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Show 332 MR. F. E. BEDDARD ON [Apr. 15, Grus. Maxillo-palatines of considerable size and visible from beneath. Vomer ends in a point. Postorbital not distinct from postfrontal process. Foramen magnum at posterior end of skull. Schizorhinal. Hamatopus. Maxillo-palatines very small and fiased with palatines. Vomer truncated at extremity l. Postorbital angle slight but distinct from post-fontal process. Temporal fosste commence below former and extend on to occipital surface. Foramen m a g n u m visible on under surface of skull. Schizorhinal. GUdicnemus. Maxillo-palatines of considerable size and visible from beneath. Vomer ends in a blunt point. Postorbital angle not distinct from postfrontal process. Foramen magnum at posterior end of skull. Holorhinal. T w o prominent members of Huxley's Geranomorphae show the following resemblances and differences : - Grus. Occipital foramina present. Articulation of quadrate not concealed by squamosal. Interorbital septum less defective. Maxillo-palatines with an outer concave border. Maxillary part of nasal bone facing forwards. Anterior process of quadrate does not end in a straight truncated extremity. Palatines of approximately equal breadth throughout; anteriorly they largely conceal the underlying maxillo-palatines. Schizorhinal. Ocydromus. None. Articulation of quadrate concealed by squamosal. Interorbital septum hardly ossified 2. Maxillo-palatines with an outer convex border3. Maxillary part of nasal bone facing outwards. Anterior process of quadrate does end in a straight truncated surface. There is a sharp distinction between the anterior narrow and the posterior broad portion of palatine. The maxillo-palatines are not much concealed by the palatines. Holorhinal. In the following pages some of the most prominent skull characters are given in which Psophia differs from various genera of "Alectorides." It does not appear to m e to show any particular resemblances to the well-marked family of the Limicolse. I have not therefore troubled to indicate its differences from that family which would be in all the points raised as well as in many others. 1 Garrod (" Notes on the Anatomy and Systematic Position of the Genera Thinocorus and Attayis," P. Z. S. 1877, p. 417, fig. 2) figures the vomer of tliis and other " Limicola. " as excavated at the top. It was certainly not so in my specimen. In Numenius phaopus there is an extraordinarily deep excavation at the point of the vomer; so much so that the vomer might be described as bifid with two slender branches. - This is not so with Fulica and Aramides, which are nearer to the Cranes. 3 This does not apply to Fulica. |