centre. 



Cuvier does not seem to have examined the anatomy of the genus 

 Todus, his inference as to its position being deduced from the figure 

 of the bill and structure of the feet. Within recent times another 

 French comparative anatomist of some eminence, M. Emile Blan- 

 chard |[, has described and figured the sternum of T. viridis. His 

 opinions regarding it I shall again have occasion to refer to. 



* ' Osteologia Avium, ' 1S67, p. 57. f PI. 5 b. fig 1 



X PI- 8- fig- 9. § PL 12. fig. 8. 



II ' Ann. des Sci. Naturelles,' 4 e ser., torn, si., xii. (1859), p. 120, pi. 5. figs. 13-15. 



