OCR Text |
Show 424 PROF. HUXLEY ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF BIRDS. [Apr. 11, the body; nor are the pubis and the ischium of the same side united by bone. 8. The hallux present, as well as the other three digits of the toot. 9. Only thirty-two precaudal vertebrae. 10. The feathers without any aftershaft. It will be observed that in each of these families of the Ratitae a particular form and arrangement of the bones of the palate accompany the other distinctive characters. Fig. 4. Under view of the skull of Apteryx australis. From a specimen in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons. The letters as before. III. The order CARINATAE (Merrem) embraces all existing birds, except the Ratitae. They have the following characters in common :- 1. The sternum possesses a keel, and ossifies from a median centre in that keel, as well as from lateral paired centres*. * The sternum is thus ossified in all the Carinatas which have yet been examined. The only apparent exception to the presence of a keel is the singular genus Strigops. A knowledge of the ossification of the sternum of this bird is greatly to be desired. |