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Show 628 MR. G. A. B O U L E N G E R O N SCHLEGEL'S GAVIAL. [June 16, the flexor perforans and runs to the third digit. These slips are in addition to the ordinary short flexors, and it is possible that they throw light upon the origin of the very peculiar modes of distribution of the hallucis tendon in some groups of birds, as it has been repeatedly shown that a tendon may be the homologue of a muscle. Entepicondylo-idnaris.-This muscle, which according to Gadow is present only in Basores and in the Tinamou, is absent in Opisthocomus. This is another of the innumerable points separating Opisthocomus from Fowls. 2. O n the Occurrence of SchlegeFs Gavial {Tomistoma schle-geli) in the Malay Peninsula, with Remarks on the Atlas and Axis of the Crocodilians. By G. A. B O U L E N G E R, F.R.S. [Eeceived May 29, 1896.] A Gharial-like Crocodile, Tomistoma schlegelii, described by Salomon Midler in 1838, was, until lately, believed to be peculiar to Borneo. In 1890, however, its occurrence in Sumatra was recorded by M a x Weber (Zool. Ergebn. p. 176). The Malay Peninsula may now be added to its habitat. A few months ago, the British Museum received, from Mr. L. Wray, Curator of the Perak Government Museum, a fine half-grown, specimen, with the following remarks :- 3 " The specimen was caught at Pulau Tiga, in the Perak river, in June 1895, and I kept it in a pond until the end of December, when it was killed. For months it would eat nothing but a few small fish, but during the later portion of the time it would eat freely of any meat or fish given to it. It also became quite tame and would remain at the surface of the water with its head on the bank while people stood near it. " So far as I have been able to ascertain, no Crocodile belonging to the Gavial group has ever been recorded from the Malayan Peninsula, so that the following particulars will be of interest. " I first heard of the occurrence of a Gavial in the State ot Perak in 1889, and in the same year M r . Cecil Wray, the then Acting Superintendent of Lower Perak, obtained a skull from the Perak river, and sent it to the Perak Museum ; the animal was 7 feet long. A second was caught in the Kinta river, near Uatu Gajah, in 1893 or 1894. It was secured by Capt. H. C. Metcalte, of the Perak Sikhs, and the skin is now in his possession. It measures 6 feet 8 inches, but the tail is very short, having probably been injured when young ; the head measures 18 inches,, the upper jaw 30 inches, and the lower jaw 23 inches. A third was taken from the Batang Padang river near Tapah and was seen by Mr. Page, the Inspector of Police at Tapah. It was |
