1876.] ON THE ANATOMY OF ARAMUS SCOLOPACETJS. 275 



1. On the Anatomy of Aramus scohpacens. 

 By A. H. Garrod, M.A., F.Z.S., Prosector to the Society. 



[Received February 7, 1876.] 



It being very seldom that an opportunity occurs for the study of 

 the anatomy of Aramus, a form the exact relations of which are but 

 little understood, I take the opportunity of describing this bird from 

 a female specimen which reached the Society's Gardens alive, and 

 died, much emaciated, within a few days, on Oct. 7, 1875. I may 

 mention that the generic name Scolopax was applied to it by Lin- 

 naeus, and that Lichtenstein termed it Rallus gigas. Mr. G. R. 

 Gray * places it among the Rallinse, next to Rallus aquaticus, whilst 

 Messrs. Sclater and Salvinf include it among the Alectorides, together 

 with Eurypyga, Cariama, and Psophia. It seems to me, however, that, 

 considering its different anatomical features, it is most intimately re- 

 lated to Grus, which, with it, is not distant from Ibis, Platalea, and 

 Eurypyga. 



With reference to the skeleton of Aramus, it may be mentioned 

 that it is figured as a whole in Eyton's ' Osteologia Avium ' (pi. xiv. 

 K), and in the same valuable work (pi. 27. fig- 2) a front view of 

 the sternum, and a back view of the pelvis are given, though the plate 

 is incorrectly lettered. 



In Audubon's 'Ornithological Biography 'J a full account of the 

 viscera is given, with a woodcut of the alimentary canal. The author 

 considers the bird to be most intimately allied to the Rails. 



Aramus is a strongly schizorhinal bird§; in other words, the 

 openings of the external osseous nares extend further backwards 

 than the posterior ends of the nasal processes of the praemaxillse. In 

 this respect it agrees with Grus, Eurypyga, and the Limicolse, but 

 not with the Rallidse, nor with Cariama, nor with Psophia. 



As in Grus, Ibis, and Platalea, the lachrymal bones do not blend 

 with the region of the skull where they are attached ; in the true 

 Limicolse they do so. The palate is schizognathous, the maxillo- 

 palatines long, the vomer pointed, and the pterygoids out-spreading 

 at both ends exactly as in Grus. As in that genus, also, there is a 

 pair of occipital foramina, like those in Ibis, Platalea, and the Limi- 

 colse ; but these do not occur in the Rallidse, nor iu Cariama, nor in 

 Psophia. (Figs. 1, 2, and 3, p. 276, illustrate these points.) 



The sternum is completely Gruine, as are the other parts of its 

 skeleton. 



The pterylosis of Aramus has been fully investigated by Nitzsch ||, 

 who found that it agrees exactly with that of Psophia and 

 Grus, and with no other bird. The peculiarities of the feathers 

 themselves led that illustrious naturalist to place it with the Rails, 

 from which it differs in more than one pterylographic particular. 



* Hand-list of Birds, vol. iii. p. 58. 



t Notnenclator Avium Neotropicalium, p. 141. 



\ Vol. iv. p. 547 et seq. § Vide P. Z. S. 1873, p. 33. 



'J Rav Society's English Translation, p. 125. 



18* 



