542 Zoological Society. 



two middle tail feathers, white ; under surface buff; eyes black ; bill 

 and feet brownish black. 



Total length, 6 inches ; bill, | ; wing, 3 ; tail, 3i ; tarsi, ^. 



Hab. Van Diemen's Land and the southern coast of Australia. 



A new and highly interesting Pigeon as 



CoLUMBA (Peristera) HiSTRiONicA. Col. cupite nigvo ; fronte, 

 spatio circum plmnas auriculares necnon notd semilunari apud 

 gulam albis ; corpore suj)erne e cinnamomino fusco ; subtus cceru- 

 lescenti-cinereo . 



Forehead, a stripe from behind the eye forming a circle round the 

 ear-coverts, and a crescent-shaped mark across the throat, snow- 

 white ; the remainder of the head, throat and ear coverts, jet black; 

 all the upper surface, wdng coverts, flanks, and two centre tail feathers, 

 deep cinnamon brown ; edge of the shoulder dull white ; spurious 

 wing bluish gray, slightly margined with white ; primaries brown- 

 ish gray, margined on their outer webs with rufous, at the base of 

 the inner web largely marked with the same, forming a conspicuous 

 patch on the under surface of the wing ; and with an oval spot of 

 white at the tip of each feather ; secondaries by a beautiful band of 

 deep crimson-bronze on the outer webs near the tip ; lateral tail 

 feathers bluish gray at the base, passing into black toward the ex- 

 tremity, which is white ; breast and centre of the abdomen bluish 

 gray; under tail coverts light buff; nostrils and bill black; irides 

 dark brown ; frontal scales of the legs and feet lilac-red ; hind part 

 of the legs flesh-red. 



Total length, 10| inches; bill, 1 ; wing, 8; tail, 3^; tarsus, 1. 



Hab. Plains of interior of Australia. 



And a Rasorial bird of an entirely new form, about half the size 

 of a Quail, and which, were it not for the presence of a hind toe, 

 might be taken for a diminutive Bustard. 



Mr. Gould proposed to make it the type of a new genus, with the 

 following appellation and characters : — 



Genus Pedionomus. 



Gen. Char. — Rostrum tam longum quam caput, apicem versus com- 

 pressum, fere rectum, naribus valde elongatis, in fovea, basali positis. 

 AlcB valde concavse, remigibus primo, secundo, et tertio, inter se ferfe 

 sequalibus, remigibus tertiariis perlongis, et primarios transeuntibus. 

 Tibice super suffraginem nudee. Tarsi mediocriter elongati, scutis 

 undique tecti, his, reticulis minutis, sejunctis. Digiti quatuor ; ho- 

 rum posticus, debilis, et apud partem internam tarsi, sursvim positus. 



Pedionomus torquatus. Ped. vertice et pectore rufis, singulis 

 plumis prope apicem lunuld nigrd notatis ; collari lato, albo, 

 crebre maculis nigris guttata. 



Crown of the head brown speckled with black, sides of the head 

 and the neck light buff speckled with black ; neck surrounded by a 

 broad band of white thickly spotted with black ; all the upper sur- 

 face reddish brown, each feather having several narrow, transverse, 

 crescent- shaped marks in the centre and margined with buff; tail 

 buff, crossed by numerous narrow brown bars ; centre of the breast 



