1817 ARTES SCIENTIA LIBRARY VERITAS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN PLURISUS UNUM TUEBOR SI QUERIS-PENINSULAMAMENAM CIRCUMSPICE DU0000000000 MUSEUM 46 WMAN ST // Colored Sugrasus 512 2. 591 / ک4 Museum QL 46 F 85 Tirws in the Gardens of the Zoological Society ОР Trondon IX4X. Zool-mis Thong 715-2 45737 I - W Dreftadae by Wamemade Walton Newtrocel GARDENS OF THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. THE CLOCK TOWER GARDENS OF THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY THE TERRACE WALK Drawn from Brandon Stone by Wame in Mallmandel & Walton's New Proces WALI ure and on Stone by GARDENS OF THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. THE TUNNEL Drawn from Nature and on Stone by FW Hulme in Hollandel Walton's New Proces GARDENS OF TIBUE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY THE AVENUE Dom from Mature andon Stone by Hulme in Hallmandel Walton New Troca GARDENS OF THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. THE TERRACE #*€ FORIA 100LOGIA TYPICA. . LOUIS FRASER. by NATURALIST TO THE NIGER EXPEDITION, 7847 -2. &c. &c. yu LONDON PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR TO BE MAD OF MESSIS HYDE & EP 61 ELECT ST ZOOLOGIA TYPICA, OR FIGURES OF NEW AND RARE MAMMALS AND BIRDS DESCRIBED IN THE PROCEEDINGS, OR EXHIBITED IN THE COLLECTIONS OF THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. BY LOUIS FRASER, (late Curator to the Society ;) NATURALIST TO THE NIGER EXPEDITION, 1841-2. LONDON :-PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR. 1849. TO BE HAD OF MESSRS. HYDE & CO., 61, FLEET STREET. WESTMINSTER: PRINTED BY W. BLANCHARD & SONS, 62, MILLBANK STREET. PREFACE. When the present work was announced, it was my intention that it should appear at regular intervals, and be continued until it comprised figures of every new and rare Mammal and Bird described in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, of which figures had not appeared in any other publication; but several circumstances have conspired to render its appearance irregular, and to induce me to determine upon its close long prior to the completion of my original views. The irregularity referred to is mainly attributable to my having found it advisable to resign my appointment of Curator to the Zoological Society, and to my having since made two Zoological excursions into the Northern parts of Africa, each of which necessarily caused an absence from England of some months duration. My determination to close it with the Seventieth Plate is due to my entire time being now occupied at Knowsley, in making a scientific catalogue of the magnificent Zoological collections belonging to my excellent patron the Right Honourable the Earl of Derby; collections unrivalled by any private, and equalled by few, if any, public ones, at home or abroad. Although the circumstances above referred to, have in a manner compelled me to bring the work to a premature close, the volume, such as it is, will not, I hope, be an unacceptable one to those Noblemen and Gentlemen who have honoured this, my first attempt, with their support, as well as to all who take an interest in Zoological science and literature, since it contains figures of twenty- eight Mammals and forty-six Birds, all of which are of particular interest as representations of specimens originally described by the respective authors, as the types of new genera or additional species of genera previously characterized ; besides which the plates have been enriched with representations of many rare and beautiful plants. In the course of the work much valuable assistance has been rendered to me by the Right Honourable the Earl of Derby; The Honourable East India Company; Colonel W. H. Sykes, H. E. I. C. S.; John Skaife, Esq., of Blackburn; John Edward Gray, Esq. ; and William Yarrell, Esq. : to all of whom I beg leave to tender my grateful acknowledgments for their many acts of kindness My thanks are also due to Charles Couzens, Esq., by whom some of the earlier plates were executed ; and especially to H. N. Turner, Jun., Esq., for the interest he has taken in the work, and the careful manner in which the drawings entrusted to him have been executed: nor must the attention of Mr. Triptree, of 6 Guildford Street, Walworth, by whom the plates have been coloured, be passed over unnoticed. LOUIS FRASER. List of Subscribers. THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. THE RIGHT HONORABLE THE EARL OF DERBY, K.G., PRESIDENT. DAVID W. MITCHELL, ESQ., B.A., SECRETARY, CHARLES DRUMMOND, ESQ., TREASURER. WM. YARRELL, ESQ., F.L.S., Vice-Pres. SIR JOHN PETER BOILEAU, BART., F.R.S., Vice-Pres. MEMBER OF COUNCIL COL. EDWARD BAKER. HIS HIGHNESS THE PRINCE OF CANINO AND MUSIGNANO. HIS IMPERIAL HIGHNESS THE GRAND DUKE OF TUSCANY. THE MOST NOBLE THE MARQUIS OF TITCHFIELD. THE RT. HON. THE EARL OF BURLINGTON, M.A., F.R.S., CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF London, THE RT. HON. THE EARL OF ORFORD. THE RT. HON. VISCOUNT HILL. THE RT. HON. LORD SAYE AND SELE. SIR PHILIP DE MALPAS GREY EGERTON, BART., M.P., B.A, SIR ROBERT HERON, BART. HIS EXCELLENCY SIR JAMES BROOKE, K.C.B., GOVERNOR OF LABUAN, AND RAJAH OF SARAWAK, BORNEO. COL. SIR THOMAS READE, K.C.B., H. M. AGENT AND CONSUL-GENERAL AT TUNIS. M. LE CHEVALIER B. DU BUS. THE HONORABLE EAST INDIA COMPANY. THE PARIS LIBRARY. THE IMPERIAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, ST. PETERSBURGH. THE BIRMINGHAM LIBRARY THE GOTTINGEN LIBRARY. THE ROYAL LIBRARY, BRUSSELS. THE REV. F. W. HOPE. HUGH FALCONER, M.D., SUPERINTENDENT OF THE BOTANIC GARDEN, SEHARUNPORX PHILIP B. DUNCAN, ESQ., M.A., KEEPER OF THE ASHMOLEAN MUSEUM, OXFORD. THOMAS BRIDGES, ESQ., CORR. MEME, ZS ROBERT J. SHUTTLEWORTH, ESQ. M. G. F. WESTERMAN, DIRECTEUR DU JARDIN ZOOLOGIQUE D'AMSTERDAM. HUGH CUMING, ESQ.. CORR. MEMB. Zs. WILLERT BEALE, ESQ. COLONEL W. H. SYKES. WILLIAM RULE, ESQ. H. HEWITT, ESQ. COLONEL MUTTLEBURY CAPTAIN GUISE. JOHN SKAIFE, ESQ. MR. EDWIN ATKINS, MR. C. JAMRACH. MR. A. D. BARTLETT. M. FRANK MISS RICHARDSON CURRER. GENERAL YATES. WILLIAM OGILBY, ESQ., M.A. T. C. EYTON, ESQ. CHARLES MORRIS, ESQ. CHARLES BELL, ESQ. JOHN GOULD, ESQ., F.R.S. H. N. TURNER, JUN, ESQ. WILLIAM REES, ESQ. THOMAS BELLAMY, ESQ. WILLIAM GOODWIN, ESQ. CHARLES WINN, ESQ. JOHN HYDE, ESQ. W. R. BECK, ESQ. MAJOR GENERAL J. CAULFIELD. . WM. HORTON LLOYD, ESQ. CHAS, GEO, RICHARDSON, ESQ. W. MURRY, ESQ. W. H. BENSON, ESQ. R. BRYMER STANSER, ESQ. BENJ. BOND CABBELL, ESQ. THOMAS D'IFFANGER, ESQ. EDWARD WILSON, ESQ. M. LOUIS COULON. JOHN HEARNE, ESQ. CORR, MEME. 2. , SWEDISH & NORWEGIAN CONSUL, AT HAYTI MESSRS. LONGMANS & CO. MESSRS. ARTARIA & FONTAINE, MANNHEIM. JACOB LAING, ESQ. THOMAS BELL, ESQ., F.R.S, PROFESSOR OP ZOOLOGY, KING'S COLLXOX, LONDON, LIST OF PLATES M A M M ALS. Ursine Colobus 1 2 Sykes' Monkey Campbell's Monkey.. Red-eared Monkey 3 4 Thoth Baboon 5 Red-fronted Lemur. Colobus Ursinus, OGILBY a Cercopithecus albogularis, SYKES Cercopithecus Campbelli, WATERHOUSE. Cercopithecus erythrotis, WATERHOUSE Cynocephalus Thoth, OGILBY.. Lemur rufifrons, BENNETT Mephitis nasuta, BENNETT. Herpestes vitticollis, BENNETT Cynictis melanura, MARTIN Paradoxurus Ogilbyi, FRASER ... Felis melanura, BALL 6 7 8 9 Long-nosed Skunk Stripe-necked Ichneumon Black-tailed Cynictis Ogilby's Paradoxure Black-tailed Ocelot. Viverrine Tiger Cat Barbary Deer 10 11 Felis viverrinus, BENNETT 12 Cervus Barbarus, BENNETT 13 Dwarf Deer 14 15 The Earl of Derby's Musk Deer Bennett's Gazelle 16 Cuvier's Gazelle 17 18 19 20 Cervus humilis, BENNETT Moschus Stanleyanus, GRAY Antilope Bennetti, SYKES Antilope Cuvieri, OGILBY Antilope Doria, OGILBY Antilope Ogilbyi, WATERHOUSES Antilope Kob, OGILBY Ovis Gmelini, BLYTH Anomalurus Fraseri, WATERHOUSE Sciurus Stangeri, WATERHOUSE Sciurus rufo-brachiatus, WATERHOUSE Sciurus erythrogenys, WATERHOUSE Sciurus Elphinstonei, SYKES .. Cricetus auratus, WATERHOUSE Manis multiscutata, GRAY 21 Banded Antelope Ogilby's Antelope Kob Antelope .. Armenian Sheep Fraser's Anomalurus Stanger's Squirrel Red-armed Squirrel.. Red-cheeked Squirrel Elphinstone's Squirrel Golden Hamster 22 23 24 25 26 27 Many-scaled Manis 28 * A second perfect specimen of this rare animal is contained in the knowsley Museum. Elliot's Mungous, Mungos vitticollis (BENNETT), Grar, List Spec. Mamm. Brit. Mus. p. 50, 1843. Leopardus viverrinus (BENNETT), Gray, List Spec. Mamm. Brit. Mus. p. 43, 1843; Gray, II. Ind. Zool. vol. ii. 4 Black-striped Bush Buck, Cephalophus Ogilbi, (WATERH.), Gray, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. xviii. p. 163 and 165, 1846. Antilope Adenota, HAM. Smith, in Grier. Transl. Cuv. Anim. King, vol. v. p. 335, 1827. Antilope annulipes, Grar, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist, vol. x. p. 267, 1842, is the Female. vi BIRDS. Spotted Eagle .. Hæmatornis holospilus, VIGORSf ... 29 Macleay's Falcon .. Falco sparverioides, VIGORSE. . . 30 Red-cheeked Falcon Hierax erythrogenys, VIGORS h 31 White-bellied Kingfisher Alcedo leucogaster, FRASER 32 Smith's Shrike.. Collurio Smithii, FRASER 33 White-rumped Spectacled Flycatcher .. Platysteira leucopygialis, FRASER . 34 Chesnut-coloured Spectacled Flycatcher . Platysteira castanea, FRASER. . 34 Strickland's Andropadus Andropadus latirostris, STRICKLAND. .. 35 Strickland's Tephrodornis Tephrodornis ocreatus, STRICKLAND .. 36 Fernando Po Cossypha Cossypha Poënsis, STRICKLAND 37 Sykes' Oriole Oriolus Kundoo, SYKES .. . 38 Dukhun Rock Thrush Petrocincla Pandoo, SYKES 39 Sir Philip Egerton's Actinodura Actinodura Egertoni, GOULD!. 40 Chattering Thrush .. Timalia Malcolmi, SYKESİ 41 Red-throated Warbler Drymoica rufogularis, FRASER 42 Red-rumped Warbler Drymoica uropygialis, FRASER 42 Rusty-coloured Warbler.. Drymoica rufa, FRASER. . .. 42 Tailor Bird Prinia socialis, SYKES 43 Sykes' Prinia Prinia inornata, SYKES .. 44 St. Thomas' Weaver Bird Ploceus collaris, FRASERK 45 Red-crowned Euplectes .. Euplectes rufo-velatus, FRASER 1 46 Olive Grosbeak Coccothraustes olivaceus, FRASER 47 Grey-backed Finch .. Nigrita canicapilla, STRICKLAND 48 Brown-backed Finch Nigrita fusconota, FRASER 49 Fernando Po Finch.. Amadina Poënsis, FRASER 50 Cape Palmas Finch.. Amadina bicolor, FRASER .. 50 Red-painted Waxbill Estrilda rufo-picta, FRASER 51 Yellow-bellied Bucco Bucco sub-sulphureus, FRASER 52 Cuming's Cuckoo Phænicophous Cumingi, FRASER". .. 53 k m f Circaëtus holospilus (VIGORS), GRAY, Genera of Birds. & Tinnunculus sparverioïdes (VigoRs), Gray, Genera of Birds, Nov. 1844, Voy. l'Isle de Cuba, Ois. t. i. h Ierax erythrogenys (VIGORS), GRAY, Genera of Birds, Nov. 1844. i Leiocincla plumosa, BLYTH, is the same. ; The name on the plate is incorrect. I now believe this to be the same as Garrulus albifrons, GRAY, Ill. Ind. Zool. pl. 36, fig. 1. k Hyphantornis grandis, GRAY, Genera of Birds, May 1844. 1 Proc. Zool. Soc. p. 142, 1842. Ploceus rufovelatus (FRASER), GRAY, Genera of Birds, May 1842. m Phænicophaus Barrotii, Edy. et Souley, Voy. de la Bonite, Ois. tab. 6. vii Modest Parrakeet 54 55 56 57 58 Superb Lory Bronze-winged Parrot Guilding's Parrot Amber-crested cockatoo Elphinstone's Pigeon Thick-billed Pigeon Bonham's Partridge Rendall's Guinea Fowl 59 60 61 Palæornis modestus, FRASER.. Lorius superbus, FRASER Psittacus chalcopterus, FRASER Psittacus Guildingi, VIGORS .. Cacatua citrino-cristata, FRASER Columba Elphinstonei, SYKES Treron crassirostris, Fraser .. Perdix Bonhami, FRASER" Numida Rendalli, OGILBY Leptopus Mitchelli, FRASER Sarciophorus albiceps, Gould Ibis erythrorhyncha, GOULD Nycticorax Manillensis, VIGORS Anas Luzonica, FRASER Dendrocygna vagans, EYTON MSS.P Larus Bridgesi, FRASER.. Sterna Seena, SYKES 62 Mitchell's Slenderfoot 63 64 65 White-crowned Spur-wing Red-billed Ibis. Manilla Night-Heron Luzon Duck 66 67 68 Eyton's Whistling Duck. . Bridges' Gull .. 69 Seena Tern 70 PLANTS. Ram Thul Annona reticulata 57 44 47 40 Menispernum. Neptee or Leafless Caper Bush .. Capparis Aphylla Cotton Plant Gossypium herbaceum Sawree or Silk Cotton Gossypium heptaphyllum Makur neembonee or Wild Bitter Lime.. Coral Plant Iatropha multifida.. Torun Ziziphus albens, var. 9 46 33 52 36 * Caccabis Bonhami, Gray, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. xi. p. 372, May 1843. A label with the name of Perdix Bonhami was appended to the living Birds in the Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park, by myself, long before the publication of the specific characters. Perdix griseo-gularis, Brandt, Bull. des Sci. St. Petersb. vol. x. p. 27. Phegornis Mitchelli (FRASER), Gray, Genera of Birds, March 1847. Dendrocygna major, JERD. II. Ind. Orn. March 1845. * This will stand Bombax heptaphyllum. viii Mutkee or Pulse Phaseolus aconitifolius .. 37 Jonesia Ashoka .. 35 Wassungee Bhahaya .. Cassia fistula 48 Mimosa scandens 49 Chambar Heerda Terminalia Chebula ... 56 Muddoomattee Goertnera racemosa .: 51 Pewlee Koruntee Barleria prionites .. 24 Plumago 43 Ficus Indica .. .. 26 Oombur or Wild Fig . 54 Datreeka and Dartur 23 ..Ficus glomerata Ficus parasitica, WILL. Artocarpus integrifolia Caryota urens Jack Fruit. : 1 Mahr . 28 Triticum .. 15 Bhadlee .. 11 A Sketch of the Basaltic Columns in the neighbourhood of Serroor Palace of the Mankeswur at Tembournee 16 COLOBUS URSINUS. COLO BUS URSINUS. URSINE COLOBUS. Colobus Ursinus, OGILBY, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1835, p. 98. OWEN (Anatomy), Proc. Zool. Soc. 1841, p. 84. ALTHOUGH the Colobus here figured is considered by many Naturalists to be identical with the Full-bottom Monkey of Pennant's Hist. of Quad. (3rd edit.) vol. i. p. and pl. 212, I still think there are sufficient differences to guarantee it a place in the present publication, under its more recent appellation. The specimen from which the accompanying figure was taken, had been presented, in the year 1841, to the Society by the Right Honourable the Earl of Derby, and lived for some time in the Menagerie. When at Sierra Leone, I saw this specimen, in the possession of Mr. Whitfield, by whom it was brought to this country, at which time I made the following notes :-“Eyes, dark hazel; face and hands, black : it was very tame, and extremely fond of being petted : its cry was frequent, and seemed fretful, and resembled somewhat a kitten's mew: it ate bananas, pineapple, ground nuts, palm-nuts, and appeared rather partial to butter. It was captured at a place called Waterloo." Habitat, Sierra Leone. The tree is that of the Jack Fruit (Artocarpus integrifolia) of Dukhun, copied from one of Colonel Sykes' drawings. The parts of fructification, only, are represented in the drawing, the fruit being too large for convenient representation. CERCO PITHECUS ALB OGULARIS. . CERCOPITHECUS ALBOGULARIS. SYKES' MONKEY. Semnopithecus (?) albogularis, SYKES, Proc. Comm. Sci. and Corr. Zool. Soc. 1880-1, p. 105. Cercopithecus albogularis, Sykes, ibid. 1832, p. 18. Cercopithecus albogularis, OWEN, ibid. ibid. Cercopithecus albogularis, Sykes, Lib. of Ent. Knowledge (The Menageries), vol. i. p. 330, 1838. Cercopithecus albogularis, Sykes, Martin's Nat. Hist. of Mamm. Anim. &c. p. 512, 1841. Cercopithecus Monoides, Is. GEOFF. Archives du Museum, tom. ii. p. 558, pl. 31, 1841. ACCORDING to Col. Sykes, “ The manners of this monkey are grave and sedate. Its disposi- tion is gentle, but not affectionate; free from that capricious petulance and mischievous irascibility characteristic of so many of the African species, but yet resenting irritating treatment, and evinc- ing its resentment by very smart blows with its anterior hands. It never bit any person on board ship, but so seriously lacerated three monkies, its fellow-passengers, that two of them died from the wounds. It readily ate meat, and would choose to pick a bone, even when plentifully supplied with vegetables and dried fruits.” For the anatomy of this species, see Professor Owen's paper above referred to. The exact locality from whence this species of monkey is procured remains doubtful. Col. Sykes believed it came from Madagascar ; I have since been informed that it inhabits the Island of Zanzabar, east coast of Africa. The Cercopithecus albogularis belongs to that section of the Cercopitheci of which the Cerc. sabæus may be considered as the type. The whole of the upper surface of the animal is of a mingled black and yellowish ochre colour, each hair being annulated with black and ochre; the black prevailing on the shoulders, the ochre on the back and flanks ; under surface, grizzled, white and black; anterior limbs, uni- form black; posterior, black, with a little of the dorsal colour , chin and throat, pure white; tail, black Length of the head and body, two feet two inches; tail, two feet six inches. CERCOPITHECUS CAMP BELLI. CERCOPITHECUS CAMPBELLI. CAMPBELL'S MONKEY. Cercopithecus Campbelli, WATERHOUSE, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1838, p. 61. This species appears most closely allied to the Cercopithecus Mona of Schreber; it has not, however, the large white spot on the upper part of each thigh which serves to characterize that animal. This monkey is named after the late Governor of Sierra Leone, Major Campbell, who brought