25 
Osteological Studies of the Sub-Family Ardeince. 
sufficiently early in the life of the individual, bones and the nor¬ 
mal position of bones may be altered very materially by gradual 
pressure, differently applied ; then, why not, we ask, during the 
lapse of time, may not this result have been brought about in this 
way ? It is hard to say, for 
even if it has been, then 
what are we to say about it, 
being absent in the Rat- 
lidce , and present again in 
such forms as Polyborus 
cheriway and several other 
diurnal Raptores ? I rarely 
see in any of the old-fash¬ 
ioned engravings, repre¬ 
senting with the appropri¬ 
ate surroundings below, 
the noble falcon striking 
his prey, the doomed Her¬ 
on, in mid air, that this pe¬ 
culiar and unique condition 
of the coracoids, present in 
both the Hawk and his 
quarry, does not come into 
my mind. Both desmog- 
nathous birds, yet evi¬ 
dently not related through 
any sue h physiological 
adaption of structure as 
this, arisen however it may. 
Fig. 8. Same bone as shown in Fig. 7, lateral Still we are beginning 
view life size from nature. . 
to catch glimpses of the af¬ 
finities of the Ardeidec andFa/cou/d<r, and morphology has much yet 
to bring to light in the premises. These interesting points are to 
be easily discovered in this anterior view of the sternum (Fig. 9). 
The difference in width of the hinder and anterior parts of the bone, 
is well shown by the relative positions of the xiphoidal and costal 
processes ; and the thickness of the front part of the carina now 
becomes evident, seen from this point of view. 
The coracoids and scapulae which I have taken the oppor¬ 
tunity to show above, will be treated of under the head of the pec- 
