No. 433-] CERTAIN GROUPS OF BIRDS. 



3. The external nostril is near the apex of the bill (Owen). 



4. The clavicle is anchylosed with, or rather is a continuous 

 ossification from the scapula; but the coracoid bone is free 

 (Owen). 



5. "In the adult Indian cassowary (Casuarius galeatus) 

 there is only one carpal bone free ; the manus is a solid single 

 piece, with only one finger (the second, or index) developed, and 

 this has only two phalanges — it ought to have three ; and the 

 distal phalanx is an inch long and carries a large claw " (Parker). 1 



6. The pelvis resembles the pelvis in the emeu in form and in 

 its main characters ; but in Dromaeus the ischium is, posteriorly, 

 well separated from the ilium, while in the cassowary it fuses 

 with it in that locality. 2 



7. The pelvic limb is powerfully developed : there is a big 

 femur presenting many of the common ornithic characters, 

 while the other bones of this extremity are also large, save 

 hallux and first metatarsal, which are absent. 



8. In the tibiotarsus the cnemial projections are conspicu- 

 ously produced and rise to some extent above the proximal sur- 

 face of the bone. The fibula has a massive head, while below 

 its articulation with the shaft of the tibia it is tapering, slender, 

 long, and styliform, ending in a free distal extremity. 



9. The hypotarsus of the tarsometatarsus is a long, low 

 median crest, and the ungual phalanx of the inner toe is espe- 

 cially elongated, straight, gradually tapering and distally pointed. 

 The osseous claws of the other two toes are moderately curved, 

 and exhibit proportions more in keeping with the remaining 

 joints of their respective digits. 



In T. J. Parker's memoir on the Dinornithidae there is a 

 tabular synopsis of the chief cranial characters of Dromaeus and 



Ihree besides the metacarpal), and the distal or ungual joint is very long and carries 



2 Compare the side view of the pelvis in the plate with Marsh's figure of the 



