Dr. J. E. Gray on the genus Cuscus. 67 



culum of a single coat, with a polished surface like Neritina. This 

 genus, in the ■ Guide to the Mollusca in the British Museum,' 

 is by mistake put in the same section as Nerita, instead of that of 

 Neritina (see p. 137). 



February 23, 1858.— Dr. Gray, F.R.S., V.P., in the Chair. 



Note on the Skeleton of the Sheath-bill (Chionis alba). 

 By T. C. Eyton, Esq., F.L.S. 



The general appearance of this skeleton is similar to that of the 

 Plovers ; the fissures on the posterior part of the sternum are, how- 

 ever, not quite so deep in proportion to its length, nor is the keel so 

 broad, but its form is very similar, and distinct from that of other 

 grallatorial birds. It differs from Thinochorus (with which I at 

 first thought it might be allied) in having two fissures in the posterior 

 margin of the sternum, Thinochorus having but one. On comparing 

 the skeleton with some portion of the skeleton of Glareola pratin- 

 cola, the bones are almost identical in form, particularly the sternum, 

 head and pelvis. I should therefore be inclined to place Chionis 

 and Glareola in the same family. 



Mr. G. R. Gray arranges this form along with the Thinochorince 

 in his order • Gallince ; ' Prince Bonaparte, in his * Conspectus Sy- 

 stematis Ornithologiae ' (1854), places it next to the Gulls, in the 

 order ■ Gavice' 



Observations on the Genus Cuscus, with the Description 

 of a New Species. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S., V.P.Z.S., 

 Pres. Ent. Soc, etc. 



Mr. Wallace having sent two specimens of this genus to the British 

 Museum, to determine them I went over the previous observations on 

 the genus, and examined the numerous specimens which are in the 

 Museum collection, received from the French voyages of discovery, 

 Mr. J. Macgillivray, the Naturalist of H.M. Ship * Rattlesnake/ 

 and those now sent from the Island of Ula ; and I have come to 

 the belief that they are all to be referred to four species, which are 

 very variable in the colour of the fur ; one variable in both the sexes ; 

 another, in which the sexes differ greatly from each other, but 

 appear to be permanent in their colour ; one species in which the 

 fur of the two sexes is alike and uniform in colour ; and one, of 

 which the female sex only is known, which is uniform iron-grey. 



The two have the ears small, hairy on both sides, and hidden in 

 the fur ; the other two have larger ears, exposed beyond the fur and 

 bald within. 



M. Temminck, in the first volume of the ■ Monographies de 

 Mammologie,' published in 1827, divides the short hairy-eared kinds 

 into three species. 



At the time he wrote he only had specimens from the northern 

 part of Celebes, brought home by Professor Reinhardt, and from 

 the islands of Banda and Amboyna. 



5* 



