Mr. J. Gould on some new species of Birds. 173 



habitually preys upon other Snakes, and is currently said to be a 

 deadly enemy of the Cobra. I have taken a Tropidonatus umhratus 

 about two-thirds the length of its devourer from the stomach of this 

 species. Another ophiophagous species with the Cobra hood is 

 Hamadryas hannah of Cantor, or Maia vettata of Elliot, a spe- 

 cimen of which, 9 feet long, I obtained in the Midnapore jungle. 



Mr. Layard some time ago informed me of a popular notion 

 among the natives of Ceylon respecting a "horn" which is said 

 to grow sometimes, but very rarely, on the forehead of the Jackal ; 

 and this horn is regarded by them as a specific of innumerable 

 virtues. Strange to say, the same notion is equally current among 

 the natives of Bengal, who believe that it ensures the prosperity of 

 its possessor, and success in every undertaking. 



A 



July 24, 185 5. —Professor Tennant, F.G.S., in the Chair. 



to uiOtJ SOME New Species of Birds collected by Mr. 

 HO'fx?- M*GiLLivRAY. By John Gould, F.R.S. etc. 



in exhibiting a portion of the first collection of birds which has 

 been sent to this country by Mr. John M'Gillivray, the naturalist 

 attached to H. M. surveying ship * Herald,* Captain Denham, I have 

 to remark, that it comprises several species of especial interest, 

 particularly some obtained on the Isle of Pines, and on Lord 

 Howe's Island. It also comprises a new form among the Tur- 

 didcB or Thrushes, from that isolated spot the island of Tristan 

 d'Acunha, which presents a union of the characters of the genera 

 Tu7'duSy ChamcBza and Oreocincla, This new bird I propose to 

 characterize under the generic and specific appellations of Nesocichla 

 eremita. Among the birds from Lord Howe's Island is a singular 

 species of Merula or Blackbird, nearly allied in form to, but very 

 different in colour from, the Merula nestor of Norfolk Island ; to 

 this species the specific name of vinitincta is assigned. From the 

 same island are two distinct species of Zosteropsy entirely new to 

 science. They differ from any other species of the genus which has 

 come under my notice, one of them being a very large bird for a 

 Zosterops, and the other a much smaller species, being nearly allied 

 to, but distinct from, the Australian Zosterops dorsalis : to these 

 two species I give the names of Z. strenuus and Z. tephropleurus. 

 A beautiful Parrakeet from Cape York, nearly allied to Platycer- 

 cus palUceps, I propose to name Platycercus cyanogenys. Among 

 the birds from the Isle of Pines is a very beautiful Pigeon, apper- 

 taining to the genus Ptilinopus. This bird, with several others 

 of even greater interest, I propose to make the subjects of a second 

 paper. '^1 



Genus Nesocichla. 



Bill strong, more powerful than in the genus Turdus; gonys 

 nearly straight, with a small notch near the tip in the upper man- 

 dible ; culmen gradually descending from the base ; nostrils seated 

 in an oval depression at the base of the upper mandible ; wings short. 



