2 
Osteological Studies of the Subfamily Ardeinee. 
latter is ample and fully two-thirds of the surface is afforded by 
the coracoid. The scapula process with the line of its articular 
surface at right angles to the long axes of both bones, is no 
larger than is just necessary to accommodate the head of the 
scapula. It never meets 
the furcula in any of 
the Herons that I have 
seen, and in all of these 
birds the bones of the 
pectoral arch are com¬ 
pletely non-pneumatic. 
The coracoid of A. 
candidissima differs in 
no particular from the 
bone I have just de¬ 
scribed for Ardea hero- 
dias; while though 
Nycticorax also agrees 
in this respect with 
these birds in the main, 
it differs in having the 
inner angle of the ex¬ 
panded sternal end of 
the right coracoid trun¬ 
cate, instead of being 
drawn out into a point 
as the fellow of the op¬ 
posite side is. This is 
due to the fact that the 
groove on the sternum 
has that shape in the 
Yellow-Crowned Night 
Heron. 
The scapula among 
the Ardeince, generally, 
is a long narrow bone, 
with but a slight curv¬ 
ature from head to dis¬ 
tal extremity. This latter is simply rounded off in A . herodias 
and in the Snowy Heron, but inclined to be slightly^ truncate in 
Fig. 9.— Lower portion is an anterior view of the 
sternum of Ardea herodias , showing the decussation of 
the coraeoidal grooves. Above, lifted from their posi¬ 
tion, are the coracoids with dotted line showing the ex¬ 
tent to which they decussate. The scapulas are articu¬ 
lated above these, but the forchette has been removed. 
Same specimen as before- Life size from nature. 
