198 MR. W. K. PARKER ON THE OSTEOLOGY 



The Syrrhaptes does not " stalk up and down like a Peacock, a stride and a stand ;" it 

 rather may be said to move like an automaton, the action being quick enough, but the 

 cause of that action being invisible. Up " the hill of difficulty " the Syrrhaptes cannot 

 go ; a sudden elevation of an inch or two causes it to make, in its low, reptilian, unin- 

 ventive way, a number of ineffectual pushes against the unlooked-for obstacle. The 

 details of the structure of the Syrrhaptes skeleton will speak for themselves concerning 

 the reason of these pecuharities ; and the structure of this gentle bird is to the " teleo- 

 logist " a distinct chapter — almost a special revelation. 



Table showing the number of vertebras in the Syrrhaptes, Grouse, Fowl, and Pigeon. 



Cervical. Dorsal. SacraL Caudal. 



Syrrhaptes paradoxus 16 4 15 6 



Lagopus scoticus 16 4 ? 7 



Gallus domesticus 16 4 1.5 6 



Columba livia 14 4 14 7 



Pt erodes arenariua 15 5 15 7 



I do not set much value on the number of caudal vertebrae, as the last is a series, and 

 the tail is very apt to vary in the number of those which shall be swallowed up in this 

 terminal piece. The sacral are easily distinguished from the caudal in these birds, as 

 even in the Pigeons the caudals are no longer pneumatic ; that is a better character even 

 than coalescence of a vertebra with those that precede it. We see that the Pigeon fails 

 of two vertebrae in the neck, and two more in the sacrum : the last cervical also keeps 

 distinct from the coalesced dorsal piece, which has only three vertebrae in it. Reference 

 to the foregoing descriptions will show how uniform the Gallinaceous birds are, in their 

 subfamilies, as to the number of vertebrae : there is this difference, that in Crax globi- 

 cera there are sixteen sacral and six caudal vertebrae, whilst in Talegalla lathami there 

 are fifteen sacral and seven caudal. This may be accounted for by the fact that the 

 bone which answers to the sixteenth sacral in Crax is distinct in Talegalla ; in Crax 

 the caudal vertebrae are pneumatic, as in certain of the highest types of birds. 



The Syrrhaptes keeps close to the Fowls in respect to its vertebral characters ; whilst 

 Hemipodius varius has one cervical less than the Fowls and one more than the 

 Pigeons, and has the pluvialine character of keeping the dorsals distinct. The cervical 

 vertebrae of the Syrrhaptes (PI. XXXVIII. c.) are as feeble as in Lagopus and Columba ; 

 but the little styliform coalesced ribs agree rather with those of the latter than of the 

 former. The floating cervical ribs are feebler than in either, and the large one (c.r.) even 

 has no appendage such as exists in Pigeons and Grouse. The rest of the ribs (dr.) are 

 equal to those of the Grouse, but feeble and less cellular than in the Pigeon : the sacral rib 

 (s.r.), as is constant,has no appendage ; and its haemapophysis reaches the sternum, which 

 it does not in Pigeons and Grouse. This last haemapophysis has a rudiment attached to 

 it which belongs to the second sacral rib. The keels depending from the vertebrae in 

 the dorsal region (d.) answer to those of the two families with which I am comparing 



