344 University of California Publications in Zoohxjij I. Vol. 13 



(2) other Feathers 



Back feathers rather loose-vaned, Aftershaft with long shaft 

 and distinct vanes, but barbs much farther apart than in Galli, 

 therefore not such a compact structure. Barbules mucli simplified. 

 Distals with elongated, slender base, with reduced ventral teeth ; 

 pennulum greatly elongated and threadlike, three times length of 

 base on basal portion of barb, 4 short, rather weak teeth, and 2 or 

 3 short, blunt ventral cilia immediately beyond booklets. Prox- 

 imals, near base of barb, with slender but well-formed base, 4 or 5 

 short but slender and sharp ventral teeth, and greatly elongated 

 pennulum. Towards tip of barbs, pennula shortened, and barbules 

 greatly reduced and simplified. 



Breast feathers very similar, but pennula on basal barbules not 

 so elongate. Aftershaft weaker. 



h) Down 



The down is distinctly different from that of the Galli. Ringlike 

 structures are never developed at the nodes, the latter being in- 

 conspicuous and only slightly enlarged, and never pigmented, al- 

 though the internodes have black pigment. The length of the bar- 

 bules is moderate, seldom reaching over 2 mm. 



c) Relationships 



The structure of the distal and proximal barbules of the remiges, 

 while strikingly galline in some respects, is likewise very similar, 

 in fact more so, to Eurypyga. The structure of the down, which 

 has such a strikingly characteristic development in the Galli, in 

 these birds is totally different, but is almost exactly the same as 

 that of Eurypyga. It might be suggested that the Gruiformes and 

 Galliformes are divergent branches of a common primitive stem, 

 and that the Turnices and Eurypyga are to be considered as more 

 or less nearly related early offshoots either from the gruiform or 

 galliform branch, thus exhibiting somewhat intermediate characters. 



d) Summary 



The Turnices are characterized as follows, in common with the 

 Galli : 



(1) Plumules sparse, restricted to apteria. 



(2) Aftershaft present, with long shaft and distinct vanes. 



(3) Distal barbules of remiges with broad bases, with broad, thin 

 ventral teeth and strikingly diagonal line of nuclei; pennulum with 



