142 - MR. A, NEWTON ON BIRDS FROM MADAGASCAR. [May 13, 
malformation, and it is believed that they belonged to the same 
covey. : 3 
2. The ceecal appendages of the Impeyan Pheasant (Phasianus 
impeyanus), for the purpose of showing their large size. The two 
when distended measured 18 inches in length, and held seven ounces 
of water. Dr. Crisp said that, with the exception of the larger size 
of these czeca and a larger number of tracheal rings, the visceral 
anatomy of this bird differed in no important points from that of 
our common Pheasant (P. colchicus). 
3. The tail-glands of the Black Swan (Cygnus atratus) and of 
the Red-throated Diver (Colymbus septentrionalis). In both these 
birds the elevatores coccygis were seen to be firmly inserted into the 
posterior part of the glands, so as to aid materially in the expulsion 
of their contents. 
Mr. Fraser exhibited for Lord Powerscourt an enormous pair of 
antlers with forty-four points, supposed to be those of the Red Deer, 
from the Carpathian Mountains. Their weight was stated to be 
seventy-four pounds ; the length of each antler 5 feet 8 mches, fol- 
lowing the curve, the distance direct from the base to the tip of 
each antler being 4 feet 33 inches, the greatest width of the antlers 
5 feet 5 inches. The following was Lord Powerscourt’s memoran- 
dum respecting this remarkable specimen :— 
“This pair of horns was bought for me by the Hon. Julian Fane, 
at Vienna, about six weeks ago. The history he got with them was 
that they had belonged to a person who lived near Kronstadt in Tran- 
sylvania; that they were sold out of his Schloss, on his death lately, 
and bought by a travelling merchant, who again sold them to a burgher 
of Vienna, from whom Julian Fane bought them for me for £50.” 
Mr. Alfred Newton exhibited some birds, collected in Madagascar 
by his brother Mr. Edward Newton and Dr. Roch (both Corre- 
sponding Members of the Society), who had formed part of the 
Mission lately sent to that island by the Government of Mauritius. 
He remarked that last autumn, when news of the despatch of the 
envoys reached England, regrets had been expressed in some of the 
public prints that no professional naturalist had been attached to the 
Mission, and that the Society’s Secretary had then pointed out, in a 
letter to The Times, that the fears so manifested were groundless. | 
The Secretary’s opinion had been fully verified, as regarded Orni- 
thology, by the collections transmitted home by those gentlemen. 
Though small, they consisted chiefly of specimens of great interest 
and rarity, few of the species being contained in any museum in this 
country. Dr. Hartlaub’s description of one bird, entirely new to 
science, the Society would shortly hear read; and there could be 
little doubt that the notes and observations which Dr. Roch and Mr, 
Edward Newton were about to publish in ‘ The Ibis’ would well de- 
serve the notice of naturalists interested in the Fauna of Madagascar. 
Mr. Newton added that he understood that a collection of Reptiles 
