XIV, 1 Shufeldt: Osteology of Porphyrio 89 
Viewed upon its superior aspect, the skull of Porphyrio will 
be seen to be very broad in its interorbital area, generally convex, 
with almost complete reduction of the superorbital glandular 
fossse, and, posteriorly, faintly differentiated from the parietal 
area of the cranium. The craniofacial line is not as strongly 
marked as it is in Fulica, though on both the naso-premaxillary 
sutures are distinctly in evidence on this superior view of the 
skull. 
When we come to regard the cranium of this gallinule laterally, 
we find a number of very striking differences, as compared with 
what obtains in our coot. In the former, the superior mandible 
is proportionately far more massive, broader, and deeper from 
above downward. Furthermore, its decurvature is more pro- 
nounced, and it is carried more abruptly to a sharper apex. The 
osseous roof of the mouth is not as open as it is in the coot, 
while the external narial apertures in this Porphyrio are rela- 
tively, as well as actually, very much smaller and of an elliptical 
outline (Plate II, fig. 10). 
A lacrymai bone in our subject differs very considerably from 
that element of the cranium in Fulica; for in the first-mentioned 
bird its superior portion is curved and elongate, making close 
articulation with the external margins of the frontal and nasal. 
It is pneumatic, while the foramen is usually in the lower portion. 
This latter is rather broad, thin, curved, and pointed below; 
a small, free ossicle brings it in articulation with the infero- 
external angle of the thin, oblong, though thoroughly ossified 
pars plana of the same side. In the coot the lacrymai is trian- 
gular for its lower portion — triangular and very thin — being 
produced as a spiculalike point below. It is separated by a 
wide interval from the pars plana, or ethmoidal wing. The 
latter is a thin lamina of bone presenting several peculiarities. 
Its superoexternal angle is produced forward as a slender process 
in contact with the under surface of the frontal, while inter- 
nally, immediately below this same surface, an extensive elliptical 
foramen is formed for the passage of the nerve to the rhinal 
chamber. 
In both the Porphyrio and the coot the interorbital septum 
is almost entirely lacking in bone, which also applies to the 
anterior cranial wall above and behind it. Both birds have the 
foramen rotundum circular and complete. 
Porphyrio pulverulentus has the zygomatic bar very straight, 
rather broad, and transversely much compressed, rendering its 
upper and lower edges sharp. 
