1900.] SHUFELDT—OSTEOLOGY OF THE WOODPECKERS. 621 
shallow. Shaft nearly straight; condyles rather small; popliteal 
fossa and rotular channel very shallow. cz possess patelle. 
Cnemial crest of tibio-tarsus elevated above summit of bone, with 
pro- and ectocnemial ridges nearly or quite aborted. Condyles of 
this bone very distinct, and intercondyloid valley very deep. 
Bony bridgelet confines tendons in front. Fibula short and free ; 
its lower spicula-like end being held well away from shaft of tibio~- 
tarsus by the increasing height of fibular ridge on the latter bone. 
Hypotarsus of tarso-metatarsus both grooved and perforated for 
passage of tendons. An erect process occurs on the summit of 
this bone of the leg. Its shaft is nearly straight, and its terminal 
trochlez are specially modified to meet the podal requirements of 
the picine zygodactyle foot. 
Joints cf pes normal—two, three, four and five to first, second, 
third and fourth toes respectively. Fourth toe permanently re- 
versed, and first toe, together with its free metatarsal bone, may be 
entirely absent (Prcoides). A large sesamoid articulates with a 
special trochlea (intended for it) to the inner side of the fourth toe. 
The osseous claws usually large, and the other phalangeal joints 
more or less laterally compressed. ‘The tendons of the leg some- 
times ossify to a certain degree, and minute sesamoids may occur 
in certain tendons near the knee-joint. 
BRIEF REMARKS ON THE PROBABLE POSITION OF THE PICI IN 
THE SYSTEM, AND THEIR AFFINES. 
Huxley in his ‘‘ Celeomorphz’’ comprehended only the Picde 
and /nygide, and Parker long ago said that ‘‘ The ‘ Celeomorphe’ 
of Huxley form a most natural and well-defined group—a group 
equal zoGlogically to the Pigeons or the Parrots. Evidently this 
differentiation has taken place through the gradual extinction, dur- 
ing long secular periods, of conjugational types more generalized 
than those now extant.’’ In this much the present writer agrees 
with the two great authorities we have just quoted. 
To those at all familiar with the osteology of existing birds it 
must be very evident that in this anatomical system, at least, the 
Pict hold many characters in common with the Passeres—a fact 
that will be evident when we come to treat of that group later on. 
It is my opinion that it is to the great Passerine group that the Pzcz 
are more nearly affined than to any other existing suborder of 
birds. One good genus of linking forms, at least, is the South 
