1878.] MR. P. L. SCLATER ON FELIS LANEA. 655 



plumes more produced ; those of the Falklands and Kerguelen have 

 them rather shorter. 



As regards the Australian and New-Zealand bird (E. pachyrhyn- 

 chus of Gray), to which Mr. Sharpe proposes to restrict the name 

 chrysocome of Forster, we likewise doubt its distinctness. The only 

 differential characters given by Mr. Sharpe consist in the relative 

 lengths of the black and yellow feathers of the superciliary tufts. At 

 the same time we should like to examine a series of this form before 

 pronouncing a decided opinion on the point. 



June 18th, 18/8. 

 Arthur Grote, Esq., F.Z.S., V.P., in the Chair. 



Extracts were read from a letter addressed to the Secretary by Mr. 

 E. L. Layard, F.Z.S., dated British Consulate, Noumea, March 

 30th, 1878. 



Mr. Layard pointed out that Mr. Gould's Glycyphila fasciata 

 (Handb. B. Austr. i. p. 499 ; B. Austr. iv. tab. 30) was quite a dif- 

 ferent bird from G. fasciata (Forster) of New Caledonia, the latter 

 being nearly half as large again. Mr. Layard proposed to change 

 the name of the Australian species to G. gouldi. 



Mr. Layard also sent the subjoined note on Petroeca Meinschmidti 

 of Finsch : — 



" Dr. Finsch has described as new, under the name of Petroica 

 Meinschmidti, the little Petroica of Fiji (P. Z. S. 1875, p. 643). I 

 wish to point out that this species will not stand, and that the Fijian 

 species is not separable from the Samoan P. pusilla, Peale. Dr. 

 Finsch says, 'it differs from P. pusilla, Peale, from the Navigators, in 

 lacking the white front and the large white mark on the wing-coverts.' 

 Dr. Finsch's description is evidently taken from a female ; and she 

 lacks the white marks, which, however, are very visible in the male. 



" I have before me two pairs of Fijian birds ( d" and £ ), and 

 three males from Samoa. Unfortunately one of these, from Mr. 

 Whitmee, is unsexed ; the other two are of my own killing : one is 

 a young male, and I have no doubt Mr. Whitmee's bird is also 

 a male ; none are in very good plumage, whereas my Fijian birds 

 are in splendid order. 



" Now, I can affirm that the males are not to be distinguished 

 one from the other, except that the Fijians are in brighter plumage ; 

 so that P. Meinschmidti must sink into a synonym of P. pusilla, with 

 Peale's description of which (U.S. Expl. Exped. p. 165) it entirely 

 agrees." 



Mr. Sclater called the attention of the members present to the 

 unique specimen of his Felis lanea (P. Z. S. 1877, p. 532), still 

 living in the Society's menagerie, and read the subjoined extract 

 from a letter of Mr. E. L. Layard, F.Z.S., relating to this animal : — 



" It will interest you to know that there is a second specimen of 



