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Show 1886.] THE INTERVERTEBRAL DISK OF THE AXIS IN MAN. 337 II. STERNA MELANAUCHEN, Temm. [No. 8. J. October 9th, 1885. Eye black. Common. I have seen this bird pursued by the Noddy Tern, just as they themselves are pursued by the Frigate-bird.] It would be interesting to know if this species breeds in Diego Garcia, because, if so, the locality would be the furthest S.W. as yet recorded. 12. STERNA FULIGINOSA, Linn. [No. 7. ?. October Sth, 1885. Eye black. Very common. These birds were laying when I arrived on Sept. 15, and single eggs were scattered on the bare ground. The negroes soon took all the eggs, and I could not make observations on the breeding.] 13. GYGIS CANDIDA (Gm.). [No. 3. d . Sept. 25th, 1885. ' Very common, perching in the cocoa-nut trees, and laying a single egg in the axils of the leaves, as described by Darwin in his ' Journal of Researches.'] 14. ANOUS STOLIDUS (Linn.). [No. 5 . $ . October 2nd, 1885. Eye black. Common on the island. It constructs a large rough nest of a heap of sticks and leaves, in the fork of a tree or bush, and on this it lays one egg, upon which it sits.] [A bird called by the inhabitants the "Mangeur des Poules " was said to visit the island frequently during the N.W. monsoons, but I never saw one. Perhaps it may be Tinnunculus punctatus, which goes by the same name in Mauritius ; but if so it is not easy to see why it should visit Diego Garcia only in the N . W . monsoons. " Fouquets" are abundant on the He des Vaches marines at Peros Bauhos, and are said to have been seen on the He des Oiseaux, Diego Garcia, but I never saw one. From the descriptions given me they seem to be a species of burrowing Petrel.] 3. On the Intervertebral Disk between the Odontoid Process and the Centrum of the Axis in M a n . By J. B L A N D S U T T O N , F.R.C.S., Lecturer on Comparative Anatomy, Middlesex Hospital Medical School. [Eeceived May 29, 1886.] There are few bones in the human skeleton which can boast a more extensive literature than the atlas and axis. Indeed so many investigations have been made concerning their nature, and so much has been written regarding the morphology of the first two vertebrae, that most anatomists have abandoned them for more fertile regions of the skeleton. Yet, in spite of this attention, a new fact in connection with the axis has recently been disclosed by Prof. Cunningham |
