"§28 iin. r. E. bEddaud ON »aB . [Feb. 4, 



At the poslerior margin of the sternum the two oblique septa bend 

 inward, and join each other in the middle, becoming here, as 

 already mentioned, fused also with the umbilical ligament; 

 anteriorly this roof formed by the oblique septa becomes 

 continuous with the pericardium. The horizontally disposed 

 roofing membrane formed by the union across the middle line of 

 the two umbilical ligaments is, however, attached to the sternum on 

 both sides for a short space by a membrane, somewhat slight and 

 fenestrated (fig. 2, a, p. 227), which arises from the oblique septum 

 just where it is bent over to assume a horizontal direction. 



The floor of the hepatic cavity of the right side, whose roof and 

 sides are formed of body-wall, oblique septum, and falciform 

 ligament, is a transparent membrane, anteriorly closely attached 

 to the liver ; posteriorly it covers over body-cavity, being attached 

 to oblique septum and to ventral parietes ; on the left side of the 

 body it is continuous with the floor of the left hepatic cavity, 

 which has corresponding attachments to the oblique septum and 

 parietes of its own side ; it splits so as to surround the gizzard. It 

 is the " horizontal septum," " pseud-epiploon," or " so-called 

 omentum." It follows, therefoi-e, that each liver-lobe in Oorvus 

 capdlanus is contained in a separate cavity, the two being divided 

 by the umbilical ligament ; each of these cavities is considerably 

 larger than the liver-mass which it encloses, extending back nearly as 

 far as to the cloaca. It is, however, to the relationship between the 

 oblique septa and the falciform ligament that I desire particularly 

 to call attention in the above description. I find that this peculiar 

 arrangement of the oblique septa and the falciform ligament is not 

 only characteristic of Oorvus capellanus, but also of other Crows 

 and of other Passerines. The Eaven and the Alpine Chough agree 

 absolutely with Oorvus caj'ellanus ; so too Urocissa mac/nirostris, 

 Paradisea minor, Pastor roseus, Starling, Oracula intermedia, 

 Ptilonorhynchus violaceics. Vidua jiaradisea, Spanish Blue Magpie, 

 HypTiantornis texta, Leucodioptron canorum, Sturnella ludoviciana, 

 Sialia wilsoni, Turdus merula, Pitancjus sulpliuratus, Furnariits sp., 

 Tanagra striata, Oardinalis virginianus, Fringilla teydea, and a few 

 others. In a specimen of the Rook (see fig. 3, p. 229) there is a 

 slight difference, the oblique septa being split into two layers, 

 one having the normal attachment, the other the Passerine. 



In Struthidea cinerea, again, I observed a slight difEerence in 

 the arrangement of these various septa coupled with a general 

 agreement. The point of difEerence was that, in the specimen of 

 this bird which I dissected there was on each side a thin 

 transparent partition arising from the falciform ligament and 

 attached to the oblique septum of its side. This membranous 

 partition did not, as it perhaps might have been expected to do, 

 shut ofi the liver from .the posterior portion of the abdominal 

 cavity ; it arched over the liver with a semicircular free edge, one 

 half of the liver' being in front of it, the other behind. 



Leaving aside the characteristics of Struthidea for a moment, I 

 desire to direct attention to the general feature of such Passerines 



