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Show 640 MR. W. A. FORBES ON T H E [May 1 7, in his paper on the nasal bones of birds ', says that " Parra should be removed to the Charadriomorphge " from the Rallidae, on account of the schizorhinal nature of its skull, as represented in the figure of that of Parra (Hydraleetor) cristata on p. 34 of his paper. In his subsequent paper on the muscles of the thigh in birds2, Parra (i. e. Metopidius) africana is placed amongst the " Grallae," with the other Charadriine or Scolopacine forms, and not included in the Rallidae. It will be m y object in the present paper to still further strengthen this latter view of the affinities of the Parridse3. Pterylosis. Nitzsch, in his ' Pterylography,' places Ballus, Crex, Porphyrio, and Parra as members of a group of the Fulicarise, characterized by the narrow form of the tracts, by the presence of a distinct outer branch to the inferior tract, and by the dorsal tract being "neither interrupted nor strikingly weakened " between the shoulder-blades. He says (I. c. p. 126):-" The first three [genera] have twelve tail-feathers, and exactly the same pterylosis as that figured as occurring in Ballus aquaticus. In Parra, of which I have examined all the four principal species (sinensis [i. e. Hydrophasianus chirurgus], cenea, africana, and jassana), I found only ten tail-feathers, and a remarkable narrowing of the bands of the dorsal tract close behind the shoulder-blades; whilst, on the other hand, the hindmost, or pelvic portion of it, was dilated. This genus has also weaker lumbar tracts ; and these are united with the uropygial portion of the dorsal tract by sparse contour-feathers." As Nitzsch himself later on says that the pterylosis of the "Limicolse" closely approaches that of the Rallinse, and is but little modified from that type, the evidence from pterylosis of the Ralline affinities of the Jacanas is not very strong. In their possession of well-marked firm rectrices, in the weakness of the lumbar tracts, and in the tendency to a division of the dorsal tract into an anterior and a posterior fork, the Parridse differ from the typical Rallidse, and approach the Limico-line type. The same relationship is indicated by the inner, or main, pectoral tract, though very narrow, consisting, at least at its commencement, of two or three rows of feathers in the Parridse, as well as in the Charadriidae ; whereas in the typical Rallidae, according to Nitzsch, it issues from the branch as only a single row of feathers. Visceral Anatomy, fyc. The tongue is long and narrow in shape, thin, and of horny consistency. Its apex is slightly notched, and its base spinulose; for the greater part of its length it is strongly concave. The oesophagus develops no crop ; and the proventriculus is zonary. There 1 " On the Value in Classification of a Peculiarity in the Anterior Margin of the Nasal Bones of certain Birds," P. Z. S. 1873, pp. 33-78. 2 P. Z. S. 1873, pp. 626-644. 3 Besides Metopidius africanus, Prof. Garrod dissected a specimen of Hydrophasianus chirurgus; and some M S . notes of his on that species I have incorporated in what follows. |
