Mollusca.—Birds. 421 
surface was in lifea tentaculum more or less branched, semitransparent, 
agreeably coloured, varying from half to one inch in length, each arm of 
which used to stretch itself out in all directions, the different stems on 
the head, neck, and body alternately contracting or expanding, while the 
dorsal sack was constantly opening and shutting its edges, and the sin- 
gular apparatus within in perpetual and curiously varying activity. 
These animals die shortly after being taken out of the sea; and although 
some of them have been brought up to me without delay in sea water, 
I have never had the time, even if I had possessed the ability, to draw 
their figure. Nor is there any artist here, that I know of, who is atall 
capable of doing justice to subjects of this description, of which there are 
here many hundreds probably of the most interesting kind. I must not 
omit to mention that this 4plysia, though apparently dead, afforded a 
liquor which, applied to linen, soon changed it to a good purple hue. 
You are now informed of the contents of the breaker. Another pack- 
age, a deal box, has also been sent to your address, which contains some 
bottles well secured from breakage, and other things. Among these I 
am glad to say there are some specimens in your favourite department of 
Ornithology, though I regret that they are not in the state in which I 
should have desired to send them. But I prefer much to receive them in 
an imperfect condition to being wholly without them, knowing that even 
in such a state they may still afford very useful information to an able 
Naturalist. The first I shall notice of these is a splendid species, to the 
characters of which I can find no parallel in any books I have, It was 
killed some time ago in Manchester, and appears to be extremely rare in 
the interior of the Island. The person who killed it has since died, and 
my endeayours to find out any particulars about the bird, and especially 
of the areola round the eye, and of the iris, have been fruitless. The 
horizontally produced upper mandible, the variety and brilliancy of its 
colours, and the contrast of the alar specula to its other hues will recom- 
mend this indiyidval to your attention, 2dly. There is a variety ,of 
Phatton ethereus, (3, with this peculiarity, that, it has but a single long 
feather in the tail, and that each of the tail feathers has its. shaft: black. 
That these are not accidental variations will be clear from their equally 
