292 MR. E. BARTLETT ON THE AFFINITIES OF MEsires. [ Mar. 20, 
Ruminants, it seems to me that to call it a Deer is altogether against 
the tendency of the facts at our disposal. No known Deer has a 
gall-bladder, or a filiform termination to its urethra. How can we 
place with the Cervidee, therefore, an animal which possesses both ? 
5. Remarks on the Affinities of Mesites. By Epwarp Barr- 
Lett, Esq., Curator of the Maidstone Museum. 
[Received March 7, 1877.] 
Some months ago I received a small collection of Mammals and 
Birds obtained on the south-east coast of Madagascar by Mr. 
Thomas Waters. Among them was a fine pair of specimens of 
Mesites variegata, which are now in the collection of Mr. R. J. Bal- 
ston. Having examined the two skins of this rare bird very care- 
fully, and not feeling satisfied that the genus has been arranged in 
its proper group by former systematists, I venture to lay before the 
Society the following notes, trusting that they may lead to a more 
careful investigation of the affinities of Mesites, and of the position 
which it should take in a natural classification. 
In the Zoological Society’s ‘ Proceedings’ for 1861, my father 
(Mr. A. D. Bartlett) first pointed out the affinities of Baleniceps, 
Burypyga, ard Cancroma, as evidenced by their ‘ powder-down 
patches.” Now, strange to say, while examining the skins of 
Mesites, I discovered two of these patches very distinct on the back 
of the neck. This naturally led me to search for others, which, to 
my surprise, I found—one on each side of the lower part of the rump, 
close to the tail, one on each side of the upper part of the pectoral 
muscles, a third pair, one on each side, running across the ribs, on 
to the pectoral muscle, and a fourth pair, one on each side of the 
abdominal region, running paraliel with the vent, making in all five 
pairs of powder-down patches. This exceeds the number found in 
Cancroma (which has four pairs) by one pair, the extra pair being 
those placed across the ribs. 
I have examined skins of Lurypyga helias, and have found other 
charaeters which confirm my opinion that Mesi¢es is an aberrant 
form of the Ardeine group. 
The bill is like that of Eurypyga, long and slender, the nostrils 
reaching more than half the length; the wings are rounded; the 
legs long, slender, and naked above the tarsus. This is the case in 
Eurypyga and all the Herons, although in other respects Mesites is 
very Thrush-like'. 
Another, and one of the most peculiar characters with regard to 
Mesites and Eurypyga, is that the quills of the soft feathers on the 
back and rump are extremely fine and delicate in the centre, which 
causes the tip of each feather to turn the reverse way directly the 
' The legs are represented in Gray's ‘Genera of Birds’ as feathered to the 
tarsus, which is wrong; in the specimens before me they are naked and scaly 
# inch up the tibia, 
