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Show 10 DR. J. MURIE ON CYGNUS BUCCINATOR. [J**- l0' that two other skins of the same species examined by him afforded smaller dimensions. • • , Secondly.-Respecting the osteological evidence afforded °y t"e sternum, it may be stated that both the dead birds exhibit a difference in the shape and relative height of the elevated bony lamella enclosing the convolution of tbe trachea, likewise in the general dimensions of the entire sternum, as also in its outline figure when viewed from the inside including the posterior sinuses ; moreover the osseous rings of the trachea, previous to entering the carina, are not the same in each specimen. These marks of variation, whatever their value, may require a separate description. I shall first mention, for the benefit of other inquirers, that the entire skeleton of the one bird is now deposited in the British Museum, at present beside the stuffed specimens of the genus Cygnus; the sternum of the other forms part of the osteological series in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons. The accompanying figures represent these two sterna seen from Fig. 2. Sterna of Trumpeter Swans. above (or inside), but without the trachea and distended bronchia?, which are preserved intact in both the original specimens. The specimen represented in fig. 1 is the sternum of the male bird |