lOS LETTER FROM PROF. J. REINHARDT. [Feb. 4, 



February 4, 1879. 

 Dr. A. Gunther, F.R.S., V.P., in the Chair. 



The Secretary made the following report on the additions to the 

 Society's Menagerie during January 1879 : — 



The total number of registered additions to the Society's Mena- 

 gerie during the month of January was 83, of which 2 were by birth, 

 43 by presentation, 25 by purchase, 9 received in exchange, and 4 

 received on deposit. The total number of departures during the 

 same period, by death and removals, was 96. 



The most noticeable additions during the month were : — 



1. A Bar-winged Rail {Rallina pcecilojitera, Hartlaub), from the 

 Fiji Islands, purchased of the " Museum Godeffroy " of Hamburg, 

 January 6th, new to the collection. 



2. A young male Giraffe {Camelopardalis giraffa), received on 

 deposit from Mr. Rice, January 27th, and intended to be purchased 

 if it appear to be perfectly healthy. The recent death of one of 

 the two males of this animal has rendered this proposed acquisition 

 desirable. 



Mr. Sclater read the foUowuig extract from a letter received from 

 Prof. J. Reinliardt, F.M.Z.S., dated Zoological Museum, Coj)en- 

 hagen, August 2, 1876: — 



"There is living at present in the Zoological Gardens of this place 

 a Curassow which seems to deserve some attention. 



"It is a ' Mitua,' agreeing with M. tuherosa iu })Ossessing a crest 

 of elongated straight feathers, which can be erected quite as in this 

 species ; but the beak is differently shaped, and more like that of 

 M. tomentosa. It is, however, its colouring which exhibits the 

 chief interest, the belly being pure white, and the tail-feathers 

 broadly tipped with the same colour. 



" I never saw such a bird before ; and I have failed to find any 

 indication of it in the literature known to me. At first I was 

 inclined to suppose that the bird in question n)ight be, perhaps, the 

 female of M. tuberosa ; but this suggestion implies that the sexual 

 difference in this case is exactly the contrary to the general rule 

 in the family. It also seems to be a well-established fact that the 

 sexes are alike in the genus Milua ; and you yourself have given 

 the weight of your high authority to this statement. Nor does 

 it seem likely that the bird can be the immature or young Mitua 

 tuherosa. I have at least never heard of a change of the colour of 

 the abdomen, as a bird advances in age, from white to rufous in any 

 of the Cracidse. Moreover, as Natterer has collected such a large 

 number of specimens of Curassows (and i)articularly not less than 

 thirty-four of the two well-known species of Mitua), such a change 

 could scarcely have escaped this most acute observer if it really 



