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Show 1877.] ON THE ANATOMY OF PASSERINE BIRDS. 523 generis) albo : remigibus fusco-nigris, primariis internis media-liter albidis : speculo atari albo: rostro et pedibus brunnes-centibus : long, tota 17, alee 7*8, caudce 2*3, rostri a rictu 2, tarsi 1*4, dig. med. cum ungue 2*3. Hab. Peruvia occidentalis, prope Lima (Nation). Mus. S.-G. Obs. F. collari forsan affinis, sed speculo alari albo nee griseo, genis et gutture rufescentibus facile distinguenda. A specimen of this curious duck was received by Mr. Sclater from Prof. Nation by post *, in January last. In a subsequent letter Prof. Nation says that it is found occasionally in the freshwater lakes near Lima, in company with Querquedula cyanoptera, and Dafila bahamensis. The example sent is a female; and Prof. Nation believes the colouring of the plumage in both sexes to be alike. The irides are of a brownish red, the bill and tarsi brownish. 9. Notes on the Anatomy of Passerine Birds.-Part III. B y A. H . G A R R O D , F.R.S., Prosector to the Society. [Eeceived June 1, 1877.] (Plate LIII.) On the present occasion I take the opportunity of describing the voice-organ in some species of the non-oscinine (mesomyodian) Passeres in which that structure is, so far as I am aware, unknown. Leaving any deductions until I have recorded the nature of the structures, I will commence with an account of the syrinx in some of the Tracheophonar. Hylactes megapodius.-In this species the syrinx is not identical with any of those described by J. Miiller2. It does not differ much from those of Scytalopus indigoticus and Chameeza brevicauda in its essential structure. By Miiller, however, no mention is made of a peculiarity which I find in this species, which seems to me to throw some light upon the method of development of the tracheophone syrinx. This consists in the way in which the characteristic very slender rings of the specialized voice-organ, instead of ceasing abruptly at its upper end, continue upwards on the anterior surface of the trachea for a considerable distance, whilst posteriorly they suddenly change their breadth superiorly where the syrinx ceases. Figures 4 and 5 of Plate LIII represent the anterior and posterior views of the organ. The processus vocales, which rest on the first and second modified and ossified bronchial semi-rings, extend up as far as the tracheal true ring, twelfth from the bottom. These twelve lowermost tracheal 1 By the same conveyance Prof. Nation has also recently sent us the skins of Rallus virginianus (previously not known so far south, see P. Z. S. 1868, p. 445), Lampropsar warcewiczii (=Quiscalus crquatorialis, Scl.), Bhodopis vesper, Myrtis fanny, and Thaumastura cora, all from the vicinity of Lima. 2 Abh. Akad. dor Wissenschaften zu Berlin, 1847. |