1874.] ON NEW BIRDS FROM THE NAGA HILLS. 43 



only a new species, but a type which I should have least expected 

 to find occurring in Persia. It will be seen that these horns, which 

 I have the pleasure of exhibiting this evening, belong to a member 

 of the Rusine section of the Cervidse, and on the whole resemble 

 more nearly those of the Axis than those of any other species. The 

 small amount of hair which remains below the burrs is also of the 

 same colour as that found surrounding the pedestals of the Indian 

 Axis. As far, however, as it is possible to judge from such a small 

 fragment of the skull, the new Persian deer is decidedly larger than 

 the Axis, and the horns present characters which, taken in con- 

 nexion with the locality from which they were obtained, lead me to 

 believe that they represent a well-defined and unknown species. In 

 the Axis the outermost of the two upper tines is always, in normal 

 specimens, the longest. In the new species the corresponding tine 

 is the shortest, as obtains in all normal specimens of the Cervus hip- 

 pelaphus of Java. In Cervus aristotelis, on the contrary, no character 

 of distinction is afforded by the relative length of these upper tines ; 

 and, as far as it is possible to judge from a single specimen, I think 

 it not at all improbable that this will be found to be the case with 

 this Persian species. In their general texture, in their superior 

 massiveness in comparison with their length, in their wide set, and in 

 a quantity of small details which are very striking to the eye, but 

 appear trivial upon paper, these horns differ from those belonging 

 to any species with which I am acquainted. I therefore propose 

 provisionally to confer upon this species the name of Cervus caspicus, 

 the specimen having been procured from the district of Talisch, on 

 the south-west coast of the Caspian Sea. 



The horns possess strong brow-antlers rising immediately above 

 the burrs, a long massive beam, and two upper points, the outer of 

 which is the shortest. 



Their measurements are as follows : — 



Length round the outside curve 26" 



Length of brow-antlers 8g" 



Largest span from horn to horn 30" 



Circumference of beam 4|" 



6. Descriptions of Ten new Birds from the Naga Hills and 

 Munipur Valley, N.E. Frontier of Bengal. By Major 

 H. H. Godwin-Austen, F.R.G.S., F.Z.S., &c. 



[Eeceived January 5, 1874.] 

 (Plates X., XL & XII.) 



The new birds from which the following descriptions have been 

 drawn up were obtained by me during the field-season of 1872-73, 

 while employed in charge of the Boundary Survey operations along 

 the main watershed of the Brahmaputra and Irrawaddy rivers. 



In presenting this paper I must not omit to acknowledge the 

 very cordial and able assistance that has been given me by Viscount 



