306 Zoological Society. 



the Dardanelles, and called attention to some peculiarities in its 

 habits, as pointed out in the ' Familiar History of Birds,' &c. by the 

 Rev. Edward Stanley (now Bishop of Norwich), to whom the speci- 

 men belonged. Considerable interest is attached to the bird exhibited, 

 since, though often alluded to by travellers who have visited the 

 Dardanelles (but under native names only), naturalists were not aware 

 to what species the accounts referred ; and moreover certain preju- 

 dices of the inhabitants render it extremely difficult to procure this 

 species of Petrel from the locality mentioned. 



June 13. — Prof. Rymer Jones in the Chair. 



The following Notes by Prof. E. Forbes, on the species of Neara 

 (Gray) inhabiting the Egean Sea, were read : — 



'* Among the Mollusca inhabiting the seas of the Grecian Archi- 

 pelago are four species of the genus Neara, two of which have been 

 previously described, and two are apparently new. 



"The described species are the Necera cuspidata, a well-known 

 shell, and the type of the genus, extensively distributed throughout 

 the European seas. In the Egean it is scarce, but by no means 

 local ; and of all the Greek species, is that found in the shallowest 

 water. The second described species is the Necera costellata, a beau- 

 tiful bivalve hitherto recorded only in the fossil state. It was de- 

 scribed and figured by M. Deshayes in the great French work on the 

 Morea, from specimens found in the tertiary strata of that country. 

 I have taken it not unfrequently in the Egean, sometimes alive and 

 at considerable depths, even below 100 fathoms. 



" Of the new species, one is nearly allied to Necera cuspidata, and 

 appears to replace it in the deeper parts of the Egean. I have called it 



NEiERA ATTENUATA. N. testd ohlongd, obsolete striatd, antice ro- 

 tundatd, superiore suhangulatd, postice longi-rostratd ; rostro an- 

 gusto, ared lineari transverse striatd ; umbonibus obtusis ; dente 

 laterali in valvuld superiori lineari. Long. 0^^ ; lat. 0^. 



" The second is an anormal and aberrant form, diff^ering in its 

 hinge characters from the other Egean species. It inhabits very 

 deep water, even to 200 fathoms, and I have never taken it in less 

 than 100. I have never met with it alive." 



Necera abbreviata. N. testd suborbiculari, transverse leviter 

 sulcatd, antice rotundatd, postice brevi-rostratd ; rostro lato, ared 

 obsoletd; umbonibus acutissimis ; dente laterali obsoleto. 



The following paper was then read : — 



" Descriptions of new species of Necera, from the collection of Sir 

 Edward Belcher, C.B., made during a voyage round the world, and 

 from that of Hugh Cuming, Esq., obtained during his visit to the 

 Philippines ; with notices of the synonomy." By Mr. Hinds. 



The number of species of Necera, Gray, now on record permits us 

 to generalize on their geographic distribution. They are all found in 

 water of greater or less depth, and spread over a wide extent of 

 latitude ; the larger proportion are found in the seas of warm cli- 

 mates, particularly of the Indian Ocean. In the Atlantic the group 



