ZOOLOGY. 489 



prove that the form indicated was a generalized bird. For a knowledge 

 of its peculiar characteristics and affinities we must await the ex- 

 humation of other specimens (A. J. S. (3), xxi, 3-11-3-12). 



Shedding of the gizzard lining by birds. 



It has for some years (since 18G9) been known that the horn-bills 

 (Bucerotids) shed the epithelial lining of the gizzard, but it is ouly 

 lately that the same peculiarity has been observed in very different 

 birds. Mr. A. D. Bartlett, the superintendent of the Gardens of the 

 Zoological Society, ascertained that a darter {Plotus anhinga) had 

 "thrown up the lining of its stomach on three or four occasions," during 

 the latter half of 1880. A casting was examined by Mr. W. A. Forbes, 

 the prosector to the society, and was found to be " undoubtedly the 

 shed 'epitheliaP coat of the gizzard," and on microscopical examina- 

 tion i^roved to be " quite identical in structure with that of the unshed 

 epithelium of the stomach." Mr. Bartlett thinks that a similar habit 

 will be found to occur in other birds, and suggests that the cormorants 

 especially may manifest it. (P. Z. S., 1881, 247-248.) 



A claw on index digits of the turJcey vultures. 



Dr. Shufeldt has called special attention to the development of a 

 large claw on the index digit of the turkey vulture and related forms 

 of the Cathartidse. In a young California vulture or condor {Pseudo- 

 gryphus californianus) the claw was over a centimeter long. " It can 

 be immediately brought into view and examined by simply parting the 

 feathers that overlie the region of the first finger, whereupon it will 

 be found to be a strong curved claw — convex anteriorly, sharp, slightly 

 grooved from above downward on its posterior aspect, covered by the 

 same kind of horny integument, or thecae, that shields the bony claws of 

 the feet, and movable." When the horuj' sheath is removed, "it leaves 

 an osseous claw, such as we find in the distal or ungual i^oints of the feet ; 

 this has a tranverse facet at its base, that articulates with a similarly 

 placed surface at the extremity of the index digit, rather toward its 

 outer side." Numerous Old World vultures and other Falconidse were 

 re-examined with reference to the question, and no corresponding chiw 

 was found in any species. It was consequently suggested that its devel- 

 opment in Cathartidae may be looked upon as a family characteristic. 

 The claw has however been since found in true Falconidae. 



Woodpeclcers and moth cocoons.* 



Premising that one of the most interesting, as well as difficult prob- 

 lems in entomology is the relation which the cocoon sustains to the 

 pupa, and the various ways in which the cocoon offers protection to the 

 pupa, or future imago, I\Ir. Webster has regarded the attack of the 



* Cecropia cocoons puuctured by the hairy Woodpecker. By F. 51. Webster. Am. 

 ^fat., V. 15, pp. 241, 242. 



