2504 The Zoologist — March, 1871. 



In the adult bird the beak is dark brown, becoming reddish 

 brown on the lower mandible; inside of the mouth rich salmon- 

 colour; feet and legs vermilion-rcd, inclining to orange in some 

 cases. In the young bird the beak is almost black throughout ; 

 the inside of the mouth lighter in tint than in the adult: legs and 

 feet livid pink. The irides in both old and young dark brown, but 

 no colouring round the eyelid at this season of the year. 



The stomachs of some of those dissected contained remains of 

 small fish, shrimps and sand-worms, with sand and gritty sub- 

 stances. In the stomach of one were five sticklebacks, some of 

 which could be identified as the ten-spined species; in another 

 was a small fragment of chalk with sea-weed attached, and some- 

 thing very like a minute portion of mutton fat. Examples in the 

 flesh, weighed by Mr. T. E. Gunn, varied from three ounces in 

 immature birds to four and a half ounces in adults. 



n. Stevenson. 



Norwich, Pecember, 1870. 



Anatomical Peculiarity of the Hooper^s Beak. 

 By Frederick Botes, Esq., and W. W. Boulton, Esq. 



1 HAVE just had the pleasure of seeing three or four hoopers, in 



the flesh, and on a careful examination of these noble birds I find 



an arrangement in tiicir upper mandibles that I believe has not 



been previously recorded. 1 have pointed this out to my friend 



W. W. Boulton, M.R.C.S., and he has kindly written me the 



enclosed letter on the subject. 



F. BovES. 

 Beverley, East Yorkshire. 



Beverlej', Yorksliire, January 9, 1871. 



My attention was for the first time called to a ))cculiarity in the 

 beak of Cygnus ferus the other day, by Mr. Frederick Boyes, of 

 Beverley. I was not, unfortunately, i)erniitted to dissect the head 

 careCully, as it was intended for preservation, but of several facts 

 (I believe hitherto unnoticed) I was able to make myself pretty 

 confident. 



First, I obseived that about an inch beyond the feathers of the 

 forehead, forwaids across the cere, is a tuberosity, most prominent 



