504 MK. W. K. PAEKEE OX THE OSTEOLOGY OF THE KAGU. 



separated by a notch anteriorly (PI. XCII. fig. .3). The under surface of the superorbital 

 plate of the frontal forms one continuous plate of bone with the alisphenoid, which 

 has no fenestra, and which has completely coalesced with all tlie surroundmg bones 

 (PI. XCII. figs. 2 & 3)'. 



The Kagu approaches both the Herons and the Rails in the structure of the inter- 

 orbital septum ; for the orbito-presphenoid (PI. XCII. fig. 8) is feeble and oblique ; but 

 it is feebler and more oblique than in either of those types, the posterior process of the 

 perpendicular ethmoid and the alar part of the anterior sphenoid being very feeble at 

 their junction. This leads towards Eurypyga, which has complete abortion of the 

 connecting bar, as in Himantojnis and Phalacrocorax. Two small fenestrae are seen 

 on each side of the feeble fom--winged orbito-sphenoid ; below, the presphenoid is a 

 minute separately ossified spur (fig. 3). As in the Stanley Crane, and unlike that in the 

 Night-Heron and Rail, the great ethmo-basisphenoidal bar, bounding the interorbital 

 space below, is very deep (fig. 3), and thickens as it approaches the parasphenoidal 

 beam. The cleft between the orbital and the nasal septum is incomplete (fig. 3), and 

 the latter is partly ossified, as in the Ardeinse: it is much deeper than in Grallee 

 generally. There are three septal ossifications — tM'o upper (the small one foremost), and 

 one lower ; this lower bony plate answers to the antero-inferior bone of the Rapacious 

 bird — that which sends out the vestibular bars to join the maxillary on each side. The 

 nasal septum, like the alse nasi, only occupies the hinder half of the bony nasal opening ; 

 the rest is filled up by fibrous tissue. The septum nasi is alate below, and each semilan- 

 ceolate cartilaginous wing is attached to the septal process of the maxillo-palatine plate. 



The prefrontal region (PI. XCII. fig. 3) is only partly ossified, the antorbital plate 

 being cartilaginous above and externally, and the perpendicular ethmoid sending very 

 little bony matter into the upper alte. The aliseptal region (inferior turbinal and its 

 root) and the alinasal are quite soft in the adult ; the alinasal flaps are obliquely oblong, 

 lie low down, bulge but little, and only reach halfway along the bony nasal opening ; 

 the anterior nostril is a low-lying valvular slit. 



As the bony nostrils are extremely open, the body of the premaxillary only reaches 

 one-third of the way to the angle of the bone. The nasal processes (PL XCII. fig. 1) 

 are completely fused, as in the Cranes, the Psophia, the Euryinjga, and the Rail, but 

 they keep very distmct from the nasals. The nasal process is strong, flat, even some- 

 what concave at the middle of the bone, and is very unlike what is seen in the related 

 types. Below (fig. 2) there is seen to be a degree of fiUing-in by bony matter that 

 approaches what we find in the true Herons, and the fusion of the parts is complete. 

 This narrow, gently concave anterior part of the bony palate is composed of the inner 

 part of the dentary plates and the palatine bars of the premaxillaries. Joined to them are 



' I must refer the reader to the plates accompanying my paper on the Gallinaceous and Struthious skulls for 

 the lettemv) of especial parts, with this proviso, namely, that p.v. (prevomer) should be read as mx. (maxillary), 

 and mx. as pt.mx. (postmaxiUary). 



