34 
1HE TASMANIAN NATURALIST. 
from the Solomon Islands, and was surprised to find that in this case 
, Sja» d was tufted. It may be that Nitzsch was right, therefore, 
(.cscii ling a tn ted gland lor M. rubripes, and that this characteristic 
common to the genus Megapodius but not to the Megapodes. 
rnsiv MYOl-OGY. 1 he muscles of the thigh are similar to those pointed 
out by Garrod as common to Gallinaceous birds (P.Z.S., 1873, pp. 626- 
r 4 A ,! « 1S ? s0 present a vinculum joining the deen flexor of the 
foot to the flexor longus hallucis. In addition there is another vinculum 
which may be of equal classificational value joining M. flexor perforatus 
digiti III. to M. perforatus et perforans digiti I IT. 
Since these are scratching birds the muscles of the foot are well 
developed. Of these, the most interesting is probably M. adductor 
, S! 11 1 •» of ' V , h l ch (Bromvs Thier-reichs, Aves p. 204) says: 
Diesen Muskel in der Literatur erwahnt ist habe ich nur bei sehr 
wemgen ogeln gefunden. . . A He mentions its presence in Rhea, 
>ucorvus, and Khamphastus. Its occurrence in the Megapodes is, 
tieiefoie, especially interesting. It arises from the upper part of the 
anterior aspect of the tarso-metatarse and from part of that bone as well 
as from the side of the extensor brevis digitorum. It is a thin spindle- 
shaped muscle with a tendon passing through a canal between the 
metatarsals of digit III. and IV. to be fixed on the inner side of the base 
of the proximal phalanx of digit IV. 