an imperfect specimen of it from that country; my specimens were said to be from the Mandingo Country. The only perfect specimen I have seen is now living in the gardens of the Society. The most remarkable characters in the animal are its long fur, and the hairs being divided on the back, as in most of the species of the genus Colobus. The average length of the hairs of the back is about two and a half inches; on the hinder half of the back, however, they exceed three inches. These hairs are grey at the base, and the remaining portion of each hair is black, with broad yellow rings, the latter colour prevailing. On the posterior half of the body, and the outer side of the hinder legs, the hairs are of a deep slate grey, and almost of an uniform colour; some of those on the middle of the back are obscurely freckled with deep yellow, and those on the thigh are very indistinctly freckled with white. The belly, inner side of limbs, fore part of thigh, chest and throat, are white. The hairs of the cheeks and sides of the neck are very long, and of a greyish white colour, grizzled towards the apex with black and yellow; some whitish hairs, tipped with black, are observable across the fore part of the forehead. The inner side of the ears is furnished with very long hairs of a greyish white colour, obscurely annulated with grey and pale yellow; these hairs vary from three-quarters of an inch, to an inch in length. The fore legs are black externally. The hairs on the upper side of the tail are grizzled with black and dirty yellow, and on the under side, with black and brownish white. The apical portion of the tail, which is furnished with longish hairs, is black, the black hairs occupying about one-third of the whole length of the tail. CE RC OPI T H E CUS JE RYTHROTIS. CERCOPITHECUS ERYTHROTIS. RED-EARED MONKEY. Cercopithecus erythrotis, WATERHOUSE, Proc. Zool. Soc. p. 59, 1838. This animal was originally described by G. R. Waterhouse, Esq., from an imperfect skin in the collection of the Zoological Society, but the accompanying figure has been taken from a perfect specimen contained in the British Museum. This beautiful little species is about the same size as the Moustache Monkey (Cercopithecus Cephus), and has undoubtedly a close affinity to that animal; it may, however, be distinguished by the bright rusty red hairs which cover the ears internally, its brilliant red tail, and by the hairs in the region of the anus being also of a bright red. The hairs on the upper parts of the body are black, annulated with yellow : on the hinder part of the back the yellow assumes a deep golden hue ; but, unlike the Moustache Monkey, the black prevails over the yellow. On the sides of the body, and the outer side of the hinder legs, the hairs are greyish ; and on the belly, and inner side of the limbs, they are greyish white. The fore-legs are blackish externally; a dark mark extends backwards from the eye to the ear; below this, on the cheeks, there is a tuft of white hairs, beneath which the hairs are grizzled black and yellow,- in these respects bearing a close resemblance to the Moustache Monkey. Habitat, the Island of Fernando Po. a Length of the head and body, seventeen inches ; tail, twenty-three. CYNOCEPHALUS THIOTH CYNOCEPHALUS THOTH. Tноти Влвоох. Cynocephalus Thoth, OGILBY, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1843, p. 11. The following of the species is given by Mr. Ogilby :- “ This Abyssinian species, which was reported to have been brought from Bombay, but which had no doubt been carried thither on board some vessel trading to the Red Sea, possesses a higher degree of interest than attaches to any other Cynocephal. With the exception of C. hamadryas, it is the only known species in that part of Africa, and must consequently have been the animal which we find so frequently figured among the hieroglyphics, and which was worshipped by the Egyptians under the name of Thoth. I have shown else- where (Nat. Hist. of Monkeys, &c., i. 431) that the Sacred Baboon of the Egyptians was not the C. hamadryas, as supposed by Ehrenberg; and though, from the mistake above alluded to, I was at that time inclined to identify it with C. anubis, there can now be no reasonable doubt that the animal which played so important a part in the mythology of that remarkable people, and of whose worship the city of Hermopolis was the principal seat, must have been the species at present under consideration. If this conjecture be well-founded, it follows also that the names cynocephalus, sphinx, &c., so often employed by Greek and Roman writers, must have referred to the same animal, at least originally; but as modern zoologists have applied all these names in a definite sense, I propose to distinguish the new species by the equally appropriate designation of “ Thoth” which it bore among the ancient Egyptians. “ The individual from which this description was taken is an old male of large size, and, like the rest of his congeners, of a morose intractable disposition. The face is broad and of a dirty livid flesh-colour, lighter along the centre and ridge of the nose, and somewhat browner on the cheeks and muzzle; the cheek-bones are protuberant, the rostrum truncated, and the extremity of the nose reaching, but not surpassing, the plane of the upper lip and teeth. The hair of the fore-quarters is longer and thicker than on the rest of the body, though it does not form so dense or copious a mane as in C. hamadryas. The colour of the upper and outer parts of the body may be described as dark olive-green, and that of the lower and interior as light yellowish green; the breast, throat and under part of the chin are silvery grey; the lower parts of the whiskers are of the same colour, but they acquire a yellowish green shade as they approach and become intermixed with the hair of the head; the ears and palms of the hands are naked, and of a dark brown colour; the callosities very large and flesh-coloured, and the naked parts of the hips on each side of the callosities of a deep purple or violet-brown; the scrotum is brown, and the sheath of the penis flesh-coloured. The tail is of medium length, without a terminal tuft, and carried in the arched manner common to the rest of the genus. The hind surfaces of the legs and thighs are furnished with long hair of a yellowish brown shade; the hands are of the same colour as the body, but the hind fingers are covered with longish grey hairs, and this character, together with the dark purple colour of the naked hips and brown scrotum, will always be sufficient to distinguish the present species from C. anubis and C. sphinx, in both of which the naked parts of the buttocks are of a brilliant blood- red, and the scrotum pale flesh-colour. In colour indeed C. Thoth approaches more nearly to C. sphinx than to C. anubis ; it has the same light silvery grey colour on the whiskers and under part of the body, but the upper colours are more obscure; the bright yellowish green is replaced by sordid dunnish brown, and the proportions of the two animals are entirely different, the long slender limbs and body of the sphinx contrasting strongly with the massive thick-set form of the present species.” a LE MWR RUFIFRONS. LEMUR RUFIFRONS. RED-FRONTED LEMUR. Le Mongous, Buffon, Hist. Nat. tom. xiii. p. 198, pl. 26, 1765. Lemur Mongoz, SCHREBER, Saugth. vol. i. p. 137, pl. 39, a. 1775. rufifrons, BENNETT, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1833, p. 106. Mongoz, Van der Hoeven, TIDSCHRIFT, Nat. Gesc. Phys. tom. xi. 1, p. 34, 1844. rufifrons, FRASER, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1845. 95 Tus animal was first characterized as a distinct species by the late E. T. Bennett, Esq., who assigned to it the name under which it is now figured; but it will be seen, on reference to the synonyms given above, that it was originally figured by Buffon in his celebrated Histoire Naturelle, and afterwards in the Saugthiere of M. Schreber, in whose work it was confounded with the Lemur Mongos of Linnæus, a very distinct species, founded upon the figure published by Edwards in his Gleanings. The general colour of this Lemur is grey, with a slight rufous tinge, the red tint becoming more conspicuous on the limbs and basal portion of the tail; on the terminal-half of the tail, the black predominates; a band of rufous extends across the crown of the head, and over the cheeks; the temples and sides of the face are white; the muzzle is black, this dark hue passes up between the eyes, along the centre of the forehead, until it joins the red band which crosses the crown of the head; the under surface of the body is white, with a very faint rufous tinge; the region of the thighs near the root of the tail, black. Length of the head and body, eighteen inches; of the tail, seventeen inches. MA M PROUBEN ME P HITIS NASUTA. O MEPHITIS NASUTA, LONG-NOSED SKUNK. Mephitis nasuta, BENNETT, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1833, p. 39. In pointing out the peculiarities in which the Long-nosed Skunk differs from the other members of the family, Mr. Bennett says of this species, that by its robust form, the shortness and strength of its limbs, the greater production of its nose, the denseness, firmness, and resist- ance of its strong hairs, and the entire nakedness of the soles of its feet, this animal differs from the Common Skunk of America. In the dried skin exhibited, the nose extends an inch beyond the line of the upper incisors, an hairy space of half an inch in width intervening between the upper lip and the soft naked muzzle. On its upper surface the naked part of the muzzle is extended backwards seven-eighths of an inch in an elliptical form. The fur of the body is composed of an under coat of crisped fine hairs, and of an outer coat of strong and somewhat rigid hairs, which, however, have little of harshness, although they offer to the touch a marked difference in the resistance they oppose to pressure, as compared with the equally long but silky and soft hairs of the Common Skunk. The soft feel exists in two specimens, apparently referri- ble to the latter, which are contained in the Collection, and the difference in quality of the fur can therefore scarcely be attributed to locality. This difference is, moreover, combined with characters of form, especially about the nose, which authorize the consideration of the Long- nosed Skunk as a distinct species. Inhabits that part of California which adjoins to Mexico. The colouring, which in the genus Mephitis is evidently but little fitted to afford charac- ters on which reliance can be placed, consists, in the individual exhibited, of a single broad white band, extending from behind the eyes along the middle of the back, where it is more dilated, and passing continuously to the tail, the whole of which it occupies; the head is dark brown, and the remainder of the fur is black. The claws, remarkably strong on the anterior feet, are, as usual, horn-coloured. The hinder tarsi of the Mephitis nasuta are destitute of hair on their under surface, and the nakedness extends even beyond the heel. In one of the specimens of the Common Skunk before alluded to, the hinder third of the tarsus is slightly, and in the other densely, hairy. Length of the head and body, sixteen inches and a half; of the tail, nine and a half. ccuu HERPESTES VITTICOLLIS o HERPESTES VITTICOLLIS. STRIPE-NECKED ICHNEUMON. Herpestes vitticollis, BENNETT, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1835, p. 67. Mungos (?) vitticollis, OGILBY, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1835, p. 103. Mangusta vitticollis, ELLIOTT, Madras Journ. vol. x. p. 103, pl. 2, 1839. The Stripe-necked Ichneumon is unquestionably the most splendid species of the genus, and may at once be distinguished from all its congeners by its red livery. The first specimens were sent home by Philip Poole, Esq., in 1835, then Assistant-Surgeon of the Madras Medical Establishment, with an accompanying note stating that they were obtained in the forests about twenty miles inland from Kolun or Quilon, in the Travancore Country. Since that time specimens have been received from Bombay and Madras. Mr. Elliott, in his list of Mammalia of the Southern Mahratta Country, says, a single specimen of this animal was caught, in the thickest part of the Ghât forest, by accident, in 1829. It is very rare, inhabits only the thickest wood, and its habits are but little known. The muzzle is brown, the cheeks, the crown of the head, the back of the neck, throat and chest are grey, each hair being annulated with brown and white; this grey colour extends on to the shoulders, where the hairs are terminated with red; the body, rump, and the tail are bright red; a stripe along the side of the neck, the fore legs, the hind feet, and the tip of the tail are black. The Bombay specimen in the Society's Collection differs from those shot in the Travancore Country, in having the whole of the body grey, and in this respect agreeing with Mr. Elliott's specimen from Madras. Length of the head and body, eighteen inches; tail, thirteen. CYNIC TIS MELANURA. CYNICTIS MELANURA. BLACK-TAILED CYNICTIS. Cynictis melanura, MARTIN, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1836, p. 56. This genus is intermediate, between the Ichneumons and Suricate. Nothing is known relative to the habits of the Cynictis melanura, but I have no doubt that this species, with its immediate allies, is characterized by the cunning and furtive wiles, the prying curiosity, the ferocity, and thirst for blood, which are features so conspicuous in the Ichneumons: all these animals may be readily reclaimed and domesticated (though not educated), nevertheless they exhibit great caprice in their attachment, and trifling causes rouse them to anger ; often they attack suddenly, and with great resolution. Mr. Ogilby thinks it probable that this animal may be identical with the one noticed by Bosman under the name of Kokeboe ; but the notice given of it by that traveller is not sufficiently precise to admit of its being determined with certainty. The present animal differs from the Cynictis Steedmanni, OGILBY, the species upon which the genus was founded, in the greater smoothness, shortness, and glossiness of the fur; in the less bushy character of the tail; in the dark tint of the head, back, and limbs; in the dusky colour of the throat; and in the black tip of the tail. The habitat of the Black-tailed Cynictis is Sierra-Leone. The general hue of the fur is rusty-brown, freckled with black, each hair being annulated with black and rust colour; on the under parts of the body, the fur is of a pale rust colour ; the tail is black at the apex. Length of the head and body, thirteen inches: tail, ten inches. ng PARADOXURUS OGILBYI. OGILBY'S PARADOXURE. Paradoxurus Ogilbyi, FRASER. The animal forming the subject of the present figure and description has been living for some years in the Menagerie of the Zoological Society of London. Nothing whatever is known of its history, it having been purchased of one of the London dealers by myself. The general colour is bright brown, darker on the top of the shoulders, the feet, and the upper surface of the tail ; brighter over the loins ; lighter, and of a much redder cast beneath; the head light coloured, especially on the sides, where the lighter tint is continued as a crescentic mark behind each ear; the ears are short and dark coloured; a dark stripe comes down from the inner angle of each eye, and spreads itself wider on the sides of the muzzle ; from the dark portion on the shoulders is continued a mesial line partly down the back. The last three inches of the tail are white. The size is about equal to Paradoxurus Grayi, Bennett. The plate having been published some months since, and the animal in the meantime having undergone some change, will at once account for the apparent discrepancies between the figure and the present description. V FELIS MELANURA . FELIS MELANURA. BLACK-TAILED OCELOT. Felis Melanura, BALL, Proc. Zool. Soc. p. 128, 1829. . On the annexed plate is represented, perhaps, the most beautiful species of American Felidæ yet discovered; the specimen from which the accompanying figure and description were taken, lived for some time in the Gardens of the Zoological Society of London, and now forms part of its Museum. “Size larger than the Margay, but proportionately slighter; on the fore toes are longitudinal black stripes, on the hind toes spots. Three irregular narrow stripes of white on the sides, connected by anastomosing branches, divide the coloured part into island-like irregular spaces, which are black on the edges, shading into fulyous in the centre; these island-like spaces are spotted with black. The tail nearly touches the ground, is pointed and black, save at the under part near the anus, where it is marked with a little white, and shows as it were an imperfect attempt at annulation. The back is black, with a bright fulvous fleur-de-lis sort of marking on the neck; a narrow band of fulvous crosses below the scapulæ, from which run at right angles down the back to the rump two indistinct stripes of the same colour, about half an inch apart; the inside of the ears is fulvous, the outside black, with a white spot on each; the belly white, beautifully but irregularly spotted with black; a very distinct black band crosses the chest; a white spot on the lower eyelid, and another longer on the upper; the cheeks are fulvous, striped with black; the forehead is fulvous, ornamented with black, two stripes of which run up the forehead from the eyes, parallel to each other; they are connected together above: immediately over the eyes are four longitudinal spots; above these may be traced three more irregular, and over these three, two, the three sets of spots being as it were ranged in ranks. The fulvous colour is chiefly confined to the fore part of the animal." Since the animal first arrived in this country some trifling change has taken place, particularly in the extension of the white on the tail, which makes the name not quite so applicable as it was. Habitat, South America. In the background is represented a cultivated grain field produce) called “ Bhadlee." It is copied from one of Col. Sykes' drawings, made at Serroor, 5th October, 1825, and, from the scale annexed, appears to grow to the height of between two and three feet. M wul COSOUZENS. link will FELIS VIVERRINUS FELIS VIVERRINUS. VIVERRINE TIGER-CAT. > Felis viverrinus, BENNETT, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1833, p. 68. Serval (?), Hodgson, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol. iv. p. 522, 1835. viverriceps, HODGSON, ibid. vol. v. p. 232, 1836. viverriceps, Hodgson, Zool. Nipal MSS. Mamm. pls. 25-28. Wagati, ELLIOTT, Madras Journal, vol. x. p. 108, 1839. 