| OCR Text |
Show 410 ON SOME LARGE EXTINCT BIRDS FROM MALTA. [May 20, aspect by the outer trochlea which are features absolutely characteristic of the family to which the genus Cygnus belongs. The figured phalangeal of the extinct species has a length of 0,046, with an antero-posterior diameter of the proximal articular surface of 0,017; the corresponding dimensions in the homologous bone of C. olor being 0,060 and 0,014. The lateral phalangeals of the proximal row have similar proportions. Thus in the second digit the proximal phalangeal has a length of 0,037 against 0,048 in C. olor; while in the fourth digit the lengths are respectively 0,045 and 0,061. Fig. 3. Anterior and distal aspects of the first phalangeal of the third digit of the right pes of Cygnus falconeri (A) and C. olor (B). \. A second phalangeal of the third digit exhibits the peculiar proximal articular surface characteristic of the Anatida, so that its reference to the present form is undoubted. It has a length of 0,025 against 0,043 in the corresponding bone of C. olor. This remarkable shortness and stoutness of the phalangeals of the pes in Cygnus falconeri leaves no doubt as to its distinctness from all other species. The difference is indeed sufficiently great to afford grounds for generic separation ; but since the multiplication of generic terms is to be avoided as much as possible I prefer to let the species remain in the genus to which it was referred by its original describer, who remarks that in the shortness of its toes and the length of its legs this species seems to connect the modern Swans with the Geese. |
