1886.] GEOCOCCYX CALIFORNIANUS. 46^ 



Cuculus canorus, 

 Cacomantis sepulcralis, 

 Chrysocoecyx sp., 

 Centropus senegalensis, 

 Guira piririgua, 

 Phoenicophaes sp. 



The same authority finds the accessory femoro-caudal muscle 

 present in : — 



Centropus senegalensis, 

 Centropus phasianus, 

 Guira piririgua, 

 Phoinicophaes sp., 



and absent in the following species : — 



Cuculus canorus, 

 Chrysocoecyx sp., 

 Cacomantis sepulcralis. 



Of this latter peculiarity Mr. Garrod said, " Amongst the Cuculidse, 

 the Ground-Cuckoos {^Centropus, Guira, Phanicophues) differ from 

 Cuculus and its allies in having the accessory femoro-caudal developed, 

 whilst it is absent in the latter, their respective formulae being AB. 

 XY., and A. XY. This peculiarity, when added to those in the 

 pterylosis, justifies the division of the family into two subfamilies, 

 which may be termed the Centropodinae and the Cuculinee " (Joe. cit. 

 p. 210). 



According to this author, the ambiens muscle also being present in 

 the Cuculidse it throws this group into the subclass named by him 

 the Homalogonatse ; and Mr. Garrod brings forward his very interest- 

 ing researches upon the plantar tendons in birds to still further 

 support his classification of this particular group. The arrangement 

 of these tendons I will again refer to further on. 



Cuculidae have the caeca also present and possess a nude oil-gland. 



To briefly recapitulate, then, the above and a few other structural 

 characters of this group brought to light by this talented investigator, 

 we find that the Cuculidae are iiomalogonatous birds with two 

 carotids ; with tlie sciatic artery the main one in the leg (except 

 Centropus) ; Ciconine, as regards the presence of the expansor 

 secundariorum muscle (see Garrod's Coll. Scientif. Papers, pp. 323- 

 29) ; and finally, as I say, liave a nude oil-gland and the cseca. 



Forbes examined specimens of Geococcyx affinis, and showed some 

 interesting points in regard to the bursa Fabricii, which in the Cucu- 

 lidae he says " presents a very characteristic shape, the peduncle 

 being long and thin, and the extremity club-shaped, giving the whole 

 somewhat the appearance of a shortened and clumsy antenna of a 

 butterfly. It disappears completely in adult birds" (Forbes's Coll. 

 Scientif. Papers, p. 11). This author, on the page of the work 

 quoted, presents us with a figure of the cloaca and bursa of Geococcyx 

 affinis. 



31* 



