Mr. R. Swinhoe on a new Rat from Formosa. 71 



part of the second dorsal is speckled with white. Anal papilla of 

 moderate size and forked. Total length 3| inches. 



Hab. Clarence River, and creeks near Port Denison. Discovered 

 by Mr. James F. Wilcox. 



Description of a New Species of the Genus Mergus. 

 By John Gould, F.R.S., etc. 



Mergus squamatus, Gould. 



Crown of the head, lengthened crest, and neck rusty brown ; upper 

 surface brownish grey ; tuft of feathers at the insertion of the wing 

 grey, passing into white near the tip, and broadly margined with 

 black ; lesser wing-coverts grey ; greater coverts grey at the base, 

 passing into black about the middle of the feathers, beyond which 

 they are creamy white ; primaries very dark or blackish brown ; 

 lower part of the throat and all the under surface pale buff ; sides of 

 the breast and the whole of the flanks down to the tail deep rich 

 buff, with two narrow irregular crescentic bands of blackish brown 

 on each feather, one within the other, the outer one near the edge, 

 the inner one near the middle ; a similar style of marking pervades 

 the space behind the legs, the lower part of the back, and the upper 

 tail-coverts, but the markings in those parts are wider, of a greyer 

 tint, and intermingled with each other; tail greyish brown, the 

 central feathers freckled on their margins with greyish white. 



Total length 23 inches ; bill 2| ; wing 10 ; tail 4^ ; tarsi 2. 



Hab. China. 



Remark. — The above description was taken from an example which 

 I consider to be either immature or in its winter livery. In size it 

 is intermediate between Mergus castor and M. merganser. When- 

 ever a specimen is procured in its nuptial dress, it will doubtless prove 

 to be a bird of great beauty. This new species is at once distin- 

 guished from the other members of its genus by the squamate form 

 of the markings on the flanks, which has suggested the specific 

 name assigned to it. 



May 10, 1864.— Dr. E. Hamilton in the Chair. 



On a New Rat from Formosa. By Robert Swinhoe, F.Z.S. 

 Mus Coninga, n. sp. 



M. corpore supra rufoy setis nigris spinosis sparso, subtus abrupte 

 albo : auribus rotundis, fuscis : cauda tonga^ squamosa^ setosa : 

 pedibus albis. 



Corp. long. 8 poll., caud. 9 poll. 



Upper parts reddish brown, sprinkled with stiff black bristles, more 

 especially on the back, where the fur is also often a little dark ; ears 

 and fore part of legs deep brown ; tail composed of short rings of 

 scales set with short stiff bristles, deep brown on its upper parts, 

 whitish on the lower and for about If inch of tip ; a ring of black 

 runs round the lids of the eye ; whiskers on sides of muzzle and a 



