180 MR. F. E. BEDDARD ON THE CUCKOOS. [Feb. 1", 



concentrated into a stout band which traverses the upper part of the 

 thigh in a direction nearly at right angles with its long axis. 



Pyrrhocentor celebensis. — In so far as I could make out from a 

 considerably damaged specimen, the pterylosis of Pyrrhocentor 

 celebensis is " Centropine," and hardly differs except in detail from 

 Centropus (see fig. 7, p- 184) and Geococcyx. 



The spinal tract is strong on the neck, about five feathers wide ; 

 at the commencement of the shoulder-blades (at the point of junction 

 of the coracoid and scapula) the feathering seems to disappear 

 altogether for a short space. As in the other genera of the family, the 

 dorsal tract becomes double posteriorly, uniting at about the level of 

 the articulation of the femora to form a single tract rather more 

 closely feathered and running nearly as far as the base of the oil- 

 gland. Behind the shoulder-blades each half of the spiual tract 

 becomes of considerable width, though sparsely feathered, and is 

 completely continuous with a uniform sparse feathering on the surface 

 of the thigh. 



The two sides of the ventral tract only become separated near the 

 junction of the neck with the body. 



The feathers of the neck portion of the ventral tract are, as in so 

 many other species, arranged in parallel rows separated by con- 

 siderable intervals ; the rows of one side are inclined to those on the 

 other at an angle of about 60°, thus forming a series of "chevrons " 

 very characteristic of these birds. The interspaces between the 

 rami of the mandibles appear to be entirely occupied by rows of 

 feathers ; for a very short distance the inferior tract of the neck is 

 continuous with the superior tract. At the commencement of the 

 thorax the ventral tract bifurcates and gives off the humeral tract, 

 which is at first tiiree feathers, and subsequently two feathers, wide. 

 On a level with the anterior margin of the sternum the ventral tract 

 of either side bifurcates into an inner and outer limb ; the latter is 

 at first of some width, extending towards the axilla, and being 

 continuous with a single row of feathers separated by wide intervals 

 upon the hyposternum ; posteriorly it is only one feather wide and 

 passes back parallel to the inner limb to its termination some way 

 in front of the anus ; the inner limb of the ventral tract is regularly 

 two feathers wide. 



Guira pirigua. — The ventral tract commences with a narrow row 

 of feathers occupying the middle of the space between the two rami 

 of the mandible, either side of this space being bare ; further back, 

 however, the feathering fills the whole of the space between the 

 mandibles. At a point some way below the articulation of the 

 humerus with the shoulder-girdle, the pectoral tract of either side 

 divides into two branches, and is here quite continuous with the 

 liumend tract ; the inner branch is two feathers wide at its com- 

 mencement ; just before its termination in front of the cloaca, it 

 becomes reduced to a single row of feathers. The outer branch is 

 at first rather wider than the inner branch ; from its commencement 

 10 the axilla it is two to three feathers wide ; at the axilla it emits a 



