1896.] ON THE PTBBTLOSIS OF THE BAEBBTS AND TOUCANS. 555 



fore had the skeleton of a male specimen prepared, and noted the 

 following points : — 



The skull is devoid of ridges, such as are present on tlie snout 

 in M. vulgaris and palmata, and the ethmoidal fontanelle is large ; 

 the fronto-squamosal arch is bony and slender ; the pterygoids 

 considerably fail to reach the inaxillaries. 



The ilium is suspended from the fifteenth vertebra, as in 

 M. vulgaris and palmata, and the caudal vertebrse number 32. 



EXPLANATION OP THE PLATES. 



Pl-ATB XXI. 



Fig. 1. liana camerani (p. hhO). Upper view. 

 1 a. ,, „ Side view of head. 



2. Felodytes caucaskus (p. 551). Upper and lower view. 

 '2 a. ,, ,, Open mouth. 



Plate XXII. 

 Fig. 1. Salamandra cnucaswa (p. 5.')3). Upper view. 



la. „ „ Skiill, upper and lower view, X 2. 



14. „ ,, Side view of base of tail of (J, x2. 



2. Molge vittaia (p. 554). Side view. 

 2rt. „ ,, Skull, upper and lower view, x2. 



2. Contributions to the Anatomy of Picarian Birds. — 

 Part II. ' A Note iipon the Pterylosis of the Barbets 

 ' and Toucans. By Frank E. Beddakd, M.A., P.R.S., 

 Prosector to the Society. 



[Received May 4, 189G.] 



In a short article mainly referring to the peculiar " intestini- 

 f orm " gall-bladder of the Toucans and Barbets, the late Mr. Porbes 

 took occasion to point out other resemblances between ■ these 

 families of birds ^ to each other and to the Woodpeckers. "With 

 regard to the pterylosis, however, Mr. Forbes contented himself 



with remarking that " Nitzsch, from pterylographical grounds 



long <ago pointed out this connection." Nitzsch undoubtedly 

 placed in one group Picince, the Barbets, Toucans, and Wood- 

 peckers ; but he included with the former in almost inextricable 

 confusion the Bucconidse, and furthermore observed that " this 

 group also has no general pterylographic character, at least none 

 belonging to itself alone." His plate fully bears out this state- 

 ment to my mind. Nevertheless it seems to me that there are 

 pterylographic likenesses between the Barbets and the Toucans : 

 I find, in fact, that the pterylosis of such Barbets as I have had the 

 opportunity of examining do not agree altogether with Nitzsch'a 

 figures. The species that I have studied are Megalama asiatica, 

 M. hodgsoni, M. javensis, Cyarwps franldini, and XantJwlcmna rosea. 



' See P. Z. S. 1889, p. 587, for Part I. 



2 " Note on Ihe Gall-bladdei &o. of the Toucans and Barbets," P. Z. S. 1882, 

 p. 94. 



36* 



