1889.] MR. W. K. PARKER ON STEATORNIS CARIPENSIS. 161 
The animal has been placed in one of the warm tanks in the new 
Reptile House and appears to be doing well. It is fed principally 
eres lettuces. 
. An Oriental Phalanger (Phalanger orientalis), recerved March 
4th, and presented by C. M. Woodford, Esq., of Sydney. 
Out of five specimens of this interesting Marsupial kindly trans- 
mitted to the Society by Mr. Woodford, by whom they had been 
obtained in the Solomon Islands, three survived to reach this 
country, but of these two unfortunately died before they reached 
the Society’s Gardens. 
3. A specimen of Owen’s Apteryx (Apterya oweni), presented by 
Captain C. A. Findlay, of the R.M.S. ‘ Ruapehu,’ on March 5th. 
This bird has been placed along with the specimen received on 
February 19th, 1889, with which it appears to agree well, so that the 
two are probably a pair. 
Mr. A. Smith-Woodward, F.Z.S., exhibited and made remarks on 
a maxilla of the early Mesozoic Ganoid Fish Saurichthys from the 
Rheetic Formation of Aust Cliff near Bristol. 
The following papers were read :— 
1. On the Osteology of Steatornis caripensis. 
By W. K. Parker, F.R.S. 
[Received March 7, 1889. ] 
(Plates XVII.-XX.) 
ConTENTs. 
Page Page 
I. Introductory Remarks...... 161 WV. The Wau occ. caeges-dere 178 
LOIS MAL H S) dvUlll oaohepectoeeeane esac 165 | VI. The Hip-girdle and Hind 
III. The Vertebral Chain and Tamas: y2.aeecea's ws ee sees aa 
GHIDEP cer snceene scence ne aae Agee. Sua SIUC hace anopace Gd: 
IV. TheSternum and Shoulder- Explanation of the Plates 189 
pirdlot. Site ewes hoe eaese lie 
I. Introductory Remarks. 
Steatornis is so distinct from every other known bird that it 
should, if it had its rights, be put into a Family by itself, and thus 
represent the Steatornithide*, of which it is the only existing 
species. Its distribution is also very limited, being only found in 
Venezuela and one or two of the neighbouring States. 
Nevertheless, this is only one among several of the Neotropical 
types of birds that have come very near to extinction, there being 
four or five families which possess at most two or three genera, with 
very few species. 
It is evident that those groups which are most potent in Families, 
1 This has already been proposed by Messrs. Sclater and Salvin, Nomencl. 
Ay. Neotr. p. 97 (1873). 