99 99 The most interesting points about this Cat is its resemblance to some of the Viverride ; viz. in the form of the face, in the grey colouring and the longitudinal markings. Mr. Hodgson observes of this species, that it is affined to the Viverræ by the form of its face; and to the Lynxes by the shortness of its tail, which extends but little below the os calcis. But it has no further resemblance to either; its ears being noticeably short and untufted, its body full, and its limbs strong and of medial length. The females are nearly as large as the males, to which they bear a close external likeness. The intestinal canal is more than three times the length of the body. It is the Chittra Bilow of the Taraï, and inhabits the open lowlands of the lower region of Nipal. According to Mr. Elliott it is the Wagati of the Mahrattas of the Ghâts. It is very fierce; living in trees in the thick forests, and preying on birds and small quadrupeds. A shikaree declared that it drops on larger animals, and even on deer, and eats its way into the neck; that the animal in vain endeavours to roll or shake it off, and at last is destroyed. • The specimen, from which the figure and the original description were taken, came from Madras, and was presented to the Society by Thomas Heath, Esq. Another specimen, which lived in the Menagerie, had a very strong and disagreeable odour, came from Calcutta. The following detailed description is given by Mr. Bennett :- “ The prevailing colour of the upper surface is a rather deep yellowish grey; the separate hairs being dusky at the base, yellowish in the middle, and having short black tips. The black lines and spots are formed of hairs destitute of yellow, and having the black tips of much greater length. A longitudinal black band passes on each side, from the inner canthus of the eye above the ear nearly to the shoulder; a second, more internally, passes to the same distance backwards, and is somewhat interrupted anteriorly; and between this and its fellow on the vertex is the vestage of a median line, which on the forehead is broken up into a double row of spots: these and the two adjoining lines subdivide in front into numerous very small spots between the eyes. Two black lines pass downwards obliquely on either side from below the eye, over the angle of the jaw; and from their terminations on each side there passes a transverse band across the throat: the space between these lines is nearly white, as is also a stripe over each eye, and the whole of the under jaw and chin. There is a large black spot surrounding the base of the ear posteriorly, and the ear is tipped with black. The long linear markings of the back are disposed in about five interrupted longitudinal bands, and some of the spots on the side assume a linear form. Of these, the most remarkable are one on each side of the neck, and an oblique wavy band on the shoulder. The spots on the sides generally approach a rounded shape, and form, posteriorly, four or five interrupted longitudinal rows. Those of the under surface are larger, and are arranged without order. On the fore limbs the spots are small externally, and internally there are on each two large transverse black patches. On the hinder limbs the spots are arranged so as to form interrupted transverse bands on both surfaces. The hairs of the soles of the feet are dusky brown. The tail is spotted above in the same manner as the sides; its colour beneath is uniform. The spots are throughout numerous, The whiskers are white, and take their origin from three black lines on either side." Length of the head and body, two feet seven inches; tail, ten inches. արուե , CIERVUS BARBARUS. CERVUS BARBA RUS. BARBARY DEER. Cervus Barbarus, BENNETT. Tuis is the only species of the Genus hitherto discovered on the vast continent of Africa, and we are solely indebted for it to the liberality of Colonel Sir Thomas Reade, K.C.B., and H. M. Agent and Consul-General at Tunis, who about the year 1831 presented a pair, alive, to the Society. Since then he has forwarded others to the Right Honourable the Earl of Derby; and in 1846, when in Tunis, I received from the same gentleman one male, three females and a young one; the three females were forwarded to Knowsley: the male, from which the accompanying figure was taken, and the young one, which proved to be a female, have lately been purchased from me by the Zoological Society. While in Tunis, I could not ascertain by what name the Arabs called the male, but the female they designate "Furrtarsar." Notwithstanding Mr. Bennett's name has been so many years attached to this animal, I believe it has never been figured or described until now; the reason may be partly explained, by there remaining in that gentleman's mind some doubts whether it would or would not ultimately prove identical with the Cerf de Corse of Buffon, but the want of actual specimens for comparison leaves the subject still in doubt. Habitat, Tunis (in the Jereed only), North Africa ; it is also found in some parts of Algeria. ราคา a ra CERVUS H U MILIS. CERVUS HUMILIS. Dwarf DEER Cervus humilis, BENNETT, Proc. of the Comm. Sci. and Corr. Zool. Soc. 1830-1, p. 27. THERE are two specimens of this Deer in the Society's Collection, both females: one lived for some months in the Menagerie, and was brought from Chile; the other was presented by Capt. Philip Parker King, R. N., Corresponding Member, who states that “the young was spotted with yellow, and had a yellow stripe on each side the back; and that the animal was plentiful at Con- cepcion, and found even as far south as the Archipelago of Chiloe, living, he believed, in small herds." The male of this species is unknown. The Cervus humilis, as its name implies, is a diminutive member of the Deer family. Its form presents the usual characteristics observed in the group, the hair being short and closely applied to the skin. Its general colouring is of a bright rusty hue; but the under parts of the body are paler than the upper, and inclining to yellowish. The cheeks and neck are greyish brown; each hair on these parts is, however, yellowish at the point. a Length of the head and body, thirty-four inches; tail, three. S ON 25. DNEVS ON MOSCHUS STANLEYANUS. THE EARL OF DERBY's MUSK DEER, Moschus Stanleyanus, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1836, p. 65. This species is immediately distinguishable from all the other species of the genus by the brightness of its colouring, and by the absence of the nuchal streak, and of the white on the under surface of the body. The specimen from which the accompanying figure was taken, was presented to the Society's Menagerie by Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen. Many specimens have lived, from time to time, in the magnificent aviaries, at Knowsley, belonging to the Earl of Derby. The wheat forming the background of the plate was taken from one of Col. Sykes' drawings of a species of Triticum, called by the natives “Bukoshee Guhoo,” found at Poona, in the Dukhan. Habitat, India; the exact locality is unknown. The general colour is reddish brown, the hairs on the body being tipped with black; a stripe on each side of the chin, and down the middle and sides of the neck, is white; the chest, the insides of the thighs, and tip of tail, also white. Length of the head and body, twenty inches; tail, three inches. 2000円 ​ ANTILOPE BENNETTII. BENNETT'S ANTELOPE. Antilope Bennetti, Sykes, Proc. Comm. Sci. & Corr. Zool. Soc. 1830-1, p. 104. . This beautiful species of Gazelle, according to Col. Sykes, is found on the rocky hills of Dukhun, rarely exceeding three or four in a group, and frequently solitary. It is the Kalseepee or Black Tail of the Mahrattas; the Goat Antelope of Europeans. It was named in compliment to that able naturalist and amiable man, the late Mr. Bennett, Secretary to the Zoological Society, The intestinal canal of one mature specimen was twenty-six feet long, narrow, and contracted for its whole length on one side into numerous hemispherical loculi. The liver of one oblong flat lobe, with one fissure six and a half inches deep. The stomachs of the ordinary character of this genus. The cæcum five inches long, one and two-tenths wide; the fæces somewhat hard, for nine or ten inches from the rectum; the colon one inch wide. Spleen lens shaped three inches by two and a half, nearly flat. The gall of an intensely dull green colour. The specimen, a female, with one . foetus in the womb. There are adults of this animal, both male and female, in the British Museum, an immature male in the Zoological Society's Museum, and immature specimens, male and female, in the Hon. East India Company's Collection, all presented by Col. Sykes; it was from the male in the British Museum that the accompanying figure was taken. In the foreground is a sketch of some Basaltic columns, in the neighbourhood of Serroor, and in the background a view of the Palace of the Mankeswur at Tembournee; copied from Col. Sykes drawings, made in the year 1827. , Horns erect, slightly diverging from each other, bending slightly backwards at first, subse- quently with their points bending forward : ringed for three-fifths of their length. The whole upper surface and outside of the limbs rufous or red brown. Under surface and inside of the limbs white. Tail, black. A black patch on the nose. A black narrow streak from the anterior corner of each eye towards the angle of the mouth. Suborbital sinuses very small; in dried skins not observable; nor does the animal dilate them unless very much alarmed. Limbs long and slender ; black tufts at the knees. Body light. The female has horns; but they are slender, cylindrical, and without rings. The buttocks present a heart-shaped patch of white. Unlike the Indian Antelope (Ant. cervicapra), it carries its tail erect when in rapid motion. པས ། ད་ཁྱོད་རང་ ANTILOPE CUVIERI ANTILOPE GUVIERI. Cuvier's GAZELLE. Antilope Cuvieri, OGILBY, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1840, p. 34. The Antilope Cuvieri, says Mr. Ogilby, is closely allied to the Antilope Dorcas and Ant. Arabica ; it most nearly resembles the latter in its colouring, but is readily distin- guished by its much greater size: the ears of the Mogadore animal are moreover propor- tionately larger, measuring in height about six inches and three quarters, or rather more. Like A. Arabica, it has a black patch on the upper surface of the muzzle, and a black line on either side of the face, extending forwards from the eye, and terminating above the angle of the mouth: the dark band on the flanks is very broad, and of a deep brown colour, inclining to black; there is also a distinct broadish black mark on each side of the rump; the fore knees are furnished with distinct black tufts of hair. The specimen is a female, and has slender horns, about equal to the ears in length; they are indistinctly lyrated, in fact, nearly straight, and exhibit eleven or twelve annulations, four or five of which, at the base of the horn, are close together. Mr. Ogilby adds that he has observed specimens of the same species in the Paris Museum, and that it was the intention of M. F. Cuvier to have described them; he should therefore purpose that the name Cuvieri be used to distinguish the species. This animal was pro- cured at Mogadore, by William Willshire, Esq., Corresponding Member, by whom it was presented, whilst living, to the Society. The upper surface of the body of this antelope is fawn colour, the under surface white; a patch upon the nose, a line from the eye to the angle of the mouth, a broad stripe along the sides of the body, a mark on each side of the rump, the tail and the knee-tufts, black. Length of the head and body, forty-four inches; tail, seven HN LOS ANTILOPE DORIA, ANTILOPE DORIA. BANDED Busi ANTELOPE. BENNETT, Proc. Comm. Sci. and Corr. Zool. Soc. p. 123, 1832. Antilope Doria, OGILBY, Proc. Zool. Soc. p. 121, 1836. Zebra, Gray I Have been induced to give a figure of this rare and really beautiful animal, which is only known by two imperfect skins, one in the British Museum, from which my figure was taken, and the other in the Collection of the Zoological Society; trusting that travellers to the country from whence the specimens were obtained may be induced to inquire, on being made aware of the existence of so splendid a species in that locality. Algoa Bay was originally supposed to be the habitat of this animal; but the fact of the specimen having been procured along with skins of Colobus Ursinus, Ogilby, Colobus Temmincki, Kuhl, and Cercopithecus Diana, will at once fix its true locality on the western coast of Africa; as I can affirm, from personal observation on that coast, that C. Ursinus and C. Temminckii are by no means uncommon in the neighbourhood of Sierra Leone, and that the C. Diana is extremely common at Cape Palmas, Cape Coast Castle, and Accra. Of this animal my late lamented friend and patron, E. T. Bennett, Esq., gives the following description :-“ The length of its body is two feet. The dorsal portion is a bright rufous fawn, which is continued on the shoulders and on the buttocks, but from which the red nearly disappears on the under surface, that being pale fawn. Across the whole of the back, commencing between the shoulders and passing backwards, a series of broad transverse glossy stripes are seen, which run down the sides, becoming narrower towards the belly. The stripes are twelve in number, and are preceded and succeeded by a few similar, closer set, and fainter stripes, of a deeper rufous than the ground. The broadest of the dark stripes are on the loins, where they are fully an inch in width. The commencement of a dark streak is also seen on the skin leading to the outside of the thighs. The quality of the fur is rather rigid, and the hairs are adpressed. The dark cross markings which , ornament the fur are so uncommon among the Mammalia, that they alone will probably furnish a sufficient character to distinguish the Mammal in question from any other species inhabiting the interior of Africa." ANTILOPE O GILBYI. ANTILOPE OGILBYI. OGILBY'S ANTELOPE. Antilope Ogilbyi, WATERHOUSE, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1838, p. 60; and 1842, p. 129. Cephalophorus Ogilbyi, Gray, Ann. Nat. Hist. vol. x. p. 267, 1842. This animal belongs to the same division as the A. sylvicultrix of Authors, and is apparently equal to that animal in size. As in the species just mentioned, the muzzle is naked, and the horns are placed far behind the eye; they are short, straight (or nearly so), and pointed. This antelope I believe to be confined to the Island of Fernando Po, where it is extremely common, and much esteemed by the natives as an article of food; it is provided with a gland between the hoofs, and the female has four teats. The fur is short, glossy, and adpressed, of a bright rusty-red colour, darkish on the back, and paler on the under parts of the body; a black mark runs along the back very nearly to the tail ; this mark is broadest towards the shoulders, where its width is about an inch or rather less; over the shoulders it becomes obliterated, blending gradually into the brownish hue which covers those parts and the neck. The upper surface of the head is of a deep rusty-red colour, shading into black at the tip of the muzzle; the sides of the face are yellowish fawn-colour, and the throat is whitish. The ears are of moderate size, broad, and somewhat pointed; externally they are clothed with closely adpressed