350 Zoological Society. 



Sept. 24, 1839. — The Honourable Sir Edward Cust in the Chair. 



A letter from E. D. Dickson and II. J. Ross, Esqrs., dated Erze- 

 room, July 18, 1839, was read. It referred to a collection which 

 these gentlemen had forwarded for the Society's Museum. The 

 specimens alluded to in this letter having arrived, were severally 

 brought before the Meeting by Mr. Eraser, and the following notes 

 which accompanied them were read : — 



Accipitcr fringillarius, Ray. Procured April 3. Male. Found 

 in the stomach small birds. Iris bright orange ; margins of eyelids 

 yellowish ; bill blue, with black tip ; cere yellowish green ; legs yel- 

 low; claws black. Total length 12*5 inches. Shot near the town. 



Falco subbuteo, Linn. Procured May 22. Total length about 

 12 inches. Bill bluish ; legs orange ; claws black. The only speci- 

 men we have yet seen. Female. 



Circus pallidas, Sykes. Procured April 4. Iris bright yellow* 

 with yellow margin to the eyelids ; bill bluish ; cere greenish yellow ; 

 legs orange yellow, with black claws. Total length 17 inches. This 

 year (1839) arrived March 24, and left April 7 ; last year they ar- 

 rived March 8 and left May 1. They were then also much more nu- 

 merous than this year, and most abundant in April. 



* Circus rufus, Briss. One specimen, a male, procured May 8. 

 Found in the stomach frogs and mice. Shot close to town. Legs 

 pale yellow. A second specimen procured May 24. Found in the 

 stomach a Tem(Sterna nigra). Iris bright sulphur-yellow ; legs pale 

 dirty yellow. Common about the river : they are shy, but bold. 



Hirundo rustica, Linn. Procured April 25. Found in the sto- 

 mach insects. Iris dark brown ; bill and legs black. Total length 

 8*5. Arrives April 20. and remains here the whole summer ; very 

 numerous all over the plain : builds under eaves ; the nest is made of 

 mud, straw, and coarse large feathers, neatly lined with fine hay, 

 over which there is a layer of feathers ; eggs four, white, speckled 

 with brown. 



Lanius Collurio, Linn. One specimen, a male, procured April 

 20. Found in the stomach Coleopterous insects. A second, a female, 

 procured May 4 : found in the stomach worms, &c. Total length 

 7 inches. A small number seen together in a burying-ground. 



Muscicapa grisola, Linn. Found in the stomach insects. Very 

 common in May, in the burying-grounds, and also in fields. 



* The species marked with an asterisk have been noticed in the Pro- 

 ceedings as inhabitants of Trebizond, a locality not far distant from Erze- 

 room.— See Proceedings for 1834, pp. 50 and 133; for 1835, p. 90; and 

 for 1837, p. 126. 



