208 
being weak but functional ; all the toes are furnished with very 
short nails. But for the bare distal portion of the leg, and the 
presence of the hallux, the whole foot of Pedionomus closely 
resembles that of the Turnices and differs from that of the Rasores 
although its intermediate position between a pes cnrsorius and a 
pes radens is obvious. 
Muscular System . 
The muscles of the hind limb afford some interesting points. 
Garrod’s formula for the Rasores is A B x y -f , meaning that 
these birds retain the primitive condition in which besides others 
the following muscles are present : — 
+ = M. ambiens. 
A = Femoro-caudal muscle, i.e . pars caudalis m. caud-ilio- 
femoralis. 
B = Accessory femoro-caudal, i.e . pars iliaca m. caud-ilio- 
femoralis. 
x = Semitendinosus i.e . the tibial insertion of the m. caud- 
ilio-flexorius. 
y = Accessory semitendinosus, i.e. the femoral insertion of 
the m. caud-ilio-flexorius. 
In a few of the Rasores, viz. in Pavo and Meleagris , and in a 
few other birds e.g. in Podiceps , Otis , Dicholophus , Serpentarius , 
Plicenicopterus , &c., the caudal portion of the m. caud-ilia-femoralis 
is absent, the formula being Bxy. In the Turnices on the other 
hand the iliac portion of this muscle is absent; consequently A x y. 
In Pedionomus both portions are present, but while the iliac por- 
tion is very broad and is inserted nearly along the whole length 
of the femur, the caudal portion is an extremely thin and feeble 
slip which comes as a mere thin tendon from one of the caudal 
vertebrae, and can scarcely be traced as an independent slip beyond 
the pubis, where it practically disappears and merges into the iliac 
portion of the muscle. The formula for Pedionomus is therefore 
A B x y as in most Rasores, and if the reduction of A were con- 
tinued, Pedionomus would have the same symbolic formula as 
Pavo , Meleagris , viz. Bxy. Certainly there is no resemblance 
between Pedionomus and Turnix in this respect, but it would be 
very rash to conclude that Pedionomus is allied to the Rasores 
because of this formula. On the contrary we have to conclude 
that Pedionomus still retains partly the primitive condition, and 
that the reduction of the muscle A is due to the same unknown 
causes which have eliminated it in Pavo and in Meleagris , in Podi- 
ceps, Otis, Dicholophus, Serpentarius, and in Phamicopterus, i.e. 
in birds which prove that the absence or presence of this muscle 
can be only of very little taxonomic value. 
Fuerbringer’s Table xl n. b. contains several other myological 
characters, Nos. 30 - 42 of occasional taxonomic value, but they 
are not suitable for the solution of the question if Pedionomus is 