small hairs, which are for the most part of a black colour, but in front at the base they assume a bright rust tint; this is also the colour of the fringe of longish hairs on the anterior margin. About half-way down the fore leg, and on the anterior surface, some black hairs are observable, intermixed with those of the ordinary colour; these become more numerous lower down, and form a mark which becomes gradually broader, and from the front to the hoof it encircles the foot; numerous white hairs are intermixed on this part, and they form a a white ring to the hoof. The hind feet are coloured in the same way, ΑΝΤΙΠ Φ Ρ Ε Κ Ο ΙΒ ο O ANTILOPE KOB. KOB ANTELOPE. Antilope Kob, OGILBY, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1836, p. 102. a The specimen from which the accompanying figure was taken, was presented to the Society by John Foster, Esq., in 1836, where it lived for about three years. It was of a very savage dispo- sition, having, during its confinement, worn its horns down to within two inches of the skull, by continually striking against the bars and sides of its den. Upon a recent visit to the Right Honourable the Earl of Derby's aviaries, at Knowsley, I saw specimens of a male and a female of a species of Antelope, which I believe to be the same as above; these, together with a female, said by Mr. Ogilby to have been exhibited in the Surrey Zoological Gardens, some ten years since, are the only specimens I have ever seen or heard of. Mr. Ogilby considers this Antelope identical with the Kob of Buffon. Habitat, River Gambia, Western Africa. The general colour of this animal is bright fulvous, deepest on the back; around the eyes, the insides of the ears, lips, chin and throat, the under surface of the body and tail, the insides of the legs and band round the hoofs, white; a stripe down the front of each foreleg, intense brown amounting to black; on the hind fetlocks are marks of the same colour; the muzzle is naked and black; the ears and tail are also tipped with black. Length of the head and body, four feet four inches: tail, twelve inches : height at the shoulder, nearly three feet. O VIS G ME LINI. OVIS GMELINI. ARMENIAN SHEEP. Ovis Gmelini, BLYTH, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1840, p. 69 and 78. a The following account is given by Edward Blyth, Esq. :- “ This species belongs to the Moufflon group, but is yet very different from the Moufflon Sheep of Corsica. It is described and rudely figured in the Reise durch Russland (vol. iii. p. 486, and Tab. lv.) of the younger Gmelin; and the skull and horns, forwarded by that naturalist to St. Petersburgh, have been figured and described by Pallas in his Spicilegia (Fasc. xii. p. 15, and Tab. v. fig. 1). Messrs. Brandt and Ratzeburg erroneously identified it, at the suggestion of M. Lichtenstein, with the wild Cyprian species, the horns of which have a nearly similar flexure. “According to M. Gmelin, this species is found only on the highest mountains of Persia. Its rutting season takes place in September, and lasts a month; and the female yeans in March, producing two or three lambs at a time. The males, he informs us, are very quarrelsome amongst each other; insomuch that he had been at one place where the ground was completely strewed with horns that had been knocked off in their contests : so that if any variation in the flexure of these horns had been observable, this industrious naturalist would doubtless have remarked it. Sir John M'Neill informed me that 'it appears to be the common species of the mountains of Armenia, occurring likewise on the north-west of Persia;' but the wild sheep of the central parts of Persia is evidently distinct, 'having horns much more resembling those of the domestic ram, being spiral, and completing more than one spiral circle. I think I am not mistaken in supposing,' continues Sir John, that I have also had females of this species brought to me by the huntsmen with small horns, resembling those of the ewes of some of our domestic sheep; but, on reflection, I find that I cannot assert this positively, though I retain the general impression. It is highly probable that a wild type of O. Aries is here adverted to, which would thus inhabit the same ranges of mountains as the wild common goat (C. Ægagrus); and, with respect to the circumstance of horns in the female sex, I may here remark that this character is very apt to be inconstant throughout the present group. It has already been noticed, in the instance of 0. Nahoor; and the elder Gmelin states that the females of 0. Ammon are sometimes hornless, while those of the Corsican 0. Musimon are generally so. The same likewise happens in different species of wild goats, in the Goral of India, and in the prong-horned animal of North America ; and even in the gazelles, and other ovine-nosed species of what are commonly confused together under the name of Antelope, there have been instances of hornless males as well as females. "Fine specimens of the male, female, and young, received by this Society from Erzeroom, presented by Dr. E. D. Dickson and H. J. Ross, Esq., Corr. Members, enable me to give the following description :- "Size of an ordinary tame sheep, with a remarkably short coat, of a lively chestnut-fulvous colour, deepest upon the back: the limbs and under parts, whitish, with few traces of dark markings, except a finely contrasting black line of more lengthened hair down the front of the neck of the male only, widening to a large patch on the breast; and, in both sexes, a strip of somewhat lengthened mixed black and white hairs, above the mid joint of the fore-limbs anteriorly, which corresponds to the tuft of 0. Tragelaphus: tail, small, and very slender: horns of the male, subtrigonal, compressed, and very deep, with strongly marked angles and cross-striæ, diverging backwards, with a slight arcuation to near the tips, which incline inwards. As regards the flexure alone, but not the character of the horn, which is allied to that of the common ram, this handsome species links the Moufflon group with the Nahoor and Burrhel group. " Horns, about full-grown, or nearly so, twenty inches over the curvature, ten round at base, four deep at base inside; their widest portion two feet apart, and tips twenty-one inches, with a span of thirteen and a half inches from base to tip inside; their colour, pale. Around the eye and muzzle, this species is whitish; the chaffron and front of the limbs are more or less tinged with dusky; and its coat is rather harsh, and fades considerably in brightness before it is shed. Female, generally similar, but smaller, with no black down the front of the neck, and in the observed instances hornless. The lengthened black hair of the male is only one inch long; and that composing the tuft on the fore-limbs is so disposed that the latter is white in the centre, flanked with blackish. "Length, nearly five feet, from nose to tail: the tail, four inches.” a AN O MA LUR US F R AS ERI. GENUS ANOMALURUS. GENERIC CHARACTERS. a Molar teeth rooted : skull, without post-orbital process; ant-orbital opening, large; palate, contracted between the anterior molar teeth: tail, long and bushy, excepting at the base; the basal third armed beneath with a double series of large scales, having each an angular projec- tion: ears, large, nearly naked: flank membrane, extended from limb to limb as in the Flying Squirrels (Pteromys): tip of muzzle, naked: feet, naked, beneath: fore-feet, with four sub-equal claws: hind-feet, with five toes; the inner toe, short: all the toes provided with long, curved, and compressed claws. ANOMALURUS FRASERI. Fraser's ANOMALURUS. Anomalurus Fraseri, WATERHOUSE, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1842, p. 124 (September); Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. 1842, p. 201 (November). Arothraus Fraseri, WATERHOUSE, ibid. Pteromys Derbianus, Gray, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. 1842, p. 262 (December). The Anomalurus presents, in the structure of its skull, some points of resemblance both to the Sciuride and Myoxide; from either, however, it is distinguished by the large size of the ant- orbital opening, and from the former family by the absence of post-orbital process to the frontal bone. In having the tibia and fibula distinct, it differs from all the Muride (including Myoxus), where these bones are anchylosed at their distal extremity. The following extract is from Mr. Waterhouse's notes :- "Upon a cursory inspection this animal would be regarded as a species of Pteromys, having most of the general external characters of the members of that group; there are, however, some points of distinction between the present animal and the large flying squirrels, which are important; of these the most conspicuous are the extraordinary scales which cover the under side of the basal third of the tail : these scales are of a pale horn-colour, sixteen in number in one of two specimens before me, and fifteen in the other, and arranged in two longitudinal series : each scale is narrow at the base and broad at the opposite extremity, and in fact nearly of a triangular form; but as the scales on one side alternate with those of the other, no interstices are left; they not only cover the under surface of the tail, but overlap the sides ; in this overlapping of the scale a ridge ; is formed, the extremity of which is produced into an angle; the point of the angle is directed backwards. The portion of the tail which is thus protected beneath, is well clothed with fur above, but the hairs are not long, and the apical portion (which is cylindrical) is much less bushy than in the large flying squirrels constituting the genus Pteromys. The hinder feet have the heel clothed with fur, but the outer margin beneath is naked, and not densely clothed, as in Pteromys. The lateral flying membrane extends from the wrist to the ankle, and is supported moreover by a long cartilage in front, as in Pteromys ; but this cartilage has its origin at the elbow-joint, and not at the wrist, as in the genus just mentioned. The interfemoral membrane extends to the heel, and is moreover attached to the sides of the tail, and when expanded forms almost a straight line. “In the structure of the skull Anomalurus differs considerably from the known species of Sciuride. All the species of the family, the skulls of which I have had an opportunity of examining (and they are numerous, embracing all the known genera and subgenera), are distinguishable by the possession of a distinct post-orbital process to the cranium; they have the palate broad, and terminating in a line with the posterior molars, or behind that line; the molars of opposite sides of the jaw are parallel, and the ant-orbital opening is small, in the form of a tube, and serves only for the transmission of the infra-orbital nerve. These characters are not found in Anomalurus : the post-orbital process is here reduced to a mere rudiment, being represented by an indistinct projection forming an obtuse angle: the ant-orbital opening is large, and evidently affords a passage for a portion of the masseter muscle as well as the nerve; it moreover opens directly in the bony plate which constitutes the anterior root of the zygomatic arch, and is not produced as it were into a tube, as in the typical Squirrels. The palate is narrow, and has a deep triangular emargination behind, the apex of the triangle being on a line with the hinder margin of the penultimate molar. The molar teeth converge in front, so that the space between the two foremost is scarcely equal in width to one of these teeth; the crowns of the molars of opposite sides of the upper jaw, instead of being on the same plane, or very nearly so, are directed obliquely outwards; and the masticating surface of those of the lower jaw, to meet them, incline in an opposite direction. The incisive foramina are longer than is usual in the Sciurida, and encroach in a slight degree upon the maxillary bones. The nasal portion of the skull is narrower, and the nasal bones are remarkable for a deep emargination in front.” a The apparatus of scales was used by the animal to support itself when resting on the trees, which it ascends with great agility. I have observed this animal dart from the top of a lofty tree to another at a considerable distance. Descending at an angle, it aimed with great nicety at the trunk of the tree on which it intended to alight, and, settling near the base, it would again ascend to travel to a third tree in the same manner; occasionally, when high up on the trunk, it would rest itself, making use of the singular apparatus of scales on the under side of the tail. The unarmed portion of the tail was then turned backwards and upwards. Found in the neighbourhood of Clarence, Fernando Po:- “ The ears are large, much longer than broad, and naked, excepting at the base on the outer side, where they are covered with long fur, like that on the body: the naked portion has a slight flesh-like tint, but is nearly white, as are also the naked portions of the feet and the tip of the muzzle. The hairs of the moustaches are very nume- rous, and although not very thick, are unusually long. The fur is long and remarkably soft, and the hairs of which it is composed are all of one kind; that is, there are no longer stouter interspersed hairs, such as we usually find in the fur of the rodents; the fur on the upper parts is sooty black, but, excepting on the membranes, most of the hairs are rather broadly tipped with yellowish rust-colour : on the upper surface of the head the colour is replaced by grey: on the under parts of the body the fur is dirty white: the throat is blackish, and the under side of the throat is tinted with sooty grey. The under side of the membranes is sparingly clothed with hairs : towards the margin the hairs are more numerous, and of a blackish tint.” a Length of the head and body, fourteen inches: tail, eight and a half. a SCIURUS S TANGERI. SCIURUS STANG ERI. STANGER'S SQUIRREL. Sciurus Stangeri, WATERHOUSE, Proc. Zool. Soc. p. 127, 1842. WATERHOUSE, Ann, and Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. X., p. 202, 1842. Mr. WATERHOUSE, who described this animal from a specimen killed by me at Fernando Po, and now contained in the British Museum collection, gives the following account of the species :- “The most striking external characters of this species consist in its large tail, which is ringed with black and white, the crispness of the fur, and the semi-naked condition of the under parts of the body, the sides of the face, muzzle, throat, and the inner side of the limbs :-all these parts are so sparingly clothed with hairs that the skin is visible. On the upper parts of the body there is scarcely any trace of the finer under fur, nearly all the hairs being of the same harsh character; they are black, broadly annulated with yellowish white or rusty yellow; on the fore parts of the body the former tint prevails, but the hinder parts may be described as black, freely pencilled with bright rusty yellow; on the hind limbs this last-mentioned colour prevails, as well as on the upper side of the tarsus. The small adpressed hairs on the sides of the face are partly black and partly yellowish white; on the chest the hairs are for the most part whitish, and on the inner side of the limbs rusty yellow; on the belly the hairs are most of them yellowish white, annulated with black. The tail is very long and bushy; measuring to the end of the hair, it exceeds the head and body in length; excepting quite at the base, where the tail is coloured like the body: all the hairs are black, broadly annulated with white, and the white on the upper surface forms bars or rings; these however become indistinct towards the apex. The ears are of moderate size and rounded. The heel is rather sparingly clothed with hair. "The skull of this animal is remarkable for its oblong-ovate form, and for having the ant-orbital foramen further back than usual; it opens indeed directly into the anterior root of the zygomatic arch, and is not in the form of a longish canal, such as we observe in other Squirrels. The nasal portion of the skull is short and broad, and the nasal bones correspond; the elongated form of the cranium is due to the greatly produced hinder portion: the antero-posterior extent of the extremely oblique bony plate forming the anterior root of the zygomatic arch is great: the post-orbital process is well developed: the palate terminates very nearly in a line with the hinder part of the posterior molars. The incisive foramina are moderate. The auditory bullæ are rather small. The incisors are strong and very deep from front to back. The molars are small in proportion to the skull." Habitat, Clarence, Fernando Po. Length of the head and body, twelve inches; tail, fifteen inches. On the plate also is represented a wild fruit (Ficus parasiticus, Will.), called by the Mahrattas “ Datreeka” and “ Dartur.” It is a parasite growing on a parasite; the “ Datreeka” never roots itself in the earth, and becomes a tree as the other Ficei do, most commonly ; but attaches itself to a tree; its roots