G28 MB. G. A. BOULBNGBB OS SOHIiHGEL's GATIAL. [June 16, 



the flexor perforans and runs to the third digit. These slips are 

 in addition to the ordinary short flexors, and it is possible that 

 they throw light upon the origin of the very peculiar modes of 

 distribution of the hallucis tendon in some groups of birds, as it 

 has been repeatedly shown that a tendon may be the homologue of 

 » muscle. 



Eiitepicondylo-ulnaris. — This muscle, which according to Gadow 

 is present ouly in Easores and in the Tinamou, is absent in 

 Opisihocomus. This is another of the innumerable points separating 

 Opisthocomus from Fowls. 



2. On the Occurrence of SchlegeVs Gavial [Tomistoma schle- 

 geli) in the Malay Peninsula, with Remarks on the Atlas 

 and Axis of the Crocodilians. By G. A. Boulenger, 

 P.R.S. 



[Received May 29, 189f).] 



A Gharial-like Crocodile, Tomistoma schleyelii, described by 

 Salomon Midler in 1838, was, until hitely, believed to be pecuhar 

 to Borneo. In 1890, however, its occurrence in Sumatra was 

 recorded by Max Weber (Zool. Ergebn. p. 170). The Malay 

 Peninsula may now be added to its habitat. 



A few mouths ago, the British Museum received, from Mr. L. 

 Wray, Curator of the Perak Government Museum, a fine half- 

 grown specimen, with the following remarks : — 



" The specimen was caught at Pulau Tiga, in the Perak rivej-, in 

 June 1895, and I kept it in a pond until the end of December, 

 when it was killed. Por months it would eat nothing but a few 

 small fish, but during the later portion of the time it would eat 

 freely of any meat or fish given to it. It also became quite tame 

 and would remain at the surface of the water with its head on the 

 bank while people stood near it. 



" So far as I have been able to ascertain, no Crocodile belonging 

 to the Gavial group has ever been recorded from the Malayan 

 Peninsula, so that the following particulars will be of interest. 



" I first heard of the occurrence of a Gavial in the State of 

 Perak in 1889, and in the same yeiu- Mr. Cecil Wray, the then 

 Acting Superintendent of Lower Perak, obtained a skull from the 

 Perak river, and sent it to the Perak Museum ; the animal was 7 

 feet long. A second was caught in the Kinta river, near Batu 

 Gajah, in 1893 or 1894. It was secured by Capt. IT. C. Metcalfe, 

 of the Perak Sikhs, and the skin is now in his possession. It 

 measures 6 feet 8 inches, but the tail is very short, having pro- 

 bably been injured when young ; the head measures 18 inches, the 

 upper jaw 30 inches, and the lower jaw 23 inches. A third 

 was taken from the Batang Padang river near Tapah, and was 

 seen by Mr. Page, the Inspector of Police at Tapah. It was 



