326 Miscellaneous. 



G. Elliot on a cat described by Dr. Gray in the ' Proceedings of the 

 Zoological Society ' for 1867 as Felis pardinoides from India, which 

 Mr. Elliot considered to be identical with Felis Oeoffroyi of South 

 America." If Mr. Sclater had referred to page 400 of the ' Pro- 

 ceedings ' above quoted, he would have found that the specimen 

 there described was received from the museum of the Zoological 

 Society, marked as having been brought from " India by Capt. 

 Innes." So if there bo any mistake as to the habitat, the Society is 

 responsible. It is curious that Fells Oeoffroyi is said to be the 

 same as F. pardinoides and Pardalina Warwicki, which have very 

 different skulls. 



Discovery of a remarkable Fossil Bird. By Prof. 0. C. Maesh*. 



One. of the treasures secured during our explorations this year 

 was the greater portion of the skeleton of a large fossil bird, at 

 least five feet in height, which I was fortunate enough to discover 

 in the Upper Cretaceous of Western Kansas. This interesting spe- 

 cimen, although a true bird (as is clearly shown by the vertebrae 

 and some other parts of the skeleton), differs widely from any known 

 recent or extinct form of that class, and affords a fine example of a 

 comprehensive type. The bones are all wcU preserved. The femur 

 is very short ; but the other portions of the legs are quite elongated. 

 The metatarsal bones appear to have been separated. On my re- 

 turn, I shall fuUy describe this unique fossil under the name 

 Hesperornis regalis. — Silliman^s American Journal, Jan. 1872. 



Pigs of the Society Islands. 



" Down by the sea [at Tahiti] was an enormous yard full of pigs, 

 and such pigs ! of all sizes, from a Guinea-pig to a Shetland pony — 

 of all colours, from a zebra to a negro. And as for shape, they were 

 thin where they ought to be fat, long where they ought to be short, 

 more like great wedges with the sharp end uppermost than any 

 thing else I can think of. Such gaunt horrible monsters were 

 never beheld; the scene was like the nightmare of a dyspeptic 

 farmer. 



" The pigs [of Huahine] presented to us turn out to be hideous 

 little animals of some aboriginal breed, at least one third head, and 

 very ugly head too. They gave one the general impression of having 

 been squeezed from their youth up between two tight boards. And 

 their manner corresponded with their appearance : wickeder pork, 

 for its age, I never saw alive. When Stevedore Mitchell civilly 

 offered one a banana, it flew at him and barked like a dog, to his 

 no small discomfiture. Then it dropped on its fore knees, and 

 seemed for some time to be wrapped in religious contemplation. 

 After fortifying its soul with prayer, it quite suddenly, and quite 



* From a letter to Professor Dana, dated San Fraucisco, Cal., Nov. 

 29th, 1871. 



