430 Bulletin of the British 



striped forms of Apt e)'i/ a; sliow a mixed character of markings. 

 We may therefore fairly deduce this fact, that, whatever 

 else it may be, Apteryx haasti is certainly not a hybrid 

 between Apteryx australis and Apteryx oweni." 



Mr. E. Hartert exhibited some skins of Eupsychortyx, 

 and remarked that among a number of bird-skins from 

 Venezuela, recently received at Mr. Walter Rothschild's 

 Museum at Tring, were specimens of the Eupsychortyx 

 sonninii from the plain of Valencia; while from Cumana, on 

 the north coast of Venezuela, there was an apparently new 

 species, which he proposed to call 



-f- Eupsychortyx mocquerysi, sp. nov. 



This is nearest to E. sonninii (Temm.), but differs from it 

 in having the throat white all along the middle, most of the 

 feathers showing distinct narrow cross-bars of black. The 

 breast, instead of being pale vinaceous brown with fine black 

 vermiculations and sparsely spotted with white, is of a 

 peculiar vinaceous-cinnamon and quite uniform except on the 

 lower part. This same colour extends — slightly brightened 

 in tint — down the abdomen and sides of the body, where, 

 however, it is varied by large white spots bordered with black. 

 Length about 9 inches, wing 4"1 to 4*25, tail 2*6, tarsus I'l, 

 middle toe with claw 1"35. 



Dr. BowDLER Sharpe made some remarks on the classifi- 

 cation of the Herons, with reference to the monographic 

 papers of Dr. llcichenow (J. f. O. 1877, pp. 225-277) and 

 Dr. Stejneger (Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. x. pp. 271-319). The 

 last-named naturalist had divided the Ardeime into two 

 groups, Herons and Bitterns, the former having twelve 

 tail-feathers and the latter ten. This Dr, Sharpe considered 

 to be an excellent arrangement, and in the latter group he 

 proposed to place the genera Botaurus, Ardetta, Nannocnus, 

 Ardeirallus, and Zebrilus. All the specimens of the last 

 genus in the British Museum possessed ten tail-feathers, 

 though Dr. Keichenow had given the number as twelve. 



