Letters, Extracts, and Notes. 355 



of these muscles ; but tins bare statement would not lead 

 the reader to realise how large in reality is Dr. Gadow^s 

 contribution to the matter. For in a long account occupying 

 28 pages, Dr. Mitchell only refers to Dr. Gadow as having 

 dealt with Aptenodytes, Serpentarius, Pandion, Parrots, and 

 Pelargopsis. Whereas that gentleman has described the 

 peroneals also in Owls, Cypselus, Bucorvus, Momotus, Eury- 

 stunius, Podargus, Corythaix, Caprimulgus, Cuculus, Pici, 

 Tubinares, Podiceps, Lamellirostres, Otis, Grus, Ciconia, 

 Ardea, Phmnicopterus, Pterocles, Uria, Larus, Alca, Pele- 

 canus, Talegalla, Euplocamus, Crax, Columbse, etc. Nor 

 does Dr. Mitchell refer to myself except to point out that I 

 am mistaken in my account of these muscles in Penguins 

 and Alcedinidse. But in my ' Structure and Classification 

 of Birds ' I have referred to the peroneals in the Capitonidae, 

 Momotidse, Caprimulgidse, Musophagi, Striges, Psittaci, 

 Accipitres, and in some other forms, in all of which state- 

 ments I find that Dr. Mitchell agrees with me. Furthermore, 

 in no fewer than twelve papers published either in the 

 'Proceedings of the Zoological Society' or in ' The Ibis/ 

 I have incidentally described the peroneal muscles in 

 Carpococcyx, Anastomus, Plotus, Heliornis, Podica, Rhyn- 

 chops, ^chmophorus, various Caprimulgidae, Scopus, and 

 Rhinochetus. 



Yours faithfully, 



Frank E. Beddard. 



Zoological Gardens, 



Regent's I'ark, 



5 .Tan., 1914. 



Sir, — On the first page of the memoir to which Dr. Bed- 

 dard refers I wrote as follows : — " On looking up the 

 literature relating to the peroneal muscles in birds, I found 

 that even Dr. Gadow's careful description of these muscles 

 (Bronn's Thier-Reich, Aves, pp. 180-182) was based on a 

 relatively small number of individuals and types, and that 

 his work, together with the insignificant contributions of 

 earlier and later writers, supplied only a vague and dubious 



