Br. C. W. Andreivs — Upper Cretaceous Birds. 195 



bone. A similar sculpture may be seen on some bird-bones, e.g. on 

 the femur of Phalacroeorax and to a less extent in Pelecanus, but in 

 tbese cases it is less distinctly seen, being partly masked by the 

 presence of organic matter which has been removed in the fossils. 

 Similar sculpture occurs on the fragment of a tibio-tarsus described 

 below. This peculiarity in the texture of the surface of the bone, 

 taken together with the similarity of form of these femora with those 

 of some recent birds, even in details of muscle attachment and of the 

 disposition of the linece aspercs, seems to leave no doubt as to the 

 avian nature of these remains. 



A fairly exhaustive comparison of these portions of femora with 

 those of various groups of recent birds leads to the conclusion that, 

 so far as the evidence available goes, there is reason to believe that 

 these extinct forms approach most nearly to the Steganopodes, e.g. 

 the cormorant {Phalacroeorax). The points of similarity are (1) 

 the form of the great trochanter, especially the strong forward 

 prominence of its antero-external angle, (2) the position and depth of 

 the muscle impressions on the outer face of the trochanter, (3) the fact 

 that the summit of the head rises above the trochanter, (4) the large 



O.C 



Fig. 2. Distal end of the right tibio-tarsus of (?)SZopimya3 nqpcsai. A, from 

 front; B, from outer side. % nat. size. i.e. inner condyle; i.g. inter- 

 condylar groove ; o.c. outer condyle ; r. outer ridge. 



size of the pit for the ligamenium teres. Furthermore, the arrange- 

 ment of the muscular ridges, at least in the upper part of the shaft, 

 is closely similar to that seen in the Steganopodous femur, as is also 

 the tendency to a backward flexure of the lower part of the bone. 

 The bird represented by the remains just described was about as 

 large as a pelican and is certainly different from any previously 

 known form. I propose that it should be called Elopieryx nopcsai, 

 gen. et sp. nov. 



Another specimen which seems to belong to a bird is the distal end 

 of a right tibio-tarsus (Fig. 2), including the articular region and 

 about two centimetres of the lower end of the shaft ; both the 

 articular end and the shaft are strongly compressed from before 

 backwards. The articular surface consists of two sub-equal condyles, 

 the outer (o.c.) being a little the more prominent and convex ; these 

 are separated by a deep intercondylar groove {i.g.), bounded above 

 by a narrow shelf of bone which forms the floor of a deep fossa at the 

 lower end of the anterior face of the shaft. The condyles project 

 very little posteriorly, and pass by a continuous curve into the flat or 



