1882. ] _ ANATOMY OF THE TODIES. 447 
In the two skeletons of that species which I possess the manubrium 
sterni is distinctly bifurcated, therein departing from the Momotidee 
and reminding one of the Passeres, and of Merops, Harpactes, &c. 
Careful examination of the skull of that species, as well as of one 
of Todus dominicensis, has shown me that the lower edge of the 
nasal septum is, for its entire extent, free from the inner edges of 
the maxillo-palatine plates, a narrow fissure existing on each side 
between it and them, along which it is possible, with care, to pass 
the blade of a fine scalpel. In the Motmots (of which I have examined 
skulls of the genera Momotus, Baryphthengus, and Hylomanes) the 
maxillo-palatines, though apposed to each other in the middle line, 
do not actually ankylose for the greater part of their length; so that 
if the skull be cut across transversely behind the line of union, and 
the maxillo-palatines with their connected bones separated from the 
rest of the skull, the two lateral halves of the separated portion fall 
asunder naturally, there being no union either between the maxillo- 
palatines themselves (for the greater part of their extent) or between 
them and the nasal septum, which here does not appear at all in 
the roof of the mouth in this region. In the Todies, though the 
septum thus appears, the maxillo-palatines are free altogether both 
from it and from one another, apparently for their whole extent’. 
If this is so, the Todies are not “‘ Desmognathe,” and, inasmuch as 
they lack the vomer altogether, cannot be included in any other of 
Prof. Huxley’s primary groups of Carinatze at all! 
The vertebrae number 35, exclusive of the pygostyle, as already 
correctly stated by Murie. Of these I reckon 15 as cervical, 5 dorsal, 
8 sacral, and 7 caudal?. 
The close relationship of the Todide to the Momotide having 
been so often urged by some of our best naturalists, it will be desi- 
rable to point out succinctly some of the important points of difference 
between them. 
The Todidez, then, differ from the Momotide, 
(1) In the non-union of the maxillo-palatines, these being attached 
in the Motmots by harmonic suture. 
(2) In the lower margin of the nasal septum appearing in the 
roof of the mouth between the free edges of the maxillo-palatines. 
In the Motmots the nasal septum—which ankyloses with the maxillo- 
palatines anteriorly—does not appear in the palate. 
(3) In the complete absence of a vomer, always represented in 
the Momotide by a small, but distinct, ossicle. 
(4) In possessing a well-developed lacrymal, quite absent (or early 
ankylosed with the frontals) in the Motmots. 
1 Tt is impossible to state for certain how far anteriorly the maxille extend, 
from a study of the adult skull only; but in Zodws the osseous roof of the 
mouth is incomplete as far forwards as the anterior end of the unusually large 
nares, so that probably it is only by the union of the dentary plates of the pre- 
mazxille that it is completely ossified here. 
2 Defining as “ dorsal ” all those, whether ankylosed to the sacrum or not, that 
bear ribs united directly or indirectly with the sternum. Those that precede, 
whether or not bearing ribs, are “ cervical ;” those that follow, and are ankylosed 
together, are “sacral,” the remainder being “ caudal.” 