embrace the trunk in tortuous recticulations, and its foliage obscures that of its support, if the latter be not a large tree. The leaves, fruit and branches are esteemed excellent food for cattle. The fruit is orange-coloured, the size of a currant, stalked the length of the fruit. It is copied from one of Col. Sykes' drawings, made at Kimdallah, March 8, 1825. a 2 Jure SCIURUS RUFOBRACHIATUS. SCIURUS RUF OBRACHIATUS. RED-ARMED SQUIRREL. Sciurus rufobrachiatus, WATERHOUSE, Proe. Zool. Soc. p. 128, 1843. rufo-brachium, WATERHOUSE, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. p. 202, 1842. The red-armed Squirrel approaches very nearly to the Sciurus annulatus of authors, but is distinguishable by its richer colouring. The general tint of Sciurus annulatus might be described as yellowish-grey, whilst that of the present animal is dark rusty-grey; and especially by the bright rust-like tint of the under side of the limbs, and the pale rust or rusty-white colour of the belly. The heel is clothed with hair. Judging from the skull, the present species must be much larger than the Sciurus annulatus. Its form is nearly the same, but the nasal portion is narrower and more elongated, and the post- orbital processes are considerably larger in proportion. On this plate has been figured “a cultivated medicinal plant (Barleria prionites) from the Dukhun, where it is called “Pewlee Koruntee' by the Mahrattas. The leaves of the Yellow Koruntee are used to rub the teeth and gums with; being supposed to possess an antiseptic, strengthening, and astringent quality.” This has also been copied from one of Colonel Sykes' drawings. Habitat, the island of Fernando Po, western coast of Africa. The fur of this Squirrel is moderately long, rather harsh, each hair is annulated with black and yellow; the under surface of the body is dirty yellow, with a slight rufous tinge; the hinder por- tions of the fore legs, red; tail long, each hair being annulated with black and white or yellowish- white, and adorned at the base with reddish ; ears, small; the incisors have a slight groove longitudinally. Length of the head and body, eight inches and a half; tail, ten inches and a a half. CODEX 1 SCIURUS ERYTHRO GENYS 0 SCIURUS ERYTHROGENYS. RED-CHEEKED SQUIRREL. Sciurus erythrogenys, WATERHOUSE, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1842, p. 129. leucogenys, Ann, and Mag. of Nat. Hist. p. 202, 1842. The accompanying figure was taken from a specimen, collected by me while naturalist to the late unfortunate Niger Expedition. The specimen now forms part of the collection at the British Museum. The bright rust-coloured cheeks, combined with the pure white colour of the under parts of the body and inner side of the limbs, will serve to distinguish the species. The fur is rather short, and moderately soft ; and on the upper parts of the body, the hairs are black (inclining to greyish at the root), and broadly annulated with rich rusty yellow at or near the point. A shortish longitudinal pale mark is observable on each side of the body near the shoulders. The feet are finely pencilled with black and yellowish white. The tail is rather short and not very bushy, above black and rather sparingly pencilled with white; upon separating the hairs, however, they are found to be of a pale rust-colour near the root; and, along the mesial portion of the under side, the tail is of a bright rusty red colour. The tarsus is naked beneath nearly to the heel, but on the heel are a few hairs. Habitat, Fernando Po. The general colour is a rich brown above, (a tint produced by the admixture of black and rich yellow, the hairs being freckled with the latter colour,) white beneath; has the tail chiefly of a black colour, but the hairs tipped with white, and red at the base; the mesial portion of the tail beneath is, moreover, bright rusty-red; the sides of the face, as the name implies, are rusty-brown. a Length of the head and body, eight and a half inches; tail, six and a quarter. an 72 SCIURUS JELPHINSTONEI SCIURUS ELPHINSTONEI. ELPHINSTONE's SQUIRREL. Sciurus Elphinstonei, Sykes, Proc. Comm. Sci. and Corr. Zool. Soc. 1830-1, p. 103. p. This very beautiful animal is nearly allied to the Sciurus maximus, Auct., and about the same size. The general arrangement of its colours is the same; but the chesnut of the body and reddish white of the tail and belly, according to Colonel Sykes, are invariable, and do not present those differences which exist in the Malabar Squirrel. It is called by the Mahrattas Shekroo, from its cries resembling that word; and is dedicated to a very distinguished person, and a zealous promoter of scientific research, the Honourable Mountstuart Elphinstone. In the compilation of the annexed plate, the author is much indebted to the liberality of Colonel Sykes for the use of an original drawing of the Squirrel, taken from life; and also a drawing of an extraordinarily large Wuhr (Ficus Indica) observed at the village of Mhou, Under Mawul, Poona Collectorate, Western Ghâts; (which tree has been introduced into the back- ground of the picture, in a reduced form) and the branches extend, according to the statement of Colonel Sykes, two hundred feet in length, and one hundred and fifty feet in breadth, and is capable of affording a vertical shade to twenty thousand men at one time! The encamp- ment represented is that of Colonel Sykes, with a party of one hundred and four men, which appears lost amidst the stems of the tree. The Squirrel is found only in the lofty and dense woods of the Western Ghâts of the Deccan. The flesh is whitish and very delicate eating. The ears and the whole upper surface of the body, half-way down the tail, outside of the hind legs, and half-way down the fore legs outside, of an uniform rich reddish chesnut. The whole of the under surface of the body from the chin to the vent, the inside of the limbs, and the lower part of the fore legs, the crown of the head, the cheeks, and the lower half of the tail are of a fine reddish white; the two colours being separated by a defined line, and not merging into each other. The feet are of a light red; the forehead and down to the nose reddish brown, with white hairs intermixed. The irides are nut-brown. The ears are tufted. . Length of head and body, sixteen and a half inches; tail, sixteen inches. CRICETUS AURATUS. CRICETUS AURATUS. GOLDEN HAMSTER. Cricetus auratus, WATERHOUSE, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1839, p. 57. a Mr. WATERHOUSE says of this species, that it is less than the common hamster (Cricetus vulgaris), and is remarkable for its deep golden yellow colouring. The fur is moderately long and very soft, and has a silk-like gloss; the deep golden yellow colouring extends over the upper parts and sides of the head and body, and also over the outer side of the limbs: on the back the hairs are brownish at the tip, hence in this part the fur assumes a deeper hue than on the sides of the body: the sides of the muzzle, throat, and under parts of the body are white, but faintly tinted with yellow: on the back, and sides of the body, all the hairs are of a deep grey or lead colour at the base. The feet and tail are white. The ears are of moderate size, furnished externally with deep golden-coloured hairs, and internally with whitish hairs. The moustaches consist of black and white hairs intermixed. This specimen was received from Aleppo, and presented to the Society's Museum, by G. R. Waterhouse, Esq. The skull, when compared with that of Cricetus vulgaris, differs in not having the anterior root of the zygomatic arch produced anteriorly in the form of a thin plate, which in that animal, as in the rats, serves to protect an opening which is connected with the nasal cavity: the facial portion of the skull is proportionately longer and narrower: in size there is much difference; the skull of Cricetus auratus being one inch and a half in length, and ten lines in breadth, measuring from the outer side of the zygomatic arches. Length of the head and body, seven inches and a a half; tail, half an inch. G MATE MANIS MULTISCUTATA. MANIS MULTISCUTATA. MANY-SCALED MANIS. Manis Multiscutata, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. p. 22, 1843. Fraser, Proc. Zool. Soc. p. 53, 1843. 93 This species of Manis is at once distinguished from the Manis tetradactyla (which it most nearly approaches) by its having the tail rather shorter,--that is, about half as long again as the body,--and double the number of series of scales on the body, and also by the scales being more acute, and furnished each with three sharp points. During my short residence at Fernando Po, I succeeded in procuring two living specimens of this animal. The individuals, judging from the bones, were evidently not adult; the largest measured thirty inches in length, of which the head and body were twelve inches, and the tail eighteen inches. I kept them alive for about a week at Fernando Po, and allowed them the range of a room, where they fed upon a small black ant, which is very abundant and troublesome in the houses and elsewhere. Even when first procured they displayed little or no fear, but continued to climb about the room without noticing my occasional entrance. They would climb up the some- what roughly hewn square posts, which supported the building, with great facility, and upon reaching the ceiling would return head foremost; sometimes they would roll themselves up into a ball and throw themselves down, and apparently without experiencing any inconvenience from the fall, which was in a measure broken upon reaching the ground by the semi-yielding scales, which were thrown into an erect position by the curve of the body of the animal. In climbing, the tail, with its strongly-pointed scales beneath, was used to assist the feet; and the grasp of the hind feet, assisted by the tail, was so powerful that the animal would throw the body back (when on the post), as represented in the drawing, into a horizontal position, and sway itself to and fro, apparently taking pleasure in this kind of exercise. It always slept with the body rolled up; and when in this position in a corner of the building, owing to the position and strength of the scales and the power of the limbs combined, I found it impossible to remove the animal against its will, the points of the scales being inserted into every little notch and hollow of the surrounding objects. The eyes are very dark hazel, and very prominent. The colonial name for this species of Manis is “ Attadillo," and it is called by the Boobies, the natives of the island, “Gahlah.” The flesh is said to be exceeding good eating, and is in great request among the natives. Habitat, the island of Fernando Po, western coast of Africa. In the back ground is an “economical tree (Caryota urens) called 'Marh' by the Mahrattas. The juice of the 'Marh' is extracted, allowed to ferment, and is drank as · Tarry' is drank. From the "Marh' it is called · Marhee. The “Marh' is seldom seen far from the Ghauts. There are one or two trees at Poona, and one or two at Bombay. It is common in the Mawuls, but not so in the Desh or Konkun." It is copied from one of Colonel Sykes' drawings. HAE MAT ORNIS HO LO SPILUS. HÆMATORNIS HOLOSPILUS. SPOTTED EAGLE. Buteo holospilus, Vigors, Proc. of the Comm. Sci. and Corr. Zool. Soc. 1830-1, p. 96. Hæmatornis holospilus, Ibid. p. 171. Spilornis holospilus, G. R. Gray, Catalogue, Brit. Mus. p. 10, 1844. The genus Hæmatornis contains at least three species, the characters of which were first pointed by Mr. Vigors in the Proceedings of the Committee of Science and Correspondence of the Zoological Society of London for 1830-1, p. 170; and more recently by Mr. Blyth in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal for 1845, p. 179. The specimen from which the figure was taken was presented by Hamilton Lindsay, Esq., Corr. Memb. ; the species also occurred in the Cumingian collection. Habitat, the Philippine Islands. The crown of the head, dark brown; the feathers of the neck, long and forming a ruff; the plumage of the back is brown; the under surface is reddish-brown, each feather having four or more large round white spots, these spots become smaller on the thighs ; tail, dark brown, with broad bands of grey brown. The bill is black, the cere and legs are yellow. Total length, twenty-four inches. AR 00 FALCO SPARVERIOIDES. O FALCO SPARVERIOIDES. MACLEAY's Falcon. Falco sparveriordes, Vigors, Zoological Journal, vol. iii. p. 436, 1828. a Mr. Vigors gives the following marks to distinguish this species :- “ The head has not the bay or rufous spot on the vertex ; while the breast, abdomen, and under parts are strongly and entirely rufous. The internal webs of the quill-feathers are grey instead of white, and faintly, not strongly, fasciated with fuscous; the fasciæ being indistinct, and the whole surface nearly of an uniform grey. The under wing-coverts differ materially from those of F. sparverius, being strongly marked with black, which colour predominates over the white; in the other species the white prevails , with but a few black marks. The tail in our bird has a narrow greyish fascia at the apex ; the F. sparverius has a broad white one. All the twelve tail-feathers in our bird are uniform in colour and in markings; while in the other species the two external feathers have a white external web, and an internal web with a white margin at the apex extending nearly an inch, and marked with two black spots. Our species appears somewhat smaller than the generality of those birds which are represented as belonging to the true F. sparverius." Habitat, the Island of Cuba. The specimen was presented to the Society by William Sharpe Macleay, Esq. The whole of the upper surface is ash-coloured, somewhat marked with rufous on the back; the forehead is whitish; the tail is uniform red above, paler beneath, with a band of black near the extremity, and terminated with grey; the chin, throat, and vent are white; the breast and under tail-coverts are rufous; the mandibles are blueish ; the cere and legs are yellow; the nails are black. Total length, ten inches. İH I ERAX ERYTHROGENYS. HIERAX ERYTHROGENYS. RED-CHEEKED FALCON. Hierax erythrogenys, Vigors, Proc. Comm. Sci. and Corr. Zool. Soc. 1830-1, p. 96. Tuis falcon appears to be quite unique. I am not aware of its existence in any European collection, excepting that of the Society's, to which it was presented by Hamilton Lindsay, Esq. Corresponding Member. The specimen was killed in the neighbourhood of Manilla. The whole upper surface, sides of the body and thighs, black, with a green metallic gloss; the under surface, white; ear-coverts, bright rust colour ; bill, yellow ; legs and feet, blackish. Total length, six and a half inches. ALC E D 0 LEUCO GASTER O ALCEDO LEUCOGASTER. WHITE-BELLIED KINGFISHER. Halcyon leucogaster, Fraser, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1843, p. 4. The Alcedo leucogaster I believe to be peculiar to the Island of Fernando Po, where it is by no means uncommon. It frequents the solitary brooks, which everywhere intersect that island. Its habits and manners, as far as opportunities offered of observing them, were precisely the same as those of our British species, perching upon the over-hanging branches and stones, from whence it darts upon the small fish, with which these streams abound. My specimens were procured in the neighbourhood of Clarence. This beautiful species bears a great similarity in appearance to the Halcyon cyanotis, SWAINS, but may at once be distinguished from that bird by the centre of the abdomen being white. Crown of the head, alternately banded with blue and black; from each nostril commences a large patch of rufous, which envelopes the base of the lower mandible, the ears, and sides of the head, forms a broad stripe over the eye, and extends along the sides of the neck and body, and also over the under wing-coverts; the back is ultramarine blue; the upper wing-coverts are tipped, and the wings and tail glossed with the same hue; the throat, the centre of the chest, and abdomen are white; bill and feet, red. Total length, five and a a half inches. COLL URIOS MIT HI. COLLURIO S MITHII. Smith's SHRIKE. Collurio Smithü, Fraser, Proc. Zool. Soc. p. 16, 1843. I NAMED this species in honour of Dr. Andrew Smith, the South African Traveller, and author of the “ Illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa." The upper parts are black, with a green reflection; the wings brownish black, the tail black; the scapular feathers, a spot about the bases of the primaries, and the tips of some of the secondaries, as well as the whole of the under parts, and the extremities of the four external tail- feathers, white: the rump and upper tail-coverts greyish. I shot this bird at Cape Coast, Western Africa. Total length, eight inches. In the background is the Wild Bitter Lime, “ Makur neembonee,” of the Mahrattas: it is not made any use of as a fruit; the leaves and fruit have the bitter flavour of the lime, but without any acidity. At Beema Shunker, there are many bushy trees fourteen to sixteen feet high. Copied from one of