34 SKELETONS AND SKULLS OF rBODELPHlNUS—TRUE. vol. xvii. 



tebral column iu wliicli the various processes and foramina originate 

 and disappear J the number of phalanges, the absolute and relative 

 dimensions of the skull, and many other important details. In treating 

 of Dr. Abbott's specimens I shall follow the method originated by Dr. 

 Liitkeu, thereby supplying the means for further comparisons. 



In spite of certain differences in coloration, etc., I. regard all of Dr. 

 Abbott's specimens as belonging to the same species. They seem to 

 me identical with the specimens (I^os. 8 and 3) which Dr. Llitken iden- 

 tified (rightly I believe) with Gray's species (ittenuatiis. The question 

 of their relationship to other species I shall pass over for the present, 

 and shall proceed to describe them in detail. The material is as 

 follows : 



a. Complete skeleton of a male, 6 feet 2 inches long, from off the Amirautes Islands ; 

 obtained Febrnary 12, 1893. No. 36049. 



h. SktiU of a female, 7 feet long, from off the Amirantes lslaud.s ; obtained February 

 15, 1893. No. 360.50. 



c. Sknll of a female, 6 feet 1 inch long, from off Alphon.se Island. No. 36131. 



d. Complete skeleton of a female, 6 feet 2 inches long, from off Providence Island; 

 obtained Angnst 12, 1892. No. 360.51. 



e. Complete skeleton of a male, 5 feet 6A inches long, irom off J ohainia Island; 

 obtained January 15, 1893. No. 36048. 



The external coloration is given by Dr. Abbott as follows : 



No. 36049, S ; Amirantes Islands. — Above, blackish ; belo\v,light grayer ashy, with a 

 sharply-defined line of division between the two colors. Belly speckled with black 

 spots of the size of barley grains. "Black portion saddle-shaped, narrowing in front, 

 passing to' the base of the rostrum, and 4 im'hes above the eye. A darkish line passes 

 throiTgh the eye. Eostruni black above, gray beneath, with black spots the size of 

 barley grains."' 



No. 360.50, female, Amirantes Islands. — Above, dark gray, speckled with white; 

 beneath, light gray. (Whether the colors are sharply separated is not si)ecified iu 

 this instance.) 



No. 36131, female, Alphonsc Island. — Color dark gray or ashy; above, nearly 

 black; beneath, light, with a sharply defined lino of deniarkation. Belly not 

 sjieckled. 



No. 36051, female, Providence Island. — Dark gray or ashy; darkest on the back, 

 speckled with white below. 



No. 36048, male, Johanna Island. — Back, dark ashy; beneath, pale ashy, speckled 

 with irregularly-shaped dark ashy spots the size of maize grains. Line between 

 dark and light parts sharply defined, especially on the head, Avhere it passes 3 

 inches above the eye to the base of the rostrum. 



It will be observed that the ground-color iu all these specimens is 

 quite uniform, and that the chief dift'erence is in the spotting. It is also 

 worthy of remark that the spots of the females are white, while those of 

 the males are black or dark gray. This may be accidental, but the idea 

 that the difference in the color of the spots is a sexual character derives 

 some support from the fact that the type of Gray's D.pvnctatns (consid- 

 ered by me as identical with P. aftenuatns), which was a female, had 

 white spots. Dr. Liitkeu * does not refer to the presence of spots in 



*L. c, I). 45. 



