No. 442.] OSTEOLOGY OF THE KINGFISHERS. 



NecxAtive Characters. 

 (Ceryle.) 



1. Vomer absent. 



2. No basipterygoid processes. 



3- No hypocleidium on os furcula. 



4- Os humero-scapulare absent. 



5- No prepubis on pelvis. 



6. Claws not present on digits of manus (?) 



7. Aside from patella?, sesamoids not found in the limbs. 



Further osteological comparisons, with notes on the 



POSITION OF THE KINGFISHERS. 



My opinion upon the systematic position of the kingfishers 

 is but a tentative one, for I have not examined all the material I 

 c ould wish in order that I might render it more positive. There 

 are many forms of kingfishers in the world, and they vary much 

 among themselves in their organizations. The anatomy of these 

 various species should be fully comprehended, and with this 

 knowledge at our command we should fully investigate the 

 structural economy of many forms of birds that we now sus- 

 pect of being alcedine affines,— and it will only be when this 



As the present memoir shows, I have carefully looked into 

 the skeletology of our two species of Ceryle. Further, I have 



of Alcedo ispida, and a skull of Dacelo gigas. Skeletons of 

 Coccyzus, Crotophaga, and Geococcyx have also been thoroughly 



Diplopterus, and one of the Meropidae from Borneo, viz. : — 

 Nyctiornis amictus. Also, I have studied some of the skeletons 



We find the skeletons of the extremes of the insectivorous 

 Dacelonime and the piscivorous Alcedininae to differ consid- 

 erably in their characters, and I am of the opinion that it will 

 be through a study of the osteology of the Daceloninae that 



