37 



" Beak black ; eyes with a narrow line of dark feathers around 

 them ; head, whole of the neck and breast delicate rose colour, 

 mixed or clouded with French grey ; wings and back French 

 grey ; outer web of the first primary only, dark grey ; the shafts 

 bluish grey; upper tail, coverts; tail feathers, and all the 

 under surface of the body, delicate rose-colour ; under surface 

 of the wings, French grey ; the shafts of the primaries, white ; 

 central pair of tail feathers the longest ; the remainder gradu- 

 ated, forming a wedge-shaped tail ; legs, toes, and interdigital 

 membranes, vermillion ; the claws black. Whole length of the 

 bird about 14 inches ; wing, from the anterior bird to the end of 

 the first primary, which is the longest, 10^ ; beak, from the point 

 to the feathers on the top, three-fourths of an inch ; length of 

 the tarsus, 1|." 



A communication was then read, entitled "Notice of Zamia 

 Gigas,'' hy James Yates, Esq., M. A., F. R. S., &c. 



The fossil plant, of which I have attempted a re-construction 

 in the drawing that accompanies this paper, (fig. 1.) is found at 

 several places along the coast of Yorkshire between Staithes and 

 Scarborough. It always occurs in the shale or sandstone be- 

 longing to the Lower Oolite, or, to speak more precisely, in the 

 "Lower Sandstone, Shale, and Coal, No. 13," of Professor 

 Phillips's arrangement.* Very fine specimens of the leaves are 

 found at Saltwick, near Whitby. But by far the most remark- 

 able locality for the occurrence both of leaves, and of the various 

 parts supposed to belong to the inflorescence, is a spot of very 

 limited extent about a mile to the N. W. of Runsvrick. I have 

 been told, that the plant also appears between this spot and 

 Staithes. 



The attention of geologists was first directed to the leaves, 

 which are of large size, being sometimes 18 inches or more in 

 length. They are pinnate and cycadiform, and have evidently 

 been characterised by the rigidity which belongs to the recent 

 Cycadese. On comparing the two recent Linnean genera, which 

 constitute this Natural Order, viz., Cycas and Zamia, there can 



• Geology of Yorkshire, Vol. I. pp. 33, 38, 39, 96, 98. 



