1882.] 



DR. GADOW ON THE ANATOMY OF PTEROCLES. 



313 



pleasure that a specimen of Pteroeles arenarius in the flesh was 

 received by me during the short time that I was intrusted with the 

 duties of its prosector during his absence from England'. 



Integument. 



The arrangement and form of the feather-tracts in Pteroeles and 

 Syrrhaptes is almost the same as that in the Pigeons ; but too much 

 weight has been laid upon the peculiar bifurcated shape of the 

 shoulder part of the spinal tract. Nitzsch himself, in his description 

 of the Gallinacei, mentions that a very similar arrangement of the 

 shoulder-tract we meet with in Numida and Penelope and partly in 

 Tetrao and Crypturus. He points out that in this respect Numida 

 in particular approaches the Columbine type. 



Again, the Charadriidse and many Laridse present nearly the same 

 type of feather-tracts, although they differ in the lower and ventral 

 part of the spinal tract. 



The contour-feathers of Pteroeles possess a very small after-shaft, 

 whilst this organ, although likewise small, is present in the Limi- 

 colre and Gallinacei, but altogether absent in the Pigeons. 



The number of the rectrices and of the primaries is of no systematic 

 importance in these birds, as will be seen from the following 

 table :— 



^ Principal books and essays referred to in the text : — 



W. K. Parker. "On the Osteology of Gallinaceous birds and Tinamous," 



Trans. Zool. See. v. pp. 149-241. 

 A. H. Gareod. " On certaui Muscles of the Thigh of Birds &c.", P Z. S. 



1873, pp. 626-677, and 1874, pp. 111-123. 

 . " On the Disposition of the deep Plantar Tendons in different Birds " 



P. Z. S. 1875, pp. 339-348. 

 . '■ On the Carotid Arteries of Birds," P. Z. S. 1873, pp. 457-472 (for 



Pteroeles see p. 468). 

 . " Nasal Bones of Birds," P. Z. S. 1873, pp. 33-38 (Pteroeles, see 



pp. 36, 37). 

 NiTzscii. ' System der Pterylographie,' 1840. 

 E. Blanchakd. " Oaracteres osteologiques des GalUnaces on Grallides," in Ann. 



Sciences Natur. ser. 4, tome vii. (18.57), pp. 91-106, plates 10-12. 

 M. OusTALET. " Monographie des Oiseaux de la famille des Megapodiides," 



Op. cit. ser. 4, tome x &xi. (1881). 

 H. Gadow. " Beitrage zur vergleich. Anat., Verdauungssystem d. Vogel," 



Jenaische Zeitsohrift, 1879. 

 BoGD.VNOw. In 'Melanges biologiques,' 1880, pp. 49-55. 

 D. G. Elliot. " A Study of the Pteroclida; or Family of the Sandgrouee " 

 P. Z. S. 1878, p. 233-264. 



