2 BULLETIN 5 0, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



<Ralliformes FtiEBEiNOBR, Unters. Morph. Syst. V6g., 1888, 1566 (Helloriiithes+ 

 Ralll+Mesitidae+Hemlpodildae).— Shaepe, Bev. Bee. Att. Olassif. Birds, 

 1891, TO (Balli+Heliornithes, part) .— Shxjfkldt, Anat. Bee, ix, 1915, 606 

 (Ralii+Hellornlthes+Aramidae) . 



>Ralliformes P. R. Lowe, Ibis, 1931, 496 (Includes only Ballidae and 

 Hellornithldae ) . 



<Ralloidea Shufblot, Anat. Bee, ix, 1915, 606 (RalU+Heliomitlies+Ara- 

 midae). 



<PsophUformes Mathews, Birds Australia, iii, pt. 4, 1913, 373 (Psophiidse+ 

 Gruidse) . 



=Megalornitliiformes WEyrMOEE and Miller, Auk, xliii, 1926, 342. 



> <Telmatomorphae Lowe, Ibis, 1931, 502 [includes Cariamldae, Gruidae, 



Psophiidae, Aramidae, Bhinochetldae, Eurypygidae, Otidae (but not 



Ballidae, Heliornithidae, Mesoenatidae, or Turnicidae), and the families 



of larolimicoline birds] . 



XGruimorphae Lowe, Ibis, 1931, 491 (includes Larolimicolae, but excludes 



rails, sun-bitterns ; contents as in Telmatomorphae) . 

 XKolobathrornithes Boettiohes, Verb. Orn. Ges. Bay., xvii, 1927, 190 (in- 

 cludes rails, cranes, bustards, gallinaceous birds, plovers, pratincoles, 

 gulls!). 



Paludicoline, aquatic, or terrestrial birds with anterior toes veiy 

 incompletely or (usually) not at all webbed; dorsal vertebrae hetero- 

 coelous ; distal ends of ilium and ischium united ; os quadratus with a 

 double head ; accessory f emorocaudal muscle without slip above sciatic 

 foramen; coracoids with basal ends separated; spina interna sterni 

 absent (except in Mesites) ; basipterygoid processes absent; crop ab- 

 sent; hallux, if present, usually elevated (incumbent in Eurypyges). 



Palate schizognathous (imperfectly aegithognathous in Turnices, 

 imperfectly desmognathous in Cariamae) ; nares schizorhinal (Eury- 

 pyges, Grues, Cariamae) or holorhinal (Ralli) ; pervious (Eury- 

 pygidae, Mesoenatidae) or impervious (Rhynochetidae) ; occipital 

 fontanelles present; supraorbital impressions indistinct; interorbital 

 septum fenestrated ; lachrymals not blending with ectethmoid ; interor- 

 bital septum fenestrated; ramphotheca simple; angulare mandibulae 

 truncated; cervical vertebrae 14-20; complete ribs 5-7; ectepicondylar 

 process of humerus absent; spina interna sterni absent; hypotarsus 

 with high ridges (Rhinochetidae, Ealli), complex (Grues, Otides) or 

 simple (Eurypygidae) ; carotids, 2; caeca present, large or small; gall 

 bladder present ; stomach a gizzard, the proventriculus zonary ; thigh 

 muscle formula ABXY +, BXY-I- {Aramus, Balearica), or XY + 

 (Grus leucogeranus) ; deep plantar tendons of type I, II, IV, or X, 

 united by a strong vinculum ; ambiens, semitendinosus, accessory semi- 

 tendinosus, and expansor secundariorum muscles present; peroneals 

 both present ; intestinal convolutions of type I (peri-orthocoelous) ; oU. 

 gland present, tufted (Ralli) or nude (Eurypyges, Grues, Cariamae) ; 

 aftershaft present (except in Mesoenatides and Heliornithes) ; rec- 

 trices 10-18 ; primaries 10-11 ; secondaries quinto- or acquinto-cubital ; 



