OCR Text |
Show 1868.J DR. J. MURIE ON THE GULAR POUCH OF OTIS. 4/1 5. Observations concerning the presence and function of the Gular Pouch in Otis kori and Otis australis. B y J A M ES M U R I E , F.L.S., F.G-.S., & c , Prosector to the Society. (Plate XXXVI.) Introductory.-A remarkable paper appeared in the 'Ibis' * for 1862,-remarkable alike for the able defence therein sustained of the veracity of the observations of three eminent British naturalists impugned by Dr. Gloger of Berlin, and for the facts substantiating the following curious anomaly. The data given showed that in some male Bustards a large gular pouch had been found, while in other birds of the same species no trace of such a structure or organ existed. The substance of the above discussion supports the individual statements aud opinions of between twenty and thirty trustworthy persons. While thus bearing the impress of science and of facts, it nevertheless, with our more extended present knowledge, savours and reminds one of Merrick's well-known verses upon the varying colour of the Chameleon. All seem to have had truth on their side when viewed in a certain light. Since the publication of the above elaborate and historical article by Professor Newton, the careful observations of Ur. Cullen (Ibis, 1865, p. 143) and of Mr. Flower (P. Z. S. 1865, p. 747) have further proved the occasional existence of a large gular sac in the male of Otis tarda, Linn., to be a circumstance about which not a shadow of doubt can be entertained. The subject, however, is one which still calls for more extended examination in other species of the family Otidce. For example, the use which such a curious appendage subserves is still within certain limits a matter of discussion; as it too often happens that organic function, where obscure, puzzles by the apparent multiplicity of uses to which it may be applied. It has appeared to me, therefore, that the observations which I shall here communicate are not without interest, concerning the function of this little less than wonderful apparatus. The gular-pouch question, though to all intents and purposes amicably settled, is not yet entirely known. Some anomalies thereon are certainly difficult of explanation. The present communication is mainly based upon the examination of the dead body of a male specimen of Burchell's Bustard (Otis kori, Burchell), and upon observations on a living Australian Bustard (Otis australis, Gray), both the property of the Society. Gular Pouch in O. kori.-The former bird, a male but not old specimen of Otis kori, was forwarded from South Africa, and purchased by the Society M a y 10th, 1866. Its death occurred in March * "On the supposed Gular Pouch of the Male Bustard {Otis tarda, Linn.),'* by Alfred Newton, M.A., F.L.S. (The Ibis, April 1862, pp. 107-127). |