OSTEOLOGY OF BIRDS 



309 



Again, the condition of the interorbital septum as it is generally 

 formed among the ducks and geese is well exemplified in this 

 goose. Fenestrae occur in the region of the exit of the first pair of 

 nerves, but the center of the plate is impervious. Attention is in- 

 vited, too, to the form of the palatine, quadrate, and pterygoid on 

 this lateral view. 



The crotaphyte fossa is small and inconspicuous, and confined 

 entirely to the side of the head. As in all Anatidae, the entrance 



Fig. 35 Skull of JBranta canadensis hutchinsii; from above. Same 

 specimen as figures 33 and 34. Natural size 



Fig. 36 Skull of Branta canadensis hutchinsii; basal view with man- 

 dible removed. Natural size. Same specimen as figures 33, 34 and 35 



to the auricular chamber is thoroughly walled about with bone, with- 

 out presenting any flaring winglike extensions we sometimes see 

 in birds. 



The unusual size of the brain case in the Hutchins goose is, per- 

 haps, better appreciated upon a direct posterior view than it is here 

 on our lateral one. Comparatively speaking, it is far above, I think, 

 the average for a bird of its size. 



