" QTJIISTOCUBITALISM " IN THE WING OF BIRDS. 215 



specimens from the Zoological Society's Gardens. These names 

 are identical with those in the British Museum Catalogue, except 

 in the cases of the bird I name PJilogoenas cruentata, which is 

 there called P. luzonica, and the bird I name Geophaps plumiferay 

 which is there named Lophophaps plumifera. 



Garrod(3) considered the classification of pigeons from the point 

 of view of anatomy. He does not place GeopJiaps., but of the 

 other eiitaxic forms, Leucosarcia is placed in his family Phapidce, 

 and the others each in a different division of his family TreronidtB. 

 According to the British Museum system, all the eutaxic forms 

 belong to the family Peristeridcs but are distributed among four 

 different subfamilies. It is clear that these eutaxic forms cannot 

 be regarded as forming a separate group by themselves. Here 

 and there, almost at random, among the great mass of diastataxic 

 forms occur a few eutaxic forms. IF, as I have attempted to 

 show in the earlier part of this paper, the eutaxic condition be 

 a simple derivative of tiie diastataxic condition, then it is not 

 surprising to find that quite different genera are convergent in 

 this respect. I shall now show that there is considerable reason, 

 based on anatomy, for regarding these eutaxic pigeons as con- 

 vergent in other respects. 



Anatomical Reasons for the supposition tliat Eutaxic Pigeons 

 are not Primitive. 



To avoid constant repetition of the names of the seven pigeons 

 the wing of which displays the eutaxic condition, I shall refer 

 to them according to the following list: — 



Geopelia cuneata A. 



G-eopelia tranquilla a. 



PhJoqoenas crueniaia 



Phlogoenas ? liizonica 



Starnoenas cyanocephala C. 



Geophaps plumifera \ 

 ? Lophophaps ,, J 



Golumhida p)icui E. 



Leucosarcia picata I. 



When the anatomical differences presented by a large number 

 of closely-related individuals are considered, it is generally 

 possible to come to a conclusion as to what conditions are more 



