1889.] MR.W. K. PARKER ON STEATORNIS CARIPENSIS. 161 



The animal has been placed in one of the warm tanks in the new 

 Reptile House and appears to be doing well. It is fed principally 

 upon lettuces. 



2. An Oriental l^halnnger (P/ialanffer orientalis), received March 

 4th, and presented by C. M. Woodford, Esq., of Sydney. 



Out of five specimens of this interesting Marsupial kindly trans- 

 mitted to the Society by Mr. Woodford, by whom they had been 

 obtained in the Solomon Islands, three survived to reach this 

 country, but of these two unfortunately died before they reached 

 the Society's Gardens. 



3. A specimen of Owen's Apteryx {Apteryx otoeni), presented by 

 Captain C. A. Findlay, of the K.M.S. ' lluapehu,' on March .5th. 



This bird has been placed along with the specimen received on 

 February 19th, 1889, with which it appears to agree well, so that the 

 two are probably a pair. 



Mr. A. Smith-Woodward, F.Z.S., exhibited and made remarks on 

 a maxilla of the early Mesozoic Ganoid Fish Saurichthys from the 

 Rhsetic Formation of Aust CHfF near Bristol. 



The following papers were read : — 



1. On the Osteology of Steutornis caripensis. 

 By W. K. Parker, F.R.S. 



[Eeceived March 7, 1889.] 

 (Plates XVII.-XX.) 



COSTENTS. 



Page I Pa^e 



I. Introductory Remarks 161 V. The Wing 178 



II. The Skull . ; 165 VI. The Hip-girdle and Hind 



III. The Vertebral Chain and \ Limbs 180 



Eibs 173 ! VII. Summary 183 



IV. The Sternum and Shoulder- ! Explanation of the Plates 189 



girdle 177 | 



I. Introductory Remarks. 



Steutornis is so distinct from every other known bird that it 

 should, if it had its rights, be put into a Family by itself, and thus 

 represent the Steatoi-nithida ', of which it is the only existing 

 species. Its distribution is also very limited, being only found in 

 Venezuela and one or two of the neighbouring States. 



Nevertheless, this is only one among several of the Neotropical 

 types of birds that have come very near to extinction, there being 

 four or five famiUes which possess at most two or three genera, with 

 very few species. 



It is evident that those groups which are most potent in Families, 



^ This has already been proposed by Messrs. Sclater and Salvin, Nomencl. 

 At. Neotr. p. 97 (1873). 



