THE OREGON NATURALIST. 
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Corals are all Sea Animals of a low organ- 
ization Some are soft and fleshy, others se- 
crete a stony basal skeleton or abode into 
which the fleshy parts can be partially retracted. 
All the Fossil Corals belong to the latter 
class and this strong domicile is all that is pre- 
served. 
The soft Corals not capable of preservation 
have left no traces in the rocks, but, from anal- 
ogy of present conditions with former, we may 
believe that they were not missing in ancient 
times. The general structure of their body in 
the simpler forms is that of a membraneous 
bag frequently plicated into’ radially arranged 
folds. 
This bag has only one central opeuing which 
serves as mouth and anus and is surrounded by 
a variable number of retractile hollow tentacles. 
In the compound forms the individuals are 
frequently so intimately united that the exact 
demarkation of one body from the other is lost. 
Circulation imperfect, not propelled by a 
heart, nervous system very rudimentary; no 
special crgan of sense. 
Propagation partly by egg forming in the 
plications within the bag and ejected at maturi- 
ty through the central opening partly by buds 
sprouting from the surface, or by division and 
individualization of single parts of the body. 
NEW SPECIES. 
The January AUK, describes two new species, 
added to the Avi-fauna, of California, by Mr, 
A. W. Anthony 
We take from the AUK, the names and 
specific characteristics, as given by Mr. An- 
thony. 
THRYOTHORUS, LEUCOPERYS, sp nov. 
Sp. CHAR.— Differing from’ T, spz/uvus in de- 
cided gray wash on the upper parts, in the less 
heavily barred under tail-coverts, and in hav- 
ing a somewhat longer bill. 
HATPORHYNCHUS CINEREUS MEARNSI. 
MEARN’S THRASHER, 
Subsp. char.—Diftering from 7.ctverezs in 
much darker upper parts, the rump vandyke 
brown in contrast, more rusty flanks and cris- 
sum, much larger and more intensely black 
spots on the lower parts and in the less curved 
bill. Named in honor of Dr. E. A. Mearns. 
ITEMS OF INTEREST. 
We are informed that the China Ring-necked 
Pheasant, Phastanellus Torguatus, now known 
as the Denny Pheasant, sometimes lays her eggs 
in the nest of the Ruffed Grouse, Aonasa 
Sabini, Baird. 
For 26 days this winter the Black River 
Indians on one side, and the Puyallups on the 
other were engaged in a great gambling fete on 
the Puyallup Reservation, Wash. Which re- 
sulted in a disasterous manner to the Black 
River People. Nearly 30 years have elapsed 
since a gaming festival of such magnitude as the 
present one, has been hcld on the shores of 
Puget Sound. 
In the spring of 1892 the ‘‘Society for the 
introduction of useful Song-Birds’ into Oregon” 
set free three pair of Mocking Birds,—A/zmas 
Polyglottus, Boie—at Milwaukee, Oregon, 
which are said to have returned to breed the 
following season. About January 15th., 1895. 
Nearly 40 pair were set free from the Aviary 
in this city. 
The Gray Crowned Finch, ZLzcosficte 7ep- 
rocotis, Sw. is common in winter in Whit- 
man Co,, Wash.. sleeping in barns and houses. 
The Sharp-tailed Grouse, from Eastern Ore- 
gon, has been introduced into the Waldo Hills 
Oregon. 
When Grain was cut with the wire-binding 
Harvester, a Crows nest, C Americana, Aud. 
was found in Whitman Co., Wash., composed 
entirely of pieces of binding wire, gleaned from 
straw stacks. 
In the timbered section of Eastern Oregon 
and Washington, Oologists should now be on 
the watch for sets of Clarke’s Nut-cracker, 
Picicorvus Columbianus, Bon. 
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