1882.] DR. GADOW ON THE ANATOMY OF PTEROCLES. 321 



M.Jle.v. perforans et perforatus dig. xi. — The strong and fleshy 

 belly of this muscle arises with a short tendon from the hinder plane 

 of the intercondyloid region ; it passes through a special canal in the 

 susceptaculum, and is one of the deepest muscles. It is inserted into 

 the cap. pbal. i. dig. ii. 



The ?w. Jiex. profundus s. communis digitorum consists of two 

 principal heads. The outer one arises with fleshy fibres from the 

 fibula and is partly fused with the m. tibialis; its strong tendon 

 passes the intertarsal joint superficially to the susceptaculum, and is 

 only covered by the tendo Achillis ; it passes the pulley on its outer 

 or lateral, not on its ventral or posterior margin. The inner or chief 

 head takes its origin from the hinder plane of the greater part of 

 the tibia ; its tendon runs as the deepest of all through the pulley, 

 and then unites with that of the outer head; the tendon then 

 divides into three, each of which is inserted into the basis of the 

 last or distal phalanx of the ii., iii., or iv. digit. 



Although Pterodes possesses a rudimentary hallux, which consists 

 of two very small bones not articulated with the metatarsus, there 

 was no trace of a m. flexor hallucis longus to be found. But there 

 was a m. flexor hallucis brevis, which arose from the hinder aspect ot 

 rather more than the upper two thirds of the tarso-metatarsal bone, 

 and was inserted into the cap. phal. i. dig. i. 



An abductor brevis. dig. iv. and an abductor brevis dig. ii. veere 

 likewise present — the former puUing the fourth toe inwards, i. e. 

 towards, the latter drawing the second the away from the middle 

 one. Both consequently move these two toes tibiad, and are mor- 

 phologically abductors. 



For the m. flexor brevis dig. iii. see note, §4. 

 ^^ote. — Mr. Forbes has kindly drawn my attention to Mr. A. Has- 

 well's paper " Notes on the Ana'tomy of Birds. III. The myological 

 characters of the Columbidse," in Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales, 

 1880, p. 306 ; and has expressed grave doubts about the correctness 

 of some of the statements made in it. Mr. Haswell, at the end of 

 his paper, mentions five points "which seem to be especially charac- 

 teristic of the family." But I find that of the five points, one is 

 totally incorrect, and three others, viz. nos. 3, 4, 5, are not charac- 

 teristic of the Columbidee. These points are : — 



1. The absence of a posterior belly of the m. latissimus dorsi. 

 Mr. Forbes and I, on examining the following birds, which were at 

 hand — Carpophaga, Chalcophaps, and Columba — found this muscle 

 consisting of two bellies, the posterior one being just as well developed 

 in these Pigeons as in Astur, arising from the anterior margin of the 

 ilium and from the last dorsal vertebrae, and inserted by means of a 

 tendon below that of the anterior belly into the humerus. Through- 

 out their whole length the two bellies were connected by a fascia. 



3. The absence of the m. glut, externus and the presence of 

 the adductores brevis et longus, the semitendinosus and semimem- 

 branosus. Now the in. gluteus externus (=glut. anterior) is gene- 

 rally very small, but plainly visible in many birds, such as Pigeons, 

 Passerine birds, &c., and not absent as stated by Mr. Haswell. 



22* 



