In situ hybridization revealed that mRNA for the neurotrophin receptor trkC first appears in the chicken embryo at stage 4 anterior to Hensen's node. At stages 6 and 8, trkC mRNA was restricted to the neural plate. By stage 11, trkC mRNA was absent from much of the prosencephalon, the entire mesencephalon and rhombomeres 1 and 4. At stage 15, trkC mRNA expression was limited to rhombomeres 3 and 5, and, by stage 18, there was no apparent expression of trkC mRNA in the hindbrain.