270 PEOFESSOE OA¥EN ON CNEMIOENIS. 



structure of its naetatarse. Tlie entotrochlea comes off at the same transverse line with 

 the ectotrochlea (Trans. Zool. See. v. pi. 67. figs. 1 & 3), and shows but a feeble trace of 

 the anserine backward production of the internal trochlea, as shown in the side view of the 

 bone given in the present paper (PL XXXVIII. fig. 12). The metatarse in Tachyeres 

 conforms to the rule in Anatidse, the innermost digital trochlea not only diverging from 

 the confluent shafts at a higher level (as shown in Trans. Zool. Soc. vol. vii. pi. 62. fig. 63), 

 but being produced more backward (" fortement rejetee en arriere ") than the other two 

 trochlese (as shown in the side view given in fig. 14, PI. XXXVIII.). 



§ 6. Conclusion. 



The sum of the comparisons instituted in the foregoing descriptions of parts of the 

 skeleton of Cnemiornis with corresponding parts in Cereopsis and in Tachyeres weighs 

 strongly in favour of the nearer affinity of the non-volant Anserine of New Zealand with 

 the feebly flying Goose of Australia than with the non-volant Duck of Magellan's Strait. 

 This is more especially exemplified in the pelvis, the metatarsus, and the skull. The 

 characters of shortness, breadth, and obtuseness of tlie beak which generically distinguish 

 Cereopsis iwvce hollandice were exaggerated in Cnemiornis, and lead me to infer a 

 similarity of diet and terrestrial habits ' in the gigantic goose of New Zealand. 



In the 'American Journal of Science and Arts,' vol. xlix. no. 146, March 1870, Pro- 

 fessor O. C. Marsh reports the acquisition, from " the greensand of New Jersey," of " a 

 portion of the shaft and distal extremity of a left tibia which indicates a species, appa- 

 rently, of a swimming bird nearly as large as the common wild Swan [Cygmis ameri- 

 canus, Sharpless) " (p. 206). " The condyles of the distal end are broader anteriorly 

 than deep, the inner condyle being more prominent in front, and the outer one pro- 

 jecting somewhat further behind. The intercondyloid space is wider than either condyle." 

 "The supratendinal bridge is well ossified;" "it is submedian in position, straight, 

 transverse, of moderate width, and spans a deep and well-defined canal, which was 

 traversed by the extensor tendon of the toes." " The under trochlear surface is but 

 slightly concave transversely, and has a faint median elevation, as in the tibia of the 

 Swan." But this elevation is present in 'birds of other genera, families, and orders: it 

 is shown in many of my illustrations of the bone ; and I may refer to the latest (Trans. 

 Zool. Soc. vol. viii. pi. 59. fig. 2), where it is indicated in the tibia of Dinomis c/ravis by 

 the letter u. With regard to another alleged anserine character, I may remark that in 

 every bird with the " supratendinal bridge well ossified," I have found it spanning a 

 canal that might be called " deep and well-defined," and " which was traversed by a 

 tendon ;" but this I have found to be, in Anscrines as in other birds, the tendon of the 



' Mr. Yarrell has recorded his observation that the Cereopsis, like the semipalmated Goose, " passes much 

 of its time on land," ' Proceedings of the Committee of Science and Correspondence of the Zoological Society of 

 London,' 8vo, p. 25 (January 183]). 



