576 Zoological Society . 



small, especially the latter ; the metatarsal bones are evidently not 

 consolidated, as in the Jerboas : the tail exceeds the head and body 

 in length (the latter being measured in a straight line), and exhibits 

 scales and minute interspersed hairs at the base, like the Rats ; but the 

 apical third is furnished with long hairs, averaging rather more than 

 half an inch in length ; those which spring from the upper surface 

 are of a brown-black colour, but on the under surface they are white : 

 the fur of the animal is rather long, and veiy soft ; the general colour 

 of that of the upper surface of the head and body is brownish yellow, 

 freely pencilled with black ; on the sides of the body a yellowish hue 

 prevails ; the whole of the under parts, as well as the feet, are white ; 

 the hairs on both the upper and under parts of the body are of a 

 deep slate-grey at the base. The dimensions of this interesting little 

 animal are as follows : — 



inches, lines. 



From nose to root of tail 5 6* 



ear 1 2 



Length of tail 5 7 



ear 10 



tarsus 1 2 



It was procured by Mr. Gould from Western Australia. 



Nov. 24. — William Yarrell, Esq., Vice-President, in the Chair. 



A Letter from Mr. Frembly, R.N., Corresponding Member Z.S., 

 dated Gibraltar, November 1.3th, 1840, was read. In this letter 

 Mr. Frembly states that he had forwarded for the Society's Museum 

 a species of Petrel, rarely met with at Gibraltar, and that he is in 

 expectation of a collection from Brazil, from which he will select 

 some specimens to present to the Society. 



In a letter from Charles Clarke, Esq., dated Colwich Molesley, 

 November 2nd, 1840, which was read, that gentleman, at the request 

 of the Curator, furnishes an account of the habits of a bird recently 

 presented by him to the Society. The bird alluded to " is a native 

 of the mountain-forests of Cuba, never being seen nor heard in the 

 plains. It is named the ' Musician' by the coffee-planters, who in- 

 variably, in the south-eastern parts of the island, select the moun- 

 tains for the site of their plantations, from the well-known fact, that 

 the higher the elevation, cceteris paribus, the better the coffee ; and 

 this rule may be said to hold good in Cuba, to the height of 3000 

 feet above the level of the sea. 



" The presence of this bird, in land intended to be cleared, is always 

 hailed as highly satisfactory, as indicative of a cool temperature, and 

 therefore of a climate suited for the production of high-priced coffee. 



" The specimen presented to the Society was shot in a mountain- 

 halt of forest named ' Brazos de Cauto,' varying perhaps from 1500 

 to 2500 feet of elevation, and it is found in all parts of that range. 

 The thermometer rises in the lowest parts to 80° Fahrenheit in the 

 summer heats (whilst it will stand in Santiago de Cuba at the same 

 time at 90°) ; below this, and of course in a higher temperature, the 

 bird is not known to exist. 



