SHUFELDT.] OSTEOLOGY OF THE TETRAONIDA. 685 
that.the pygostyle is composed of three vertebrae, which are fused to- 
gether, distorted and modified as the bird grows, so as to eventually 
result in the bone we have before us. 
We will now offer a few remarks upon the vertebral column, as ap- 
plied to others of the North American Tetraonide. 
Of all the specimens examined, representing all the genera, the num- 
ber of distinctly free vertebrae between the skull and the anchylosed 
dorsals has been found to be invariably fifteen, the last one supporting 
movably-articulated pleurapophyses, that in Lagopus, at least, possess 
small epi-pleural appendages. This portion of the spinal column, then, 
will constitute the cervical division, and in it we note that the third 
and fourth segments have interzygopophysial bars present, becoming 
so broad in the quails that the foramina they give rise to are sometimes 
very minute. 
The pleurapophyses become long and sharp in some and more con- 
spicuous than in others; this applies particularly to Cupidonia and Pe- 
diecetes. The last cervical in the former has osseous spicule leading 
backwards from its neural spine and postzy gapopbyses, as in the anterior 
dorsals. In the same vertebre the hypapophyses become confluent to 
form one broad process placed traversely with a mesial keel in front 
as the only indication of its original device. 
The normal number of cervical vertebre in any of the species of Wild 
Turkey of this country is likewise fifteen, and this number holds good 
also, in the Guinea Hen and the Peacock. 
The carotid canal seems to commence and terminate in the same ver- 
tebre both in Tetraonide and Ortygine. 
Of the eminently characteristic dorsal bone little has to be said in 
addition to what has already been noted above. The number of verte- 
bre included in the anchylosis is never more nor less than four, and the 
first vertebral ribs have no hemapophyses; so they never connect with 
the sternum, though they invariably bear uncinate processes, and in 
many species contribute a good share toward the stability of the thoracic 
parietes. The metapophysial processes vary principally in their extent: 
in Bonasa, Cupidonia, and Pediecetes. In several specimens they nearly 
cover the tops of the diapophysial arms. In Lagopus a narrow bar de- 
fines them, connecting the extremities of the transverse processes with 
comparatively few offshoots. In Canace canadensis the bone is very long 
and delicate. In C. obscura it has the same general appearance as in 
Centrocercus. The hypapophyses develop after the common type, but 
often irregularly ; they are found to be missing on the ultimate segment - 
or rather the pelvic end of the bone in the Quails. 
' The free and last dorsal may or may not have a hypapophysis; we 
believe it never does in the Ortygine. It is overlapped by the ilia in 
Cupidonia and the Sharp-tailed Grouse. We find this to be a very 
marked feature in the last, and well marked among some of these birds 
sent me by Capt. James C. Merrill, Medical Department United States 
Army, from Fort Custer, Mont., at a time they were particularly accept- 
able, and when this erratic fowl became suddenly and unusually rare in 
many localities, so that the gift was reckoned at the time as more than 
valuable desiderata. As far as the sacral vertebre are concerned, the’ 
same general plan seems to be carried out: sixteen seems to be the al- 
lotted number among the Grouse and, as a rule, among the Partridges. 
In these birds the sacrum, 7%. e., the anchylosed sacral vertebre, is much 
narrower, as is the entire pelvis, and much fewer perforations are to be 
seen among the dilated precesses that go to meet the ossa innominata. 
In Cupidonia and Pediecetes the sacrum is very broad, conforming to 
