absent from the Psittaci. This is certainly almost universally the case. But FÜRBRINGER speaks of a rudiment-a short length of tendon-in Platycercus palliceps. No parrot has a biceps slip. A muscular cucullaris patagialis is generally, if not always, present. It is well known that the ambiens muscle is present in some parrots, and absent from the leg of others. The actual occurrences of this muscle are shown in table (p. 268). Stringops is peculiar in that the muscle is sometimes complete and quite normally developed, and sometimes ends in a thin tendon on the capsule of the knee joint. This recalls Edicnemus. Of the other muscles of the leg used by GARROD in classification A, X, and Y are nearly always present, the only exception, so far as I am aware, being Chrysotis Guildingi, in a specimen of which I failed to find Y. Sometimes (as in Ara chloroptera) the semitendinosus gives off a tendinous slip to the gastrocnemius, but in Chrysotis there is no such slip. The tibialis anticus is usually inserted by a single tendon. This Mr. PARSONS and I found to be the case in the majority of parrots which we examined. But in Chrysotis the tendon is distinctly double. In Deroptyus, Caica, Peocephalus, Platycercus, and a few others, there are more or less evident indications of a double tendon. The deep flexor tendons of the parrots are gallinaceous, with a vinculum such as is illustrated in fig. 54 (p. 100). There are some inconsiderable variations of this ground plan; for instance, in Platycercus Barnardi the vinculum is divided into two parts, one to digit II., the other to III. and IV. Peroneals. The peroneus longus and brevis are, as far as we have observed, always present in parrots, but the origin of the former differs somewhat in different genera. In Stringops and Nestor the peroneus longus rises from the front of the bony fibula and its membranous continuation for about the upper half of the leg. The muscular belly overlaps that of the peroneus brevis very much near its origin, and the muscle is large and well marked. In Chrysotis, on the other hand, the peroneus longus is very small and only rises from the membranous continuation of the fibula in the lower part of the leg; it is so small that it does not overlap the peroneus brevis at all, but lies behind it. The parrots have a well-developed crop and a zonary proventriculus. In the liver the right lobe is the larger; rarely are they subequal. The gall bladder is as a rule absent; but it is present in Cacatua and in Calopsitta, though 'small and easily overlooked' in the latter. The intestinal measurements in a series are as follows: The most obvious comment upon the above list is to draw attention to the very great length of the gut in Eclectus, whose relations in this particular to other parrots are almost those of Didunculus to other pigeons.' The most recent and elaborate essay upon the osteology of the parrots is by MIVART,2 who has described the entire skeleton of Lorius and Psittacus; some of his illustrations are reproduced here. Fourteen is the prevalent number of cervical vertebra (e.g. Lorius, Psittacus, Platycercus, Caica). Stringops, however, has fifteen. The atlas is notched (Ara militaris) or perforated (Pyrrhulopsis) for the odontoid process. Five (Ara, Psittacus) or six (Platycercus, Pyrrhulopsis) ribs articulate with the sternum. The sternum has as a rule an entire posterior margin, which in Licmetis is entirely unnotched and unfenestrated. Most parrots have a pair of fenestra which in Deroptyus and Microglossa are converted into notches. The sternum has a spina externa, slightly forked occasionally (e.g. Psittacus erithacus, Callocephalon), but no spina interna. The carina is deep-deeper in Platycercus (without furcula) than in Caica (with furcula), the species being approximately of the same size. furcula is sometimes present and sometimes rudimentary. The It is present, and forms a complete U, in Nestor, Conurus, Caica, Licmetis, Microglossa, Ara, Palæornis, &c. An intermediate condition is observable in Eos, where the furcula thins much towards its sternal end. A still further reduction is seen where the two clavicles are separate below and only bound by cartilage. Finally there are those parrots with a quite rudimentary pair of clavicles, consisting only of a small piece of bone at the coraco-scapular end. This is the case, for example, with Pyrrhulopsis and Platycercus. The following table shows the number of cervical vertebræ and the position of the first and last hæmophyses in a number of parrots : For structure of tongue see CIACCIO, Nota preventiva sull' interna struttura della lingua dei Papagalli,' Rendic. Sess. Acc. Ist. Bologna, 1877-8, p. 157. * The skeleton of Lorius flavopalliatus compared with that of Psittacus erithacus,' P. Z. S. 1895. There is no account of the bones of the limbs... 3 The humerus of parrots is peculiar, and, as GARROD 3 has pointed out, there are features of resemblance to the Columbæ and to the Alcidae. This peculiarity will be found described and figured in the chapter dealing with the Columbæ. The skull is very uniform in its structure throughout the group. It is desmognathous, holorhinal, and without basipterygoid processes. The front part of the face (nasals, maxillæ, and premaxilla) articulates by a transverse joint with the frontals, which is movable. The mobility of the anterior part of the face is aided by the movable articulation to it of the palatines and the jugals. The palatines have a peculiar form; for the most part they are laterally flattened plates of great depth and considerable extent. The quadrate of parrots too is peculiar in the great length of the neck, which bears the squamosal articulation. In many parrots the lacrymal bone joins the forward process of the squamosal, thus completely encircling the orbit with bone. The hyoid has been extensively studied by MIVART; in ' On D1 the median part of the hæmapophysis has vanished, leaving only the lateral. 2 On this vertebra is a double hæmapophysis, forming a canal. 3 See also for osteology of parrots BLANCHARD, Des Caractères Ostéologiques chez les Oiseaux de la Famille des Psittacides,' Compt. Rend. xliii. p. 1097, and xlix. p. 518; MILNE-EDWARDS, 'Observations sur les Caractères Ostéologiques,' &c., Ann. Sci. Nat. (6), vi. p. 91; L. voN LORENZ, Über die Skelete von Stringops habroptilus u. Nestor notabilis,' S.B. k. Ak. Wien, lxxxiv. 1882, p. 624. On the Hyoid Bone of certain Parrots,' P. Z. S. 1895, p. 162. this paper references will be found to previous figures and descriptions. It has features which absolutely distinguish this group of birds. The entoglossal has a considerable median foramen, or FIG. 131.-HYOID OF Stringops (AFTER MIVART). A. DORSAL ASPECT. b, basihyal; e, entoglossum; p, parahyal process; u, urohyal; hb, hypobranchial; cb, ceratobranchial. more usually is composed of two separate pieces united in front by cartilage. The basihyal is broad, and it develops on either side a forwardly directed piece (figs. 131-3), for which Dr. MIVART has suggested the name of parahyal piece. This |