294 



SIR E. NEWTON AND DE. GADOW ON THE DODO 



out and deeply grooved, as in Erythromachus. There is no trace of a spina interna ; 

 the feet of the coracoids, as indicated by their facets, were separated from each other 

 by a smooth groove of 9 mm. in length. The spina externa is represented by two 

 projections from the ventral lips of the median corner of the coracoid articulation. In 

 this respect Aphanapteryx agrees with Erythromachus, and also with Fxilica newtoni. . 



The humerus is very short and slender for so large a bird ; its typically Ealline 

 characters are, however, obvious enough to recognize it as belonging to Aphanapttryx, 

 while it differs by its far greater length and strength from the humerus of GalUnula, 

 and by its much smaller dimensions from that of Fulica. A very interesting feature is 

 the absence of the usually wide and deep pneumatic foramen, which is indicated only 

 by a shallow depression which is smaller than even in Gallinula chloropus. 



The third cervical vertebra could easily be recognized as such by its numerous 

 KaUine characters, which in these birds are strongly pronounced ; its dimensions remove 

 it Irom either Fulica or Gallinula, i. e. from the only other Ralline birds hitherto 

 known to have occurred in Mauritius. 



The premaxilla fits well upon the several fragments of underjaws, and still better 

 upon the underjaw figured by M. Milne-Edwards. The great length and the shape of 

 these bones closely resemble those of Erythromachus (Phil. Trans, vol. 168, pi. xliii. 

 fig. A). The Mauritian bird is, in fact, nothing but a larger species of the same genus. 



A number of measurements are given in the subjoined Table in order to aid the 

 comparison of the Mauritian Ealline birds with each other and with some of their 

 allies. 



