380 ZOOLOGY. 



iug to Professor OweD, it lias tlie most resemblance in the leg. Each 

 caudal vertebra bore a pair of lateral rectrices; all the rest of the body, 

 head, neck, and trunk, were evidently destitute of feathers and naked ; 

 we should certainly otherwise have found traces of feathers upon a slab 

 which has preserved even the smallest traces of a fine down. Hence 

 the restoratious of the animal hitherto attempted are quite erroneous." 



According to Professor Yogt the ArchceoiHeryx is neither a reptile 

 nor a bird 5 although bird-like in its integument and hinder limbs, it is 

 reptilian in all the rest of its organization. 



The Archiiiopteryx has been derived, Professor Yogt thinks, from 

 ^'the lizard-like terrestrial reptiles, having feet with five hooked, free 

 digits, showing no modification in their skeleton, but having the skin 

 furnished at different points with elongated warts, downy plumes, and 

 rudimentary feathers, not yet fitted for flight, but susceptible of further 

 develoi^ment in the course of generations." 



THE EXTINCT PARROT OF BOURBON. 



It has been for some time recognized that the large parrots which 

 existed in the islands of Mauritius and Rodriguez, when those lands 

 were first visited by Europeans, re]>resented peculiar generic types — 

 that of Mauritius the genus LoplwpsUtacuH, and the one of Rodriguez the 

 genus jS^ecropsittacus. The large parrot of the isle of Bourbon or Reunion 

 has, however, been generally associated with the Coracopsis nigra of 

 Madagascar. It was introduced into systematic ornithology in 1700 by 

 Brisson, and a specimen (presumably described by him) is still pre- 

 served in the museum of the " Jardin des Plantes," although the bird 

 has long been extinct. Mr. W. A. Forbes has re-examined the specimen 

 and come to the conclusion* that the species was not a natural associate 

 of Coracopsis, but the type of a peculiar genus for which he revives Les- 

 son's name Mascarimis, and gives to it the new name Mascarinus Du- 

 hoisL (It may be recalled here that G. R. Gray restricted the name 

 Coracopsis as a subgeneric term to the Bourbon parrot and revived the 

 name Vaza (of Lesson) for the C. nigra.) It is, he thinks, "allied rather 

 to such pal»ornithine genera as Fakvornis and Tanygnathus, than to 

 Psittacus, Coracopsis, or allied forms." Tlie extreme specialization of 

 the several types of parrots thus restricted to the islands indicated is one 

 of the most interesting facts in ornithology, and i)oints to a long isola- 

 tion of the areas to which they were respectively confined. 



MAMMALS. 



FEATURES OF PROGRESS. 



The usual number of contributions have been made to the anatomy 

 of different groups and si^ecies of mammals, and to favmal lists and 

 works. Giebel's Treatise on Mammals, contributed to Bronn'f^ " Klas- 



*Forbes (W. A.). On the systematic position aud scientitic name of "Le Perroquet 

 mascariu" ol" Brisson. The Ibis, (3,) vol. iii, pp. tJOli-oOT. 



