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Show 1901.] ANATOMY OF ANASTOMUS. 369 ambiens is rather small, as in Xenorhynchus australis (it is of course absent in X senegalensis), but plainly obvious. The semitendinosus is smaller than the semimembranosus. It ends in the septum between itself and its accessory and in a thin tendon which joins the broad flat tendon of the semimembranosus. The femoro-caudal is of fair size aud has a fleshy insertion ; there were no traces of its accessory. The glutcsus maximus is mainly tendinous; its origin hardly, if at all, extends behind the acetabulum. I find four other glutad1, of which tertius and quartus are inserted so near together as to appear at first sight but a single muscle. A little care, however, shows them to be distinct. The two adductors are separated at their insertion, one being attached as usual with the femoral head of the accessory semitendinosus. There is only one peroneus, the p. brevis being absent. The gastrocnemius has three heads and is joined by the accessory semi-tendinosus. The deep flexor teudons have the Ciconiine arrangement, a strong vinculum joining the flexor hallucis to the flexor communis just before the trifurcation of the latter. Skull.-Judging from the measurements giving by Dr. Blanford ~, the skull of m y example of Anastomus oscitans is about two-thirds of the size to which it would ultimately have grown. It therefore shows certaiu but not very numerous signs of immaturity3. I have been able, however, through the kindness of Mr. G-errard, to compare it with the skull of an older example of Anastomus lamelligerus. The principal specific difference which I observed was the greater length of the beak-region of the skull in A. lamelligerus as compared with other Storks. Anastomus shows some peculiarities of skull-structure. I could find no trace of a vomer in either specimen, a bone which, though small, is usually recognizable in Storks. The pterygoids are unusually short and very broadly expanded where they come into relation with the palatines. This character of the skull of Anastomus is shown in the accompanying drawing (textile-. 91, p. 370). The most salient difference, however, observable in this aspect of the skull is the form of the quadrate, that is of its articular surface for the attachment of the lower jaw. It will be noted that in Anastomus the quadrate has two facets-one longer saddle-shaped facet at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the skull; the other shorter at the jugal end of the under surface of the bone, much shorter than the first and more or less at right ancles to it. The articular surface of the quadrate is therefore very narrow, and in this contrasts with the genera Ciconia, Tantalus, Xenorhy nchus, and Dissura. In all these geuera the lower articular surface of the quadrate is very broad, and the two main facets are 1 Weldon only found three in the Storks dissected by himself. - The Fauna of British India, Birds, vol. ii. p. 378. 3 It is, for instance "schizognathous." |