46 Mr. F. E. Beddard on the 
is naturally the one which is covered by the ilium at its 
origin. The first five of the complete ribs have uncinate 
processes, of which the three in the middle are the longest. 
These uncinate processes are so long that they overlap the 
rib behind. The rib-formula of Aramus will be therefore : 
r + Il + 6 + 1 (lumbar). 
This may be compared with the formulae of some other 
Cranes : 
Grus carunculata : r + K- + 7 -f 1 + r. 
Tdrapteryx iJaradisea : r + R + 6 + 2. 
Balearica chrysopelargus : R + 7 + 1 ^. 
I should explain that " r '^ signifies a small cervical rib 
not reaching the sternum^ ^^ R '''' a larger cervical rib still 
not reaching the sternum^ the following figure (6 or 7 in the 
cases described) refers to the true dorsal ribs which articulate 
with the sternum, the next figure (1 in the case described) 
a dorsal rib which does not reach the sternum, and, finally^ 
'^r" a more rudimentary rib behind this; both of the 
latter arise from vertebrae fused with the sacral series, and 
may therefore be termed lumbar ribs. 
§ Shoulder-Girdle and Sternum. 
These parts of the skeleton have naturally been dealt with 
by Fiii'bringer, and therefore it will not be necessary for me 
to treat them with any elaboration. There is, however, 
one point of some little interest in the structure of the 
sternum with which I wish to deal : it is illustrated in the 
accompanying figure (fig. 3, p. 47), the two drawings in which 
represent the sternum o^ Aramus (A) and that oi Balearica (B) 
viewed from the front, the keel being vertical in position. 
The spina externa of the sternum is asserted by Fiirbringer, 
in his comparative tables of osteological characters on 
pp. 1582, 1583, of his ' Untersuchungen,* to be wanting 
in Aramus. I cannot altogether agree with him, though 
undoubtedly the process in question is so small as to be 
* For formulae of some other Crane-like birds see Beddard, P. Z. S. 
1890, p. 439. 
