CHIONIS MINOR. 97 



above Dientioned being, in fact, tbongh not homologically, tbe principal 

 suspender of the liTcr. Tbe posterior margin of tbe rigbt lobe presents 

 two deep incisions, separating tbree pointed processes of Hver tissue. 

 The left lobe is sharply unciform, the concavity of the book looking 

 upward. A decided thickening of the isthmus, on the superior surface 

 of tbe liver, indicates the third lobe. Gall-bladder distinct, empty; 

 biliary ducts very large. 



The left ovary was found to have been quite active, resembling a 

 bunch of grapes. We counted twenty-six vesicles as large as No. 6 shot, 

 eleven of these being as large as No. 3, besides very many large enough 

 to be distinct. 



Oviduct tortuous; much enlarged; longitudinal plicae very distinct 

 and laminated, like the leaves of a book. The sex of this specimen, 

 which had black wing-spurs, proves that that feature is not distinctive 

 of male birds, as we had supposed.* 



Kidneys are large, 1.95 inch ; moulded on their superior (dorsal) surface 

 to fit the irregularities of the sacrum. Near the termination of the 

 ureter, in the cloaca, are noticeable two small glandular bodies. 



Palate is wide jjosteriorl}-, bounded at the sides and anteriorly by the 



projecting edges of the bill. Half an inch from the tip of beak, in the 



median line, is a minute longitudinal crest; 0.10 inch behind this a 



decided tooth-like, bony process, directed backward ; 0.20 inch posterior 



to this are six tooth -like villi, directed backward and arranged, like a comb, 



in a horizontal row. Here the lateral palatal ridges become prominent. 



Marking the anterior end of the aperture of the posterior nares, and 



0.30 inch behind the last-named process, are two longer tooth-like villi; 



on each side of this slit, in the sulcus between central and lateral palatal 



ridges, are six minute separate villi in a longitudinal row. Behind the 



slit for tbe Eustachian tube there is a transverse comb-like row of villi 



on each side, directed backward and limiting the upper and back part 



of the pharynx. 



SKELETON. 



Skull. — On examination of the skull as a whole, the brain cavity 

 appears relatively very large and high. The frontal region is much 

 inflated, and the whole arch very convex. The attachments for muscb s 

 are generally not well marked, and the depression (crotophyte) for the 

 insertion of the temporal muscle is almost obsolete.! Prominent iwints 



* B 11. No. 2, Nat. Mus. 1875, p. 1. 



+ Tbe.se observations are A-^ery different from those of Mr. T. C. Eyton on the skull of 

 Chionis alha. He found the " cranium with a very small cavity for the brain ; occipital 

 7 K • 



