1888.] ANATOMY OF BALiENlCEPS REX. 285 



Balxniceps rex ; the osteology, however, and some of the more impor- 

 tant external characters (i. e. the presence of powder-down patches) 

 have l)eeu described by Prof. Parker^ and by Mr. A. D. Bartlett" 

 in the publicalions of this Society. The memoirs of these two natur- 

 alists and their views as to the affinities of BalcEniceps will be further 

 referred to in the course of the present notes. 



With regard to the viscera, I am not able to give anything like a 

 complete account ; only the alimentary tract with the kidneys and 

 the trachea and bronchi were preserved in the College of Surgeons ; 

 an attempt had been made to inject the intestinal arterial system, 

 but the injection had not been successful. 



Alimentary Tract. 



The tongue is short and broad, forming an approximately exact 

 equilateral triangle ; the smallness of the tongue has been already 

 noticed by Prof. Parker^. The tongue of Balaniceps, in fact, agrees 

 with that of Scopus iimbretta ^. 



In the liver the right lobe is very much larger than the left ; and, 

 as in all Herodiones, there is a gall-bladder present. With regard 

 to the proportions of the lobes of the liver there is not much to say 

 concerning the affinities of the bird. On the whole the Storks are 

 characterized by having an equilobed liver ; the Herons (including 

 Scopus) are on the whole to be distinguished from the Storks by the 

 fact that the right lobe of the liver is larger than the left. There 

 are, however, numerous exceptions which prevent our defining the 

 Ardeidse as Ilerodione in which the right lobe of the liver is larger 

 than the left lobe. It is to be noted that these exceptions appear to 

 be entirely among the Herons. In the Storks the lobes of the liver 

 are invariably subequal, while among the Herons they are rarely so. 



There is therefore, in my opinion, some reason to regard the 

 structure of the liver injBalceniceps as indicating its Ardeine affinities, 

 and there is no reason against uniting it particularly with Scopus. 



In the intestines I could not discover any traces of caeca at all ; I 

 believe that the single caecum which characterizes the Ardeidae (there 

 are two in the Ciconiae) may be extremely minute, and might 

 therefore easily escape recognition in the spirit-preserved alimentary 

 tract '. 



Si/rinx. 



The most characteristic organ of Balceniceps from the point of 

 view of the affinities of the bird is unquestionably the syrinx. This 



1 See P. Z. S. 18G0, p. 243 ; " On the Osteology of Balmniceps rex," Trans. 

 Zool. Soc. vol. iv. p. 209. 



^ "On the Affinities of BalcBnkeps;' P. Z. S. 1861, p. 131 (reprinted in 

 Nitzseh's ' Pterylographie,' Ray Soc. edition, p. 155). 



'^ Abstract of Notes on the Osteology of Bulcsuk-ejjs rex, P. Z. S. 1860, p. 330 

 (note ii). 



■• Beddard, " A Contribution to the Anatomy of Scojnis nmbretta," P. Z S. 

 1884, p. 543. 



^ Mr. W. A. Forbes (Collected Papers, p. 333 note) has noted a single cjecum 

 in a specimen mounted in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons. 



