352 Zoological Society, 



name of Londra may be given. The Andalusian bird would thus be 

 the Londra Calandra, and an undescribed species from China, now in 

 the gardens of the Society, appears to form a second example of this 

 genus. The generic characters of Londra are as follow : 



Londra. Genus novum. 



Rostrum crassum; capitis longitudinem sequans; basi altum, sub- 

 compressum ; maxilla arcuata; tomiis integerrimis. 



Nares plumis anticum versus tectse. 



Alee corpore longiores, acuminatse ; remigibus, prima sub-abbreviata, 

 tertia longissima, secunda et quarta fere sequalibus ; reliquis gra- 

 datim brevioribus. 



Cauda cuneata. 



Pedes robusti ; unguis hallucis rectus elongatus. 



Typus est, Alauda Calandra. 



" The specific characters of Londra Calandra as published are suffi- 

 ciently accurate. 



*' The following are the measurements of a male bird ; and as I 

 have seen many scores of them, I think I may say they would apply 

 to the generality of individuals of the species. 



" Length, from the tip of the bill to the rump, 5 inches ; bill, ^-g-; tail, 

 2i inches ; tibia, 1 -^V; tarsi, including nail, 1-rV; hind claw, -^-j- inch ; 

 liver of two lobes, one much longer than the other ; gall-bladder 

 fully developed ; spleen cylindrical, tV inch ; intestines, 9 -ro- inches ; 

 duodenum very wide ; small intestines narrow ; cceca, -^, little more 

 than oblong specks ; colon, | inch long ; gizzard very small ; but di- 

 gastric muscle, -2V inch thick ; testes very large, nearly globular ; 

 irides black. These birds are fed upon canary seed in Andalusia, but 

 in Lisbon they are fed upon wheat ; nevertheless they are fond of 

 raw meat, flies, and worms. They are soon accustomed to confine- 

 ment, and they sing unconcernedly, although surrounded by spec- 

 tators; their notes, some of which are a kind of double-tongueing 

 in the phrase of flute players, are remarkably rich and full." 



Mr. Blyth made some remarks on the plumage and progressive 

 changes of the Crossbills, stating that, contrary to what has ge- 

 nerally been asserted, neither the red nor saffron-tinted garb is in- 

 dicative of any particular age. He had known specimens to acquire 

 a second time the red plumage, and that much brighter than before ; 

 and he exhibited to the Meeting two individuals recently shot from 

 a flock in the vicinity of the metropolis, which were exchanging their 

 striated nestling feathers for the saff*ron-coloured dress commonly 

 described to be never acquired before the second moulting. 



