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NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



since deviation from the bankiva stock first commenced, have 

 been of a far less profound character; and that master observer, 

 Darwin, says upon this point : " I have carefully compared each 

 separate bone of the leg and wing, relatively to the same bones in 

 the wild Bankiva, in the following breeds, which I thought were the 

 most likely to differ; namely, in Cochin, Dorking, Spanish, Polish, 

 Burmese bantam, Frizzled Indian, and black J boned Silk fowls ; and 

 it was truly surprising to see how absolutely every process, articula- 

 tion and pore agreed, though the bones differed greatly in size. The 

 agreement is far more absolute than in other parts of the skeleton. 

 In stating this, I do not refer to the relative thickness and length 

 of the several bones ; for the tarsi varied considerably in both these 

 respects. But the other limb bones varied little, even in relative 

 length." 1 



As to the extent they may vary in length and general size, I 

 would again invite the reader's attention to Parker's drawing of the 

 limb bones of a common barnyard fowl, which may be compared 

 with those I present here [fig. 17, 18], as accurate illustrations of 

 the corresponding parts in G . bankiva. 2 



Presenting the usual sigmoid curves in the continuity of its 

 smooth and somewhat compressed shaft the humerus of our Jungle 

 cock is a thoroughly pneumatic bone, the fossa harboring the fora- 

 men being well overarched by the ulnar tuberosity. 



Between this latter and the large ellipsoidal head, there exists 

 a rather deep and circumscribed pit or valley, while another and 

 shallower excavation is to be found just beyond the humeral head 

 on the anconal aspect of the shaft. The radial crest is moderately 

 prominent, while at the distal extremity of the bone both radial and 

 oblique tubercules are more than usually conspicuous. 



Along the bowed and heavy shaft of ulna we note peculiar mark- 

 ings denoting the sites where the butts of the secondary quills are 

 inserted ; these, however, are not elevated into papillae as in some 

 avian types ; and this bone is to some degree, especially its proximal 

 moiety, laterally compressed, and withal thoroughly nonpneumatic, 

 as are the remaining skeletal parts of this limb. 



Radius is straighter than ulna, being but slightly curved down- 

 ward in the vertical plane; while its shaft, too, shows some lateral 



'Darwin, C. Animals and plants under Domestication. New York 1868. t: 32s;. 



2 Parker. W. K. Birds. Kncyclo. Krit.. ed. 0. 3: 721, fijsr. 33. Similar comparisons 

 may also be made from the several bones of the pelvic limb, taking Parker's drawings 

 from the same article [f\g. 35, 36, 37! . and contrasting them with my figures here 

 given for the same bones in G. bankiva [ fig. 21-30 inclusive]. 



