60 
ZOOLOGICAL LITERATURE. 
ship with (Edicnemus. The sternum of Rhinochetus is truest 
to the embryo GruSj its furculum is but little stronger than 
that of the Brachypteryx ” (quaere Ocydromus ?) . 
The present paper is but an abstract (nearly all details being 
omitted) of one which will appear in the ^ Zoological Transac- 
tions.^ 
Parker^ W. K. On the Sternal Apparatus of Birds and other 
Vertebrata. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1804'^ pp. 339-344. 
The author's remarks are in defence of the terminology used 
by Geoffroy St. -Hilaire, and in opposition to that of Prof. Owen. 
The term clavicle " is stated to have been loosely and in- 
correctly applied to a part of the thoracic apparatus which is 
well developed in Frogs and Lizards, but continues rudimentary 
in Birds." 
PTERYLOGRAPHY. 
Holland, Th. Pterologische Untersuchungen. Journ. f. Orn. 
1864, pp. 194-217. 
The author commences by defining the terms he employs, 
which difler slightly from those made use of by Nitzsch, and 
proceeds to describe the structure of the quill and accessory 
plume in the different kinds of feathers. He then treats of the 
asserted existence of true hair upon birds, which he maintains 
to be a mistake. The barbs are either flat or rounded, the latter 
always the case in down. They are also sometimes twisted. 
The development of the feather, which varies in different birds, 
is next considered, and the author investigates its formation 
fr’om the sheath, comparing the views entertained on this point 
by various authors. He then proceeds to inquire into the mode 
in which the colouring matter is secreted, concluding that the 
sheath deposits the pigmentary corpuscles in the same sequence 
and colours as they are afterwards distributed on the mature 
feather. He afterwards examines the much controverted ques- 
tion as to the supposed change of colour in a matured feather, 
and declares that an old feather cannot grow any more, and 
especially no change of matter can take place in it. Finally 
Dr.. Holland expresses his opinion as to the only conditions 
under which a bird's plumage can be altered, in terms identical 
with those enunciated by Herr Eugen von Homey er (J. f. O. 
1864, pp. 108-111). 
Homeyer, Eugen F. von. Beitrag zur Mauser einiger Was- 
servogel. Journ. f. Orn. 1864, pp. 108 6i5-lll bis {potius 
pp. 108-111). 
Alca tarda and Anas clangida are the species noticed in this 
communication, which is in continuation of a series of articles by 
