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Show 1905.] MR. R. I. POCOCK OX A HAINAN GIBBON. 169 Glareola and Thinocorus are like Scolopax, but have a slip to the great toe. Vanellus and Gallinago are exactly like Scolopax; Charadrius and Himantopus are also identical with it, except that there is no great toe. The conditions of these tendons in Limicolse are similar and much alike, being not far removed from the condition that I take to be archecentric or primitive for Birds. But in the group there is a tendency to lose or reduce the great toe, and that loss or reduction has produced modifications which are similar in character and very easy to derive from the primitive type. S u m m a r y . With the exception of (Edicnemus, the Limicoline birds examined, so far as relates to the characters dealt with, show a definite and coherent series of modifications. The group is moving, or has moved, along the same anatomical lines. The limits of its variations overlap in a special way the variations displayed by Gulls, and in a general way those exhibited by Gruiform birds. B eferen c es. ( 1 ) B e d d a r d , F. E.-The Structure and Classification of Birds. 1898. ( 2 ) F u r b r in g er , M.-Untersucliungen zur Morphologie und Systematik cler Vogel. 1888. (3) G a d ow , II.-" Aves" in Bronn's Tliierreich. (4) M it c h e l l , P. C h a lm e r s .- " Quintocubitalism in the Wing of Birds." Journ. Linn. Soc., Zool. vol. xxvii. p. 237. (5) M it c h e l l , P. C h a lm e r s .- " Anatomy of Kingfishers." The Ibis, 1901, p. 97. (6 ) M it c h e l l , P. C h a lm e r s .- " On the Intestinal Tract of Birds." Trans. Linn. Soc. ser. 2, Zool. vol. viii. p. 173. (7 ) M it c h e l l , P. C h a lm e r s .- " On the Anatomy of Gruiform Birds." Proc. Zool. Soc. Loncl. 1901, vol. ii. p. 629. 6. Observations upon a Female Specimen of the Hainan Gibbon (Hylobates hainanus), now living in the Society' s Gardens. By R. I. P o c o c k , F.L.S.^ F.Z.S., Superintendent of the Gardens. [Received Maj' 16, 1905.] (Plate V.*) Age at Maturity. On Jan. 26, 1904, the Society received on deposit a female specimen of the Hainan Gibbon, the property of Mr. E. H. de * For explanation of the Plate, see p. 180. |