304 
New Species of Birds . 
in the sternum; this important bone, in the Talegalla, very 
closely corresponds with that of the two Gallinaceous genera 
above mentioned; the chief difference occurs in the greater 
breadth which separates the costal from the external posterior 
notch. In the Vultures the contiguous margin of the sternum 
forms part of the same nearly straight line with the rest of 
the lateral margin of the sternum behind it. In the Cathartes , 
which has the least complete sternum in the tribe of Raptor es, 
to which some Quinarian Zoologists have assigned the 
Talegalla , there is a shallow notch and a small foramen in 
each half of the posterior margin of the sternum ; the whole 
sternum is broader and more convex; the coracoid grooves, 
and the corresponding extremities of the bones adapted to 
them, have twice the breadth of those in the Talegalla. The 
fureuluni presents more than six times the thickness of that 
bone in the Talegalla and allied Gallinacca ; its space is wider, 
and its superior extremities much more recurved. Equally 
striking are the differences which the bones of the wing 
present: in Cathartes Aurea , in which the costal and sacral 
regions of the vertebral column measure five inches, the 
length of the humerus is five inches and a half, that of the 
ulna is six inches eight lines, and the bones of the hand are 
nearly six inches in length: the strength of all these bones is 
proportionate to their length. The produced angle of the lower 
jaw is a character which is most conspicuous in the Gallina¬ 
ceous birds, in some of the species of which, as in the Wood¬ 
grouse, it is excessive. Now this process is altogether wanting 
in the Raptorial birds, and consequently in the Vulluridw ; its 
presence in the Talegalla (where its form and size closely agree 
with those in Penelope and Cram) coincides with the decisive 
Gallinaceous characters which are pointed out in the sternum, 
vertebral column, and bones of the anterior extremity. 
“ The presence of the broncho-tracheales , which alter the 
length and tension of the bronchial tubes, widen the lateral 
diameter of the lower larynx, and influence its position, 
coincides with the observations which Mr. Gould has made 
respecting the voice of the Talegalla; and at the same time 
establishes another important structural difference between this 
bird and the Vulturidee, which are precisely those Raptorial 
birds in which there are no true vocal muscles. 
u From all the Rapt ores the Talegalla essentially differs, 
in its gizzard and elongated ca?ca: in the one we have all the 
characters of the Gallinaceous structure of that important 
part of the digestive system : in the form and proportions of 
the lower appendages—the cieca, the Talegalla most closely 
corresponds with the genera Crux and Penelope.” 
At the meeting on the 13th of October, Mr. Gould pro¬ 
ceeded to state that he had received from Swan River another 
bird having similar habits to the TalegnUa, and a similar mode 