Col. Sykes' Dukhun drawings. PLATYS TEIRA LEUCOPYGIALIS. P. CAS TANEA. PLATYSTEIRA LEUCOPY GIALIS. WHITE-RUMPED SPECTACLED FLYCATCHER. Platysteira leucopygialis, Fraser, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1842, p. 142. This bird differs from Jardine and Selby's Platyrhynchus collaris, Ill. Om. vol. i. pl. 9, fig. 1, in having a white rump, the wings entirely black, the band across the chest much broader, and the fleshy appendage around the eye red. These birds are by no means shy. My specimens were found among the branches of the naked trees, in June, sometimes in pairs; their form was short and thick, the feathering being of a downy nature. They feed entirely upon insects. Habitat, Clarence, Fernando Po. This species is of a blueish black colour, with the throat, rump, and abdomen white. The eye is surmounted with a fleshy appendage of a red colour; the irides are red hazel; the bill is black, and the legs purplish. Total length, four inches. a PLATYSTEIRA CASTANEA. CHESNUT-COLOURED SPECTACLED FLYCATCHER. Platysteira castanea, Fraser, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1842, p. 141. a This species, like its congener (P. leucopygialis), was found among the branches of naked trees, in the month of June, and bore the same short and thick form as in that species; its note is short. The Platysteira castanea is nearly allied to the Platyrhynchus Desmarestü of Jardine and Selby's III. Orn. vol. i. pl. 9, fig. 2, but differs from that species in having a chesnut back and wings, and a short black tail. Habitat, Clarence, Fernando Po. The general colour is chesnut; the crown of the head and the cheeks are grey; the chin is the abdomen is also white; the rump and flank feathers are white at their base, and light grey towards their extremities; the tail is black, the outer feather being edged with white. The fleshy appendage above the eye is red; the irides are red hazel ; the bill is black; the legs are purplish. Total length, four inches. white; ANDROPADUS LATI ROSTRIS, . ANDROPADUS LATIROSTRIS. STRICKLAND'S ANDROPADUS. Andropadus latirostris, STRICKLAND, Proc. Zool. Soc. p. 100, 1844. The beautiful plant represented on this plate is the Jonesia Ashoka ; it is copied from a drawing of Col. Sykes', to which the following remarks are annexed :-“Curlee Cave, March 8th, 1825. Ashoka, called 'Wassungee,' a forest tree, a parasitical shubby plant growing on it. A Kombee at Koaree recognised the drawing, and called it ‘Wassungee,' saying it grew in the jungle about Koaree.” Mr. Strickland, who described this bird from my own collection, mentions a specimen having a yellow streak on each side of the chin; at the time this plate was prepared the bird in question was not to be found, I have consequently here given what Mr. Strickland conceives to be a younger individual. Of the species he adds, that the beak is considerably depressed, and formed like that of a Muscicapa ; the teeth of the upper mandible are distinct and regular, but disappear about the middle of the beak. The lower mandible is also furnished with five or six serrations, but very low and indistinct. The wing is much rounded, the fifth quill being the longest and the rest gradu- ated. The colour and texture of plumage are much like that of the East Indian Pycnonotus flavirictus, Strickl. Of the younger individual represented on the plate, he remarks, that the dimensions and plumage are the same, but the yellow streak on each side the chin is wanting, and the lower mandible wants the serrations, and exhibits only a small sub-terminal notch. Habitat, Fernando Po. a Total length, six inches and three quarters. 00 *** SANA TE P H R O D O R NIS O CREATUS. 0 TEPHRODORNIS OCREATUS. STRICKLAND's TEPHRODORNIS. Tephrodornis ocreatus, STRICKLAND, Proc. Zool. Soc. p. 102, 1844. Or this bird Mr. Strickland observes, that it approaches sufficiently near to the Indian genus Tephrodornis to be classed with it, the only important structural differences being that the acrotarsia are entire, and that the tail is slightly rounded. The beak resembles that of T. Indica, but is a trifle shorter; the nostrils are concealed by incumbent bristly feathers; the fourth, fifth, and sixth quills are nearly equal, the first three graduated, and the outer toe longer than the inner. The crown of the head and cheeks, brownish black; the back and wings, obscure brownish grey; wings and tail, brownish black; body beneath, dirty white; the feathers of the throat and breast, slightly edged with grey; bill, black ; legs, blue; irides, hazel. This bird is unique, -it formed part of my Niger Collection, and is now in the British Museum. Habitat, Fernando Po. Total length, six inches and three quarters. On the accompanying plate is a wild fruit (Ziziphus albens, var.) called by the Mahrattas “ Torun.” The stalks and branches are furnished with hooked thorns on either side. The fruit is a small stone surrounded by a whitish mealy pulp, size of a small cherry. This tree reaches to the height of twelve or fourteen feet generally; but in one instance in the tope of trees at Neelsee, by clinging to a Mango tree, it was more than forty feet high. In flower and with ripe fruit in April and May. Copied from one of Col. Sykes' Dukhun drawings. ОО COS SYP H A P O ENSIS. COSSYPHA POËNSIS. . FERNANDO Po CossyPHA. Cossypha Poensis, STRICKLAND, Proc. Zool. Soc. p. 100, 1844. This unique bird formed part of my Niger Collection, and is now in the British Museum. The specimen was a male, and was seen feeding on the ground. The upper parts of the body are sooty brown; the wings, brown ; the primaries, with the exception of the first and second, ferrugineous red, at the base; tail-feathers, brown, the three outer feathers on each side being terminated with white; the lower parts of the body, ferrugineous; the throat, obscure; the bill, black; legs and feet, yellowish. Habitat, Clarence, Fernando Po. Total length, seven inches and three quarters. On this plate is represented a cultivated Pulse (Phaseolus aconitifolius, Mut.) called by the Mahrattas“ Mutkee.” The plant is seldom more than ten or twelve inches high; the branches procumbent. Copied from one of Colonel Sykes' Dukhun drawings. ORIOLUS KUNDOO. ORIOLUS KUN DOO. SYKES ORIOLE. Oriolus Kundoo, SYKES, Proc. Comm. Sci. & Corr. Zool. Soc. p. 87, 1832. The bird here represented is given as a species on the authority of Colonel Sykes, and drawn from a specimen contained in that gentleman's collection. Colonel Sykes remarks that it is of the size of our Golden Oriole, and much resembling the female of that bird ; but the bill is always very dark brown, and the irides reddish-brown instead of lake. The sexes are alike. Habitat, Dukhun. The upper parts of the body are greenish-yellow; the rump, the sides of the body, the inner webs and tips of the tail feathers, bright yellow; the wings are olive-brown; the under parts of the body are dirty white, with brown stripes down the centres of the feathers. . Tuotten PETROCINCLA PAND 00). PETROCINCLA PANDOO. DUKHUN Rock THRUSH. Petrocincla Pandoo, Sykes, Proc. Comm. Sci. & Corr. Zool. Soc. p. 87, 1832. According to Colonel Sykes, this bird differs from the Solitary Thrush of Europe (Turdus cyaneus, Linn.) in its smaller size, slighter form, brighter cærulean tint, and in the want of orange eyelids and white tips to the feathers. It is only found in the dense woods of the Ghauts. The flight is low and rapid. It appears to correspond with Var. A. of Dr. Latham's Solitary Thrush, vol. v. p. 47. The drawing is made from a specimen in Colonel Sykes' collection. Habitat, Dukhun. The general colour of this bird is brownish-blue; the wing and tail feathers brownish ; irides, brown. 21 ACTINOD URA EGERTONI. GENUS ACTINODURA. GENERIC CHARACTERS. Bill, somewhat compressed, slightly arched, and indistinctly notched near the tip; nostrils, basal; wings, short and soft, the first quill-feather the shortest, the fourth and fifth the longest ; tail, long, graduated, and soft ; tarsi, elongated; feet, large, the hind toe the longest ; feathers, soft and loose. Head, crested; tail and wings, transversely barred. ACTINODURA EGERTONI. Sir Philip EGERTON'S ACTINODURA. Actinodura Egertoni, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1836, p. 17. The specimen originally described, and from which our figure was taken, is said to be from Nepal, and was presented to the Society by Sir P. Grey Egerton, Bart. Specimens have since been deposited in the British Museum, by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., Corr. Memb. The flowers are those of the Cotton Plant of the Dukhun (Gossypium herbaceum), rather less than half their natural size, copied from one of Col. Sykes' drawings. The following description will serve to distinguish the species: the crest, back of the head, and cheeks, are brownish grey; the upper surface of the body is reddish olive; the under surface is pale rufous-brown; the tail is dull rufous-brown, indistinctly barred with black and tipped with white; the wing-feathers are red at their base, and barred on their outer webs, with black and grey towards their extremities; the feathers which surround the base of the bill are brownish red. Bill and feet, horn-colour. Total length, eight and a half inches, TIMALIA SOMERVILLEI. TIMALIA MALCOLMI. CHATTERING Thrush. Timalia Malcolmi, Sykes, Proc. of the Comm. Sci. & Corr. Zool. Soc. 1832, p. 88. The accompanying figure was taken from one of Colonel Sykes' specimens, at present form- ing part of his own collection, and which has been most kindly lent to me, together with every other specimen, at the command of that Gentleman, that can assist me in the continuation of the present publication. Of this bird Colonel Sykes remarks ;-“It is called by the Mahrattas ‘Kokuttee :' it congre- gates in flocks of ten or a dozen ; flies low, slowly, and with difficulty; never ceases chattering simultaneously. Tongue deeply bifid. Liver of two lobes, fleshy and angular, one thrice the length of the other. Intestines varying from eight to twelve inches long, very wide. Duodenum not wider than intestine. Cæca minute, three-twentieths to two-tenths of an inch long. Colon seven-tenths to eight-tenths of an inch long. Spleen one inch long. Gall-bladder very small. Digastric muscle very strong, two-tenths to three-tenths of an inch thick. Stomach oval and compressed In the stomach were found grasshoppers, minute insects, and seeds of Holcus Lorghum." Colonel Sykes has dedicated this species to Sir John Malcolm, G.C.B., who zealously aided his researches in India. Habitat, Dukhun. The general colour is pale grey-brown: rump, paler: the wing and central tail-feathers are marked with indistinct brown bars: the under parts of the bird are dirty whitish, with a faint rose tint: the frontal plumes are bluish, striated with white in the centre : irides, golden- yellow: the lower mandible, at the base, yellowish. Total length, eleven and a half inches, 1 2. 3 ENS. Bir 1 DRY MOICA RUF OGULARIS, 2 ID. UROPYGIALIS, 3 D. RUFA. DRY MOICA RUFOGULARIS. RED-THROATED WARBLER. Drymoica rufogularis, Frases, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1843, p. 17. The following is the description of a female, procured at Clarence, Fernando Po:- The plumage above is grey-brown, tinged with green; the throat and chest are reddish yellow; the abdomen, under wing-coverts, and three external tail-feathers, are white; the upper mandible is black, and the lower mandible is yellow; the legs are flesh-coloured; the irides are pale hazel. Total length, three inches and three quarters. DRY MOICA UROPY GIALIS. RED-RUMPED WARBLER. Drymoica uropygialis, Fraser, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1843, p. 17 Found at Accra, on the western coast of Africa. The plumage of the upper parts of this bird is brown, but each feather has paler edges; the superciliary stripe and the under surface of the body are white; the flanks and thighs are reddish yellow; the rump, pale rufous; the tail, dark brown, but the outer feathers have a black band near the extremity, and are tipped with white; the bill is brown, and the legs are yellow. Total length, four inches. DRY MOICA RUFA. RUSTY-COLOURED WARBLER. Drymoica rufa, Fraser, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1843, p. 17. Shot on the bank, opposite Iddah, River Quorra, interior of Western Africa. The plumage above, rufous; beneath, pale yellow; upper mandible, black; lower mandible, yellow; legs, yellow, Total length, four inches and a quarter. WAZEN PRINIA SOCIALIS PRINIA SOCIALIS. Prinia socialis, SYKES, Proc. Comm. Sci. and Corr. Zool. Soc. 1832, p. 89. BLYTH, Journ of the Asiat. Soc. Beng. p. 376, 1844. This bird, like the Prinia inornata and the Orthotomus Bennettü, is remarkable for the inge- nious manner in which it constructs its nest, by sewing together the edges of a broad leaf or leaves, forming a wide-mouthed bag, and depositing therein cotton, wool, and silky grass, in the midst of which several longish minute red eggs, from four to five-tenths of an inch long, are placed. Col. Sykes has in his possession two of these nests; in which the filaments of cotton or thread, used in sewing, appear to be knotted at one end. The plant is that of a species of Plumbago, called “ Cheektah” by the Mahrattas of the Dekhan, copied from one of Col. Sykes' drawings. Habitat, Dekhan. The colour of the head and back is intense grey; the wing-feathers, reddish brown; the tail of the same colour, each feather having a dark brown band near the apex; the whole under surface of the bird is white, with a rufous tinge, darker on the sides. Bill, black; tongue, long, slender, bifed at the end, and fringed black; legs, yellow; irides, pale-orange. The intestinal canal four and a half inches, the colon three to four-tenths of an inch long; the cæca barely discoverable, being diaphanous specks; the stomach small and globular ; the testes and ova well developed; the digastric muscle weak, only one-tenth of an inch in thickness, indicating that the food of the bird is chiefly of a soft nature. Ants, flies, bugs, wasps, and minute brown beetles were found in the stomach of several birds. Sexes alike in size and plumage. The note of the bird resembles the words “ Tooee," “ Tooee;" and its flight is struggling, as if it experienced difficulty in making its way. It con- structs its nest fearlessly close to a dwelling, in case the leaves of the plants about suit its purpose. C P R INIA IN ORNATA. PRINIA INORNATA. (With its Nest.) Prinia inornata, SYKES, Proc. Comm. Sci. and Corr. Zool. Soc. 1832. BLYTH, Journ of the Asiat. Soc. Beng. p. 876, 1844. . a This is another of the species of Tailor-birds, and, like the Prinia socialis and Orthotomus Bennetti, manifests great ingenuity in the construction of its nest. The drawing of the bird is accompanied by a nest, formed from the broad leaf of the Lettsomia nervosa: the edges are brought together and kept in position by means of several separate filaments of cotton or thread, which the bird, using its bill as a needle, has carried through the edges of the leaf; and it will be seen that the ends of the filaments have knots or knobs to prevent the filament or thread passing through the leaf. It is difficult to understand how these knots were tied, unless they resulted from the thread unravelling in being drawn through. The art of the bird, however, is not confined to sewing the edges of the leaf together, for the stalk-end of the leaf is bent so as to form a hood or roof over the aperture into the nest, protecting it equally from the rain and the sun: the interior of the nest is formed like that of the Prinia socialis, and the eggs are red. The note of the bird and its general habits are those of the Prinia socialis. The plant represents a species of Menispermum from Dekhan, called by the natives “Gool Wail,” copied from Col. Sykes' drawing; but the leaf in which the nest is constructed is that of a Lettsomia nervosa. Habitat, Dekhan. The whole of the plumage above is pale grey-brown; superciliary stripe and body beneath, white, saturated with rufus on the flanks; tail, tipped with white, and indistinctly fasciated throughout its whole length. Irides, hazel ; bill, brown, except at the base of the lower mandible, where it is yellow. The bird has very much the physical conformation of Prinia socialis ; but the lobes of the liver are without fissures, which are discoverable in the liver of the Prinia socialis : the digastric muscle also is only one-twentieth of an inch in thickness, indicating that hard food is less suited to it than to the former. The length of the intestinal canal varied from four inches to four inches seven-tenths; the colon was only three-tenths of an inch long; and the cæca barely discoverable. In two males and two females the testes and ova were well developed: com- minuted flies, soft insects, and a caterpillar were found in the stomachs. Total length of bird five inches and two-tenths, including tail two inches and two-tenths. Two of the bird's eggs are shown in the neighbourhood of the nest. PLO CEUS COLLARIS. PLOCEUS COLLARIS. ST. THOMAS' WEAVER BIRD. Ploceus