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Show 408 MR. R. LYDEKKER ON SOME LARGE [May 20, Taking it for granted that these cervical vertebrae are referable the same species as the limb-bones described above, they afford conclusive evidence that the large Accipitrine bird of the Maltese caves belonged to the genus Gyps and not to Vultur. The specimens described above afford therefore conclusive evidence of the former existence in Malta of a Vulture considerably larger than any existing species, but apparently very closely allied in osteological characters to the large Griffon Vulture of Southern Europe. The existence of such a large raptorial bird in company with the " Pigmy Elephant," of which the height is estimated at three feet, is certainly suggestive that the old fable of the "Roc" carrying off the Elephant may possibly have had a foundation in fact. I observe that remains of a species of Gyps have been recently described from volcanic deposits in Italy1, but these have not received a distinct name. GRUS MELITENSIS, n. sp. The evidence showing the existence during the Pleistocene period of a large species of Crane in the Maltese Islands is afforded by certain specimens (represented in Plate X X X V I , figs. 2, 4 and 5) all of which are portions of very characteristic bones. The specimen first represented (Plate X X X V I . fig. 4) is the proximal half of the right coracoid, the entire right coracoid of Grus cinerea being drawn for comparison (in fig. 3). The coracoid of a Crane is a bone which cannot be mistaken for that of any other bird; the chief features of the proximal portion being the strongly-marked crest extending on the ventral surface from the head (a) to join the intermuscular ridge of the lower part of the bone, and the deep channel, with a large pneumatic foramen, separating tbe body of the bone from the subclavicular process (c). The elongated form of the glenoidal surface, of which the lateral border is seen at b, is also characteristic. Now in all these respects the fossil coracoid agrees with the recent one, to which it also approximates very closely in size. The head of the fossil coracoid is, however, smaller and relatively narrower than in G. antigone, a character which affords a well-marked distinction from that species. Equally characteristic is the distal extremity of the left tibio-tarsus (represented in figs. 5, 5 a, 5 6, of Plate XXXVI.). This bone in the Cranes (as is shown by that of G. antigone drawn in fig. 6) is characterized by the wide anterior intercondylar interval, and by the bony bridge (a) over the groove for the extensor tendons being sunk below the level of the lateral borders of the bone and carrying a low tubercle (6). A comparison of the figures will show such a close resemblance between the recent and fossil bones as to leave no doubt of the generic identity of their owners. The fossil is, however, readily distinguished by the bridge over the extensor groove being much shorter than in G. antigone; a feature in which it resembles 1 R. Meli, Bull. Soc. Geol. Ital. vol. viii. p. 490 (1890). |