Scientific Intelligence. — New Publications. 401 



" We unfortunately know little or nothing" of the natural history of this 

 beautiful bird. It is greatly prized by the native tribes of those countries 

 in which it occurs, who make use of its skin as an ornament of dress, when 

 clothed in more than usual pomp, ' with feathered cincture bright.* U'he long 

 feathers of the tail-covers are also employed in the head-gear of the Peruvian 

 damsels of the highest rank. It is considered as a gift worthy the acceptance 

 of a king, and is occasionally presented as a mark of honour to the envoy of a 

 foreign state. I believe the first specimens, ever seen in this country, were 

 lately brought fron Vera Paes, in Central America, by J. C. Schenley, Esq. 

 who obtained them in the course of his diplomatic mission, and kindly trans- 

 mitted one to the Edinburgh Museum. The finest example of the kind in 

 Europe, is in the possession of the family of the late lamented Mr Canning, 

 to whom it was likewise presented by Mr Schenley. . 



" Owing to the great extent of the two central feathers of the upper co- 

 verts of the tail, I have been obliged to reduce the figure, on Plate VI. to 

 one-half of the natural size. In Mr Canning^s specimen, these beautiful 

 plumes measured three feet and a half in length. The female of this bird is 

 not yet known to naturalists ; from which it may be inferred, that her plu- 

 mage is less magnificent than that- of the male, and that, being consequently 

 held in lower estimation, she is less frequently sought for or obtained." 



The third Plate contains a figure of the Scarlet Ibis in a pe- 

 cuhar state of plumage, exhibiting the natural transition from 

 the Tantalus Fuscus of Gmelin to the Ibis ruber of Cuvier, in 

 other words the passage from youth to age, through the inter- 

 mediate condition of adolescence. The letter-press description 

 of this and the foregoing plate, is preceded by a short intro- 

 duction to the orders and genera to which the species repre- 

 sented respectively belong. The fourth and concluding Plate, 

 exhibits a picture, of the size of life, of that unique bird from 

 the northern regions, named, by our intrepid and distinguished 

 countryman Dr Richardson, Ross'^s Gull, drawn from the only 

 known specimen, which was some time ago presented to the 

 Edinburgh Museum by the Lords of the Admiralty. Its de- 

 scription and history conclude the second number of Mr Wil- 

 son''s Illustrations. 



2. A Tabular and Proportioiial View of the Superior (Alluvial 

 and Tertiary Formations ), Supermedial ( Secondary Rocks ), 

 and Medial Rocks (partly Secondary and partly Transition 

 Rocks.) By Henry T. De la Beche, F. R. S. F. L. S. 

 F. G. S. &c. William Phillips, London. 



We recommend this interesting tabular view to the attention 

 of geologists, particularly those who are studying the geognos- 