collaris, Fraser, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1842, p. 142. The great size, the neck being encircled by the chesnut collar, and the general colouring of the body, being less vivid, will at once distinguish this species from the Ploceus textor of Swainson. Habitat, the Island of St. Thomas, western coast of Africa. The crown of the head and the sides of the face, are black; the occiput, the neck, and the chest, are chesnut; the back and tail are olive-green; the rump is yellowish; the wings are blackish brown, each feather margined with yellow; the under surface of wings and body, yellow. Bill, black; legs, yellow, Total length, nine inches. EUPLEC TES RUF OVELATUS. EUPLECTES RUFOVELATUS. Red-crowned EUPLECTES. During my residence at Fernando Po, in the early part of the year 1842, I procured two male specimens of the above-named species, the one having the head entirely red, and the other having the black extending across the forehead, as represented in the accompanying plate. On reference to my note-book I find the following brief observations : These birds, although in deep moult (in June), appeared to be pairing. One specimen was shot from the top of a very lofty tree, the others much nearer the ground. In an apparently young male the black extends across the forehead. A very good songster. Irides, red hazel ; bill and feet, black. Habitat, Clarence, Fernando Po, Western Africa. Of this species, the whole of the body is black; the head and neck are red. Total length, seven inches. The plant here represented, is that of the silk cotton (Gossypium heptaphyllum) of the Dukhun, called Sawree, copied from one of Col. Sykes' drawings. COCCOTHRAUSTES OLIVACEUS. CCOTHRAUSTES OLIVACEUS. Coccothraustes olivaceus, Fraser, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1842, p. 144. I shot this bird in the neighbourhood of Clarence, Fernando Po, in the spring of 1842. The plant is that of the Leafless Caper Bush (Capparis Aphylla) of Dukhun, called Neptee, taken from one of Col. Sykes' drawings. The colour of the head, neck, breast, back, and wing-feathers, deep olive-green, being darkest on the crown of the head, and passing into yellow on the rump and tail; the greater wing-coverts edged with yellow; the secondaries black in the centre, outer edge and tip yellow, inner edge white; primaries black, with white tips; the under surface of the body, vent and under tail-coverts, yellow; bill and feet orange. Total length, five inches and a quarter, NIGRITA CANICAPILLA. GENUS NIGRITA. GENERIC CHARACTERS. Bill, subconical, subelongated; the upper mandible, at the base, somewhat dilated; near the apex, compressed, slightly emarginated, the apex slightly curved downwards; the cutting edge bent downwards. Culmen, subcarinated; gradually from the base to the apex, arched downwards. Nostrils, ovate. Gape, slightly curved downwards. Wings, moderate, rounded; the first primary spurious; the third, fourth and fifth, subequal. Tarsus, short; acrotarsus, scutellated; paratarsus, entire. Toes, moderate ; the middle one equal to the tarsus; hinder one longer ; the external one slightly exceeding the internal. Claws, shortish, moderately curved and grooved at the sides. NIGRITA CANICAPILLA. GREY-BACKED Finch. Ethiops canicapillus, STRICKLAND, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1841, p. 30. Nigrita ibid, 1842, p. 145. This remarkable form was originally described by Mr. Strickland, in the “Proceedings" above referred to, under the title of Æthiops. Finding that generic name had been previously used for a genus of monkies, I have been subsequently requested by Mr Strickland to substitute for it the generic title of Nigrita. Habitat, Clarence, Fernando Po. The flowers are those of a wild medicinal plant (Cassia fistula) from Dukhun, called Bhahaya, copied from one of Col. Sykes' drawings, to which the following note is appended, “the pulp of the Bhahaya, is not used by the Kombees as a cathartic.” The forehead, cheeks, the whole under surface, tail and wings, black; the greater and lesser wing coverts, black, each feather having a white spot at the tip; the rump is white ; the remaining portions of the plumage are grey; bill, black; legs and feet, dark brown ; irides, red hazel. Total length, five inches. * NIGRITA FUSCON OTUS. NIGRITA FUSCONOTUS. BROWN-BACKED FINCH. Nigrita fusconotus, Fraser, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1842, p. 145. . I have ventured to place the accompanying bird in Mr. Strickland's genus Nigrita, not- withstanding the great contrast in its markings and distribution of its colours, the form of its bill, wings, legs, and tail, are essentially the same. Habitat, Clarence, Fernando Po. The head, neck, shoulders, primaries, rump and tail feathers, are shining black; the back and scapulars are grey-brown; the whole under surface is dirty white; the bill and feet are black; the irides are hazel. Total length, four inches and a quarter. The plant is the Mimosa scandens, known in the Dukhun (its native country) by the name of “ Gharbee." It is copied from a drawing by Col. Sykes. A MA IDINA PO ENSIS. A. BICO L OR . AMADINA POENSIS. FERNANDO Po Finch. Amadina Poensis, Fraser, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1842, p. 145. This Finch is very common near the houses about Clarence (my specimens were shot, in fact, from the window of the house in which I lived), and occurs in flocks of about fifty. Its note is a “tweet-tweet.” They feed entirely upon the seeds of the three-forked grass. The sexes do not differ. The young have a brownish cast. Habitat, Clarence, Fernando Po. The general colour is shining black; the primaries are spotted ; and the sides of the body, as well as rump, are barred with white; the under wing, and tail-coverts, and the belly are white. The irides, hazel; the bill, light blue; and the legs, black. Total length, four inches. AMADINA BICOLOR CAPE PALMAS FINCH. Amadina bicolor, FRASER, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1842, p. 145. p. This species is very common at Cape Palmas, living in the roofs of the huts belonging to the fish-men; in which situation they breed and commit much mischief, like our domestic sparrow (Pyrgita domestica, CuviER). The native name is Saybue. The adult bird differs from the Amadina Poensis in the absence of the white markings on the wings, rump, and sides of the body, Habitat, Cape Palmas, western coast of Africa. In the adult male the general colour is shining black, with greenish reflections; the belly, under wing, and tail-coverts are white; the flank feathers are spotted with white. Bill, blue ; legs, black A second specimen, which perhaps will prove to be the young, is smaller and entirely brown. Total length, four inches. ESTRILDA RUFOPICTA. ESTRILDA RUFOPICTA. RED-PAINTED WAXBILL. Estrilda rufopicta, Fraser, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1843, p. 27. Or the habits and manners of this very beautiful little species nothing whatever is known; I was only enabled, during my short stay at Cape Coast Castle, to procure a single specimen. Habitat, Cape Coast, Western Africa. The beautiful cultivated flowering climber Gertnera raceamosa), given on the accompanying plate, is the Muddoomattee of Dukhun, copied from one of Col. Sykes' drawings. The whole of the upper surface of the body is brown; the frontal band, cheeks, throat, breast and rump, are vinaceous; this colour is also slightly diffused over the abdomen; vent and under tail-coverts, pale yellow; on the breast are a few delicate white spots; the mandibles are red, with a black culmen. Total length, three inches and three-quarters, BUCCO SUB-SULPHUREUS. BUGGO SUB-SULPHUREUS. YELLOW-BELLIED Bucco. Bucco Sub-sulphureus, FRASER, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1843, p. 3. In the plate is introduced a most beautiful specimen of the Coral Plant of Dukhun, with the male and female flowers very carefully delineated, copied from one of Colonel Sykes' drawings. "It is the latropha multifida of the Dictionaries, and is closely allied but is not of the genus Iatropha. Flowers in a cyme; pedicles and flowers, crimson ; each cyme seldom produces more than two capsules, which appear generally in the central fork of the cyme. Flowers during the whole rains." This bird is like a Nuthatch in its habits, being capable of not only running up the trunk of a tree with great agility, but of descending also, head downwards, with equal or even more facility, an act which the Woodpecker is, I believe, unable to perform. The tail is short and very soft, and is not used in climbing. Like our European Sitta, the downward position seems the most easy and natural. Of the difference of sexes, if any, I am unable to speak, but I have reason to believe the young of this genus differ considerably from the adult. The Buccos are stupid and inactive; I have shot three or four from the same tree, one after the other, without disturbing the rest. Habitat, Clarence, Fernando Po, Western Africa. The upper surface of the head and body is black; superciliary stripe, and one across the forehead, which passes under the eye and along the cheek, and the whole of the under surface, sulphureous; space between the superciliary and cheek stripes, black; upper wing and tail coverts, secondaries and tail, margined with yellow; under wing-coverts, yellowish white; irides, hazel; bill, black; legs, deep lead colour. Total length, three inches and three-quarters. er PHÆNICOPHÆUS PHLARNI COPHAUS CUMIN GI. PHENICOPHEUS CUMINGI. CUMING's Cuckoo. Phænicophaus Cumingi, FRASER, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1839, p. 112 The bird now before us belongs to the family Cuculida, and to that sub-division of the genus Phænicophæus to which Mr. Swainson has applied the term Dasylophus. For a knowledge of this beautiful and very interesting species of Cuckoo, science is indebted to the researches of Hugh Cuming, Esq., who discovered it during his sojourn in the Philippine Islands, where it appears to be exceedingly rare, only two perfect specimens having been procured. To the specimen from which the accompanying figure was taken, the following notes were appended :- “ Ansic En • Bicol, language of Albay. Eyes red; pupil large and black; length from beak to tail, eight inches and a half; around the body, five inches.-H. Cuming." This species may at once be distinguished from all the known members of the family by the singular structure of the feathers of its crest and throat: the shafts of these feathers being expanded at their extremities into laminæ, which may be compared to the shavings of whale- bone; and in this respect they resemble the crest-feathers of the Toucan, to which Mr. Gould, in his Monograph, applies the name of Pteroglossus ulocomus, but are not curled as in that bird. The Phænicophæus Cumingi is found among the forest trees, in the province of Albay, Philippine Islands, and was presented to the Society by Hugh Cuming, Esq., Corresponding Member The feathers above the nostrils, of the crest and chin, and down the middle of the throat, are grey at the base, each having a decided white spot towards the middle, and the terminal broad expansion of the shaft is a glossy black, with blue or greenish reflections; the external edge of the expanded portion of the shaft is minutely pectinated; the occiput and sides of the head are grey, passing into dirty white on the cheeks and sides of the throat; the hinder part and sides of the neck, as well as the breast, are of a deep chesnut colour; the back, wings, and tail are of a deep shining green, all the tail feathers are broadly tipped with white; the vent, thighs, and under tail-coverts are dusky brown, tinged with green; the bill is horn colour, and the feet are olive. Total length, sixteen inches. PALÆORNIS MODESTUS. PALÆORNIS MODESTUS. MODEST PARRAKEET. Palæornis modestus, Fraser, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1845, p. 16. This bird is nearly allied to the P. Pondicerianus, but differs in the colour of the cheeks, breast, and mandibles; it differs also from P. Malaccensis in the paler colour of the cheeks, and that colour not extending further back than the ears, in the colour of the beak, &c. ; it may also be readily distinguished from Mr. Hodgson's Nepaul species by the colouring of the cheeks. Habitat —? The general colour of the plumage is green; the cheeks are pale fawn; frontal band, greenish black; beak, black. The branch upon which the Parrakeet is perched, is copied from a drawing of Colonel Sykes'; it is the Ficus glomerata, a wild fig of Dukhun, called by the Mahrattas “Oombur," to which the Colonel has attached the following memorandum :-"In the Ficus glomerata the fruit not unfrequently grows from the trunk, as well as from the branches. The only difference that I observed between the Ficus glomerata and Ficus racemosa, is that in certain soils the fruit of the F. racemosa ceases to be sessile, but is seated on somewhat long fruit-stalks, which is seldom the a case with the F. glomerata." L ORIUS SUPERBUS. LORIUS SUPERBUS. SUPERB LORY. Lorius superbus, Fraser, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1845, p. 16. Tuis bird is a male, and about equal in size to the Lorius Philippensis, Briss., to which indeed it is closely allied, but differs in having the shoulders and smaller under wing-coverts blue, and the larger ones black (in this respect somewhat resembling the Lorius domicellus, Auct.), in the absence of the red band immediately below the black crown, as well as having an entire red band from shoulder to shoulder, whilst the corresponding band in L. Philippensis is inter- rupted in the middle of the back. The precise habitat is unknown. The crown of the head, the larger under wing-coverts, and the points of the primaries on the under surface, are black; the cheeks, throat, chest, rump, upper tail-coverts, and a band from shoulder to shoulder, are red; the neck, shoulders, lesser under wing-coverts, belly, vent, and under tail-coverts, are blue; the wings, externally, are green; the red band between the shoulders is divided from the rump by a band of black, which is tinged with blue; the tail above is blue, beneath yellow. Irides, red-hazel ; beak, deep orange; feet, almost black. Total length, fourteen inches. PSITTACUS CHALCOPTERUS. PSITTACUS CHALCOPTERUS. BRONZE-WINGED PARROT. Psittacus chalcopterus, Fraser, Proc. Zool. Soc. p. 59, 1840. The beautiful Parrot here represented formed part of a very large and choice collection of skins, from Santa Fé de Bogota, belonging to the Right Honourable the Earl of Derby, by whom they were placed in the hands of the author, for the purpose of being named and exhibited at the scientific meetings of the Zoological Society of London, in the beginning of the year 1840, previous to his departure for the western coast of Africa. The bird before us very closely approximates to the Psittacus purpureus, Gmel., but may at once be distinguished by its beak being entirely yellow, the absence of the red spot in front of the eye, its blue rump, the feathers on the legs, throat and chest being variegated with red, the darker colour of the abdomen, and also by the colouring of the upper and under surfaces of the wings. The plant is that of the “Chambar Heerda” ( Terminalia Chebula) of the Mahrattas ; the nuts of which are in common use with the shoemakers in preparing leather. Copied from one of Col. Sykes' drawings, made at Neelsee, April 21, 1825; the fruit added at Bokree, 21st May, 1828. The general appearance of the bird is blackish, with bronze-green reflections, the feathers of the head and neck being edged with dark blue, as also the feathers on the under parts of the body; rump and tail deep blue, upper tail-coverts bronze-green; the upper wing-coverts and tertiaries bronze, with slight greenish reflections ; primaries, deep blue ; secondaries blue, edged with green ; under tail-coverts, red; throat red, variegated with yellow; wings beneath, sea-green; under wing- coverts, deep blue; bill, yellow. Habitat, Santa Fé de Bogota Total length, eleven inches and a a half. 41 PSITTACUS GUILDINGII. PSITTACUS QUILDING II. GUILDING'S PARROT. Psittacus Guildingüi, Vigors, Proc. Zool. Soc. p. 80, 1836. The specimens upon which Mr. Vigors originally founded this beautiful species of Parrot, were contained in the collection of the late Rev. Lansdown Guilding, which was transmitted to this country after his decease, and the greater portion of it purchased by the Zoological Society of London, in whose museum one of the specimens of this bird still exists. The branch upon which the bird is represented as resting is that of a cultivated fruit (Annona reticulata), which attains the height of forty or fifty feet; it is called by the Mahrattas “Ram Thul," and was copied from one of Colonel Sykes' drawings. Habitat, St. Vincent. The crown of the head of this bird is whitish; the back of the head and cheeks are yellow; the occiput and ears are blue; the neck is green; the back and lesser wing-coverts are brown; the greater wing-coverts, bronze green; a band of deep orange crosses many of the primaries and secondaries, which forms a mere spot when the wing is closed; the terminal portions of the primaries are a brownish-black ; while in the corresponding parts of the secondaries the outer webs are dark blue, and the inner webs black; the tertiaries are brownish-green; all the feathers of the neck and back are edged with black; the basal portion of the tail is orange ; on the upper surface it is succeeded by a broad band of blue, shaded with green ; but on the under surface this band is green, and the terminal portion, which is about one-third, is yellow; the under surface of the body is brown; the thighs are green ; bill, white. Total length, seventeen and a a half inches. 