OF GALLINACEOUS BIRDS AND TINAMOUS. 183 
still separate from the rest. The vertebral column in the two species has the numbers 
in each region as follows :— 
Cervical. Dorsal. Sacral. Caudal. Total. 
Flemipodius varius... 20. esccce cece 15 4 13 6 38 
Hemipodius erect rer icvers etre sere 15 5 13 6 39 
As usual, the last vertebra is an anchylosed series, so that the real number is perhaps 
about forty-five in all. 
Perhaps the atlas, from its relation to the basis cranii, is the most interesting vertebra 
in the entire column; at any rate it is a good measure of the height of a bird in the 
ornithic scale. The perfectly typical character of the occipital condyle of Hemipodius 
(so unexpectedly combined with a typical but somewhat arrested vomer) is repeated 
in the articular ‘‘ cup ” of the atlas. A few remarks, however, upon the modifications 
of this part in relation to the more or less reptilian character of the occipital condyle— 
that is, whether its longest diameter is crosswise, and its shape bifid, as in the Fowls, 
or whether its longest diameter is lengthwise, and its surface entire, as in the Crows— 
will be useful. Most of the ‘“‘ Zygodactyli” agree with the Crows (Corvus, Gymnorhina), 
with the Finches (Mringilla, Pyrrhula), and with the soft-billed Songsters (Budytes, 
Pratinola, Motacilla) in the typically ornithic character of the occipital condyle and 
of the atlantal “cup.” But the ‘“‘ Musophagide” (e.g. Corythaix buffoni) agree with 
the ‘‘ Cracide,” and therefore with the other Gallinze in the possession of a very 
imperfect cup to the atlas. 
The arboreal Pigeons, the Plovers, the Ostriches, the Tinamous, the Sandgrouse, the 
Psophie, the Ardeine, and most of the Palmipeds agree in this non-typical character of 
the cup of the atlas. Amongst the Palmipeds having this character, I may mention 
Querquedula and the other Anatine, the Larine (e.g. Larus, Gavia), the Divers (e. g. 
Colymbus and Uria) ; yet in Alca torda the odontoid ligament is bridged over, but still 
more so in the Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo). On the other hand, the Owls and 
Hawks are almost as far from the typical birds as the Fowl-tribe ; this, however, agrees 
perfectly with many other non-typical characters in these ‘‘ Raptores.” I do not 
consider them to be much higher in the bird-scale than those other ‘‘ unclean” birds the 
Storks and the Cormorants. Occasionally the cup, although very incomplete, is slightly 
bridged over by bone; this occurs in the Lapwing (Vanellus cristatus). 
As to the other cervical vertebra of Hemipodius, there are no carotid ‘‘ bridges” 
(Pl. XXXV. fig. 5, c.) perfect, as is also the case in Fowls, Pigeons, and Plovers ; and 
there are no especial characters to distinguish them from the smaller Gallinaceous birds. 
The last two bear ribs—the small one a mere style, and that on the last two-thirds the 
size of the dorsal ribs. This rib bears a considerable “‘ appendage.” The tenth to the 
fourteenth cervicals (inclusive) have distinct, flat, sharp ‘‘ hypo-parapophyses ;” in the 
fifteenth there are three such processes. These processes are long on the first two 
dorsals ; the first of these strongly bifurcate, the rest feebly so. None of the dorsals 
VOL. V.—PART III. 28 
