No. 635] "PELVIC WING" IN POULTRY 



539 



short outer branch (of the inferior tract), and the broad, 

 obtuse axillary tract, constitute the strongest portion of 

 the entire plumage of the trunk." The position of these 

 feathers is such as to suggest a pelvic wing to a casual 

 observer. He further (p. 177) calls attention to the un- 

 usual development of this branch in Crypturus, where it 

 " passes through the lateral space of the trunk and unites 

 with the extremity of the lumbar tract of the same side." 



The conditions found in Crypturus (see Nitzsch's 

 Plate VII, Figs. 11 and 12), ducks, geese and chickens 

 might suggest the possibility that the ''pelvic wing" in 

 the chicken, and the branch of the inferior tract in the 

 duck and goose are both vestiges of what was once a con- 

 tinuous row of rather large feathers extending from 

 below the shoulder along the edge of the breast and out 

 over the thigh. Such a suggestion, however, presents 

 difficulties if the homology of the pelvic wing and the 

 humeral tract is seriously considered. Judging from 

 Nitzsch's figures of Crypturus (Plate VII, Figs. 11 and 

 12), there is probably no connection between this branch 

 and the humeral tract. 