4 Det CACAT UA-CITRINO CRIS TATA. CACATUA CITRINO-GRISTATA. AMBER-CRESTED COCKATOO. Plyctolophus citrino-cristatus, FRASER, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1844, p. 38. This bird is not uncommon, but I believe it has hitherto been considered merely a variety of the Lesser sulphur-crested cockatoo (P. sulphureus, Vieill.), from which species it is at once distinguishable by the colour of the crest. The precise habitat is unknown. The general plumage, white; crest feathers, amber-coloured; the ear-coverts, washed with yellow. Irides, red hazel. or Tor COLUMBA ELPHINS TONEI. COLUMBA ELPHINSTONEI. ELPHINSTONE'S PIGEON. Ptilinopus Elphinstonii, Sykes, Proc. Comm. Sci. and Corr. Zool. Soc. p. 149, 1832. Carpophaga Elphinstonii (Sykes), GRAY. Columba Elphinstonii (Sykes), Neilgherry Wood Pigeon, Blyth, Drafts of a Faun. Ind. (Columbidə), p. 22. This rare bird has been figured from Colonel Sykes' own specimen ; there is another specimen, a female, in the Right Honourable the Earl of Derby's Collection. Colonel Sykes states that it is a rare bird in Dukhun, and met with only in the dense woods of the Ghauts. Not gregarious. Stony fruit found in the stomach. Sexes alike. Flight very rapid. The lateral skin of the toes is very much developed. Mr. Jerdon noticed it in the dense woods on the summit of the Neilgherries, in small parties or single. It is a retired and wary bird. He adds that he found various fruits and small shells in its stomach. The upper parts are fuscous-brown; the head, neck, and lower parts, ashy; nape, black, the feathers marked with a white spot at the tip; interscapularies, ruddy; neck and breast glossed with emerald-green, the rump with ashy; the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth primaries having their outer webs emarginated; irides, ochre-yellow. Habitat, Dukhun. Total length, sixteen inches. TRERON CRAS SIROS TRIS . TRERON CRASSIROSTRIS. THICK-BILLED PIGEON, Treron crassirostris, Fraser, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1843, p. 35. The fruit-eating Pigeons, composing the genus Treron, are distributed throughout Africa, India, and the Indian Archipelago. The bird, represented on the annexed plate, was procured from one of the islands on the western coast of Africa (I believe from that of St. Thomas'), by T. R. H. Thompson, Esq., R. N., by whom it was presented to the Society. The Treron crassirostris is remarkable for its very stout bill. The general colour of the plumage is dark green; the top of the shoulder is vinaceous; the greater and lesser wing-coverts are edged with yellow, forming two distinct bands across the wings; the secondaries and primaries are also edged with yellow, but in a very slight degree; the primaries are blackish brown; the tail is terminated by a broad band of slate colour; the feathers of the vent are chesnut, terminated with yellow; the under tail-coverts are of a reddish brown colour, tipped with pale yellow; the basal portion of the under surface of the tail is black. The bill is lead-coloured; the cere is bright red; the feet are yellow; the nails are lead-coloured. Total length, twelve inches. SUZENS PERII X BONHAMI PERDIX BONHAMI. BONHAM'S PARTRIDGE. Perdix Bonhami, Fraser, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1843, p. 70. P. This species of Partridge is nearly allied to the Perdix Heyi of Temminck, but may be readily distinguished from that bird by the black stripes about the head of the male, and by the more mottled appearance of the female. Several living examples were procured at Tehran, . in Persia, by Edward W. Bonham, Esq., H. M. Agent at Tabreez, and were subsequently presented to the Society by that gentleman. The general colour is sandy yellow; the scapularies, secondaries, and upper tail-coverts are mottled with dusky black; the feathers of the neck, forming a collar, are dusky black, each feather having a triangular spot of yellowish white near the centre; frontal and superciliary stripes, black; lores and ear-coverts, yellowish white; below the ear-coverts is a black line; the flank feathers are broadly edged with black; the tail, is red; and the bill and feet are horn colour. Total length, ten inches. NUMID A RENIALLI. NUMIDA RENDALLI. RENDALL'S GUINEA-FOWL. Numida Rendallii, OGILBY, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1835, p. 103. maculipennis, SWANSON, Jardine's Nat. Lib. (Birds of W. Africa), vol. viii. p. 226, 1837. a The principal point of interest in the accompanying species is the possibility of its having been the original of our semi-domestic bird. Habitat, common, on the banks of the River Gambia. The head and upper part of the neck are bare; the former covered with a wrinkled scalp-like skin, gathered into a small keel-shaped ridge in the centre, about half an inch in length, and not more than a quarter of an inch high. The neck is red, naked principally on the throat and sides, and covered on the back with glossy black hair, or rather small feathers, with the beards so fine as to be perceptible only upon close examination. The lower part of the neck and breast are covered with feathers of a beautiful violet colour without spots, clearest on the breast, but with a browner hue upon the upper surface. The back, shoulders, and rump are of the usual brown colour, speckled thickly with minute white spots, each surrounded with an intensely black ring, much smaller and more numerous than in the common species, and intermixed with an infinity of still more minute white points. The greater coverts of the wings and whole under surface of the body are black, with large white spots; the quill-feathers spotted towards the shaft, and barred transversely on the lower margin only, and the tail-feathers light grey, with white spots in a black ring, and interspersed with numerous black dots or points. The white spots of the coverts, quills, and belly are not surrounded by black rings, like those of the back and tail. Total length, twenty-one inches זואי (28 גואל LEPTOPUS MITCHELLI, GENUS LEPTOPUS. GENERIC CHARACTERS. Bill, long, slender, straight : nostrils, basal : wings, moderate : the three first primary feathers, nearly equal; second, the longest : tail, slightly rounded : tarsi, moderate : toes, long and slender: no hind toe. The plumage of the young differs from the adult. LEPTOPUS MITCHELLI. MITCHELL'S SLENDERFOOT. Leptopus Mitchelli, Fraser, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1844, p. 157. Leptodactylus Mitchelli, ibid. The bill of this bird is of the same structure as that of Totanus chloropygius, Vieill., while the feet resemble those of Hiaticula tricollaris ; thereby rendering it particularly interesting, as being directly intermediate between two groups hitherto considered by naturalists as belonging to distinct families. Its habits remain as yet to be recorded. The Leptopus Mitchelli has hitherto only been found in the swampy places of the Andes, central Chile. Front, cheek, and throat, soot-coloured ; crown of the head, the same, surrounded by a white line; nape and sides of neck, rusty ; upper surface of body, grey-brown, with purplish reflections ; a band across the chest, white; under surface, minutely barred with brownish black and white, alternately; bill, greenish ; legs and feet, yellow; claws, black. Another specimen, which I take to be the young of the above, has an undefined white line passing from eye to eye round the back of the head; the whole upper surface of the body, irregularly barred and mottled with ferruginous and blackish brown; cheeks and throat, mottled with soot colour; the breast barred in a similar manner to the adult, which barring is almost lost on the belly; vent and thighs, white Total length, seven inches. SARCIOP HORUS ALBICEPS. 0 SARCIOPHORUS ALBICEPS. WHITE-CROWNED SPUR-WING. Vanellus albiceps, GOULD, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1834, p. 45. Lobivanellus albiceps, STRICKLAND, ibid. 1841, p. 33. The White-crowned Spur-wing has been placed by Mr. Strickland in his genus Lobivanellus, a genus the species of which possess four toes to the foot; but as the bird in question has only three toes, it should, I presume, be included among the members of his genus Sarciophorus, with which I have accordingly placed it. Two specimens, of this species, were procured at Fernando Po, by Captain William Allen, R.N., Corresponding Member, and presented by him to the Society. The crown of the head is white; the sides of the face and neck are grey; the back and scapulars are grey-brown, with purplish reflections; the rump and basal-half of the tail are white; the remainder of the tail is black; the shoulders, wing-coverts, and the first three primaries are black; the remaining portion of the wing, the chin, and the whole under surface of the body are white: between the eye and upper mandible, a fleshy lobe hangs down at right angles with the beak; it is of an orange colour, and of a narrow form, being one inch and a half long, and half an inch wide at the base, whence it gradually tapers throughout its whole length to the tip. The spur on the shoulders is strong and sharp, and is nearly an inch in length; the bill is yellow, with the exception of the tip, which is black; the legs are green. Total length, thirteen inches, IBIS ERYTHRORHYNCHA. IBIS ERYTHRORHYNCHA. RED-BILLED IBIS. Ibis erythrorhyncha, GOULD, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1837, p. 127. p. The figure on the annexed plate was taken from a specimen in the Society's collection, to which it was presented by John Hearne, Esq., one of the most zealous Corresponding Members attached to the Society, and from whose letter the following has been extracted, as referring to this bird, and is all that is at present known respecting the species :-“ This specimen was shot by my nephew, close to Port au Prince, on the shore of that large and deep Bay or Bight, and the skin sent me here by him, with that of a Gray and a Scarlet, which two latter, not being wanted for the Museum of our Society, are still in my possession." Habitat, Hayti. The back, the wings, and the tail, are dark green, with metallic reflections; the head and upper part of the neck, greyish black freckled with white; the under parts of the body, greyish black; bill and feet, red; bill black at the base. Total length, twenty-three inches. Mona NYC TIC ORAX MANILLENSIS. NYCTICORAX MANILLENSIS. MANILLA NIGHT-HERON. Nycticorax Manillensis, Vigors, Proc. Comm. of Sci. and Corr. Zool. Soc. 1830-1, p. 98. Or the habits of this species nothing is known, and as far as we at present are aware it is entirely confined to the Philippine Islands. Habitat, Manilla, Philippine Islands, presented by Hamilton Lindsay, Esq., Corr. Memb. Specimens were also contained in the Cumingian Collection. The crown of the head and a line down the back of the neck, black; the sides of the neck, the back, the wings, tail, and the thighs, reddish chesnut, the front of the neck paler; the under surface, white; the occipital crest-feathers are white with black tips; the bill is black; the legs are reddish. Total length, twenty-eight inches. ANAS LUZ O NICA. ANAS LUZONIGA. Luzon Duck Anas Luzonica, FRASER, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1839, p. 115. THE Anas Luzonica is nearly allied to the Anas superciliosa, GMEL., but differs in being of a smaller size, in having the whole of the plumage much lighter in colour, and in the sides of the head and neck being rufous, instead of pale buff: it moreover has but one dark stripe on the side of the head, whereas Anas superciliosa has two. Found on the Island of Luzon, one of the Philippines. The middle of the forehead, the crown of the head, and a line down the back of the neck, are dark brown; from the bill to the eye, and thence to the occiput, is a brown line, which is separated from the crown of the head by a broad stripe, which is of a pale rufous tint; the cheeks, sides of the neck, the chin, and upper parts of the throat, are of the same colour; the whole of the body is brown, becoming gradually darker on the rump and tail- feathers: all the feathers on the upper parts are edged with pale rufous; the wing-coverts are crossed by a narrow white band near their extremity, and terminate in a deep velvet-like black colour; the speculum is deep glossy green, with purple reflections, and bounded behind by velvety black; to this succeeds a narrow white line : the bill and feet are apparently dark olive. Total length, twenty-two inches. در در JDE NDR O CYGNA VAGANS DENDROCYGNA VAGANS. Exton's WHISTLING Duck. Dendrocygna vagans, Eyron's MSS. ALTHOUGH a specimen in the Collection of the Zoological Society of London, and others in the British Museum, were marked by Mr. Eyton as distinct under the name of vagans, the species does not appear in his monograph of the family. The species is nearly allied to the Dendrocygna (Anas arcuata, Auct.), but differs in being larger, in having a decided black stripe down the back of the neck, and white tail-coverts. Habitat, Manilla, Philippine Islands. Specimens were in the Cumingian Collection; the specimen in the Society's Collection is believed to have been presented by Hamilton Lindsay, Esq., Corr. Memb. The head, neck, and breast, pale brown, being darkest upon the crown of the head; the under surface of the body, pale chesnut; shoulders, deep chesnut; the back, wings, and tail, intense brown, approaching to black; the feathers on the back, broadly tipped with pale brown; down the back of the neck runs a black line, which extends from the occiput to near the insertion of the shoulders; the flank-feathers, are white, margined with blackish ; under surface of the wings, blackish-brown. Bill and feet, black. Total length, twenty inches. LARUS BRIDGE SI LARUS BRIDGESI. BRIDGES' GULL. Larus Bridgesi, Fraser, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1845, p. 16. This apparently new and well-marked species of Gull has been named, in honour of Mr. Thomas Bridges, Corresponding Member of the Zoological Society of London, through whose exertions a nearly complete series of the zoological productions of Chile has been forwarded to this country The Larus Bridgesi is closely allied to the Larus fuliginosus, GOULD, but differs in the beak, being much more slender, in the general colour being lighter, in the head and chin being nearly white, in having a white band across the wing, and in the black band across the tail being more decided From Valparaiso, Chile, collected by Mr. Bridges. The general colour of this bird is sooty-grey, the head and chin becoming almost white; the secondaries are tipped with white, forming a band across the wing; the primaries are black; the tail is sooty-grey, crossed by a black band, and terminated with pale grey. Bill and legs, black. In the former description, the total length was given as being eighteen inches; but I am inclined to think that the skin had been much stretched during the process of preservation, and that its real length could not have exceeded fifteen inches. S TERNA SEENA. STERNA SEENA. SEENA TERN. Sterna Seena, Sykes, Proc. Comm. Sci. & Corr. Zool. Soc. 1832, p. 171. The specimen from which the accompanying figure was taken, has been most obligingly lent me by Col. Sykes, from his own collection, and from whose account of the species the following observations have been compiled :- This species differs from Sterna affinis, of Ruppell, tab. 14. p. 23, in its smaller size, and having red instead of black legs; in the white not being so brilliant, and in a stronger bill. Ruppell's Sterna velox appears to correspond in size with it. Proportionably to the shortness of the legs, the claws are long, much arched, slender and sharp, and turned outwards. Hind claw never touches the ground. Fish found in the stomach. In the stomach and esophagus of one bird were found the extraordinary number of thirteen Cyprini, one of them two and a half inches long Tail very much forked ; lateral tail-feathers subulate, white, eight inches long. Wings very narrow and long, reaching nearly to the end of the tail. Although the wings are so long, the flight is slow, and with a good deal of flapping. Take their prey while on the wing, by darting obliquely Do not dip under water, nor dart perpendicularly like Alcedo rudis. This species Col. Sykes shot one hundred and sixty miles inland, and at an elevation of eighteen hundred feet above the sea. Gregarious. Rare in Dukhun. upon it. Total length, seventeen inches. . BOUND AUG 20 1942 UNIV. OF MICH LIBRARY ފަދަ ކަމެވެ