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Show 20 MR. F. E. BEDDARD ON THE [Jan. 6, Rhinochetus with Eurypyga and Psophia as a subfamily (Psophiints) of the Cranes. In his paper on the Osteology of the Kagu [7] more stress was laid upon the Ardeine affinities as exhibited in the skull. Prof. Parker's views are summed up in the concluding paragraph, which is as follows : - " In summing up the affinities of the Kagu, I may say that my view of it is that it is a generalized Crane, that it is nearer of kin to Eurypyga than to Psophia, the latter coming near to the Balearic Crane, whilst Eurypyga, like the Kagu, makes a very near approach to the Night Herons amongst the typical Ardeinae. The Kagu is related to the Rails; but so, indeed, are all the Gruinae ; and Professor Huxley has, with great sagacity, put both these families into one group, and has called the group the Geranomorphae." Garrod [19] discovered that Rhinochetus possessed, of the leg-muscles used by him in classification, the ambiens, femorocaudal, semitendinosus, and accessory semitendinosus ; its formula therefore is written A X Y + . In his scheme of classification Rhinochetus is not mentioned, but it may be inferred that it would have been placed among the Charadriiformes, a group which includes the Cranes, Gulls, and Limicolae. Mr. W . A. Forbes [22] associated together Rhinochetus, Mesites, and Eurypyga into a single family of his group Pluviales, which corresponds to the non-columbine Charadriiformes of Garrod. Dr. Gadow [16], from a study of the intestinal convolutions, was led to believe that Rhinochetus should be placed in the near neighbourhood of Eurypyga and Heliornis ; it shows " Ralline, Limicoline, and Ibis-like features"; but he finds no affinities with the Herodiones. Dr. Murie's important paper [8] is illustrated by two plates, in which many of the details of the anatomy of the bird are well shown ; it is compared with Eurypyga on the one hand and with Cancroma on the other ; the descriptions show that the affinities are closer to the former than to the latter genus. Prof. Newton [17] is inclined to compare Rhinochetus with the Limicolae, but to doubt the nearness of its connection with Eurypyga ; he suggests a suborder " Grues," which might consist of the families Eurypygidae, Rhinochetidae, Gruidae, Psophiidae, and Aramidae. Dr. Fiirbringer's [15] opinions are presented in a graphic form in the elaborate pedigree diagrams which accompany his work on the classification of birds. He does not accept, any more than does Prof. Newton, Mr. Sclater's group Alectorides [18]. His Gruiformes, however, which equals Prof'. Newton's Grues with the addition of the Cariamidae, only differs from Mr. Sclater's Alectorides in not including the Otididae. Among the Gruiformes, Eurypyga is the type which comes nearest to Rhinochetus, but is nevertheless sufficiently different to be placed in a distinct family. Affinities with the Herodii are admitted. The facts recorded in the present paper do not lend much support to the Ardeine affinities of Rhinochetus, though the presence of powder-downs and certain points in the structure of the skull seem |