684 SHUFELDT—OSTEOLOGY OF THE STRIGES. [Dec. 7, 
basibranchials, and most probably at the junction of the two latter 
bones. These two elements are long bones having a cylindrical 
shaft, terminating at either end in an articulating head. They are 
the longest bones in the hyoidean apparatus, and have a gentle cur- 
vature upward throughout their extent. The inner heads form an 
arthrodial joint on either side with the outer heads of the cerato- 
branchial elements of the thyrohyals. These, the last bones of 
the arch, are joined in the manner already shown above. Their 
inner ends are quite pointed, even as far as the bone goes, the ex- 
treme points being finished off with cartilage. They curve up- 
ward from about their middle thirds, and, like the first elements of 
the thyrohyals, they are long bones, but with curved cylindrical 
shafts, the outer end, however, being the only true articulating one. 
The Spinal Column: Cervical Portion.—There are in Speotyto 
fourteen cervical vertebree, each one having a more or less free 
movement with the one beyond and behind it, the chain main- 
taining in all positions some variation of the usual sigmoid curve 
observable in this division of the vertebral column throughout the 
class. The arrangement, as well as the direction, of the planes of 
the zygapophysial articular surfaces allow considerable rotary move- 
ment and bending in the vertical plane, with combinations of the 
two. It isa common habit of this bird, among other of his antics, 
to duck his head smartly downward and again upward, several 
times in succession, upon being approached. ‘The calibre, as 
well as shape, of the neural canal in this portion of the spinal 
column varies at different points. It originates at the atlas as a 
transverse ellipse, with a major axis of four millimetres and a 
minor axis of a little less than three millimetres ; this is about the 
maximum capacity throughout the entire canal. From the atlas to 
the sixth or seventh vertebra the ellipse gradually approaches the 
circle, with a marked diminution in size, its diameter being at the 
seventh about two millimetres in any direction. From this point 
to the twelfth, inclusive, it rises as it fell from the atlas, and in the 
same manner, when we again discover a transverse ellipse, perhaps 
a jot smaller than the one described in speaking of the atlas. In 
the thirteenth the canal is smaller than, though in all other respects 
it resembles, the twelfth ; but an abrupt change takes place in shape 
as we pass to the fourteenth or last cervical, where the form of the 
neural tube suddenly approximates the circularity of the dorsal ver- 
tebre. The vertebral canal begins, circular, on either side at the 
