148 MR. P. L SCLATER ON THE ANATID^E. [Mar. 13, 



It is this imperfection of the description that has left the genus so 

 long unrecognized, and, indeed, made it impossible to determine what 

 it was without the examination of the type specimen. The hair is 

 of a very bright uniform red-brown colour, much redder than in any 

 specimen of Chilonycteris in the British Museum ; but it is a ques- 

 tion whether this is the proper colour of the fur, or whether it arises 

 from the partial bleaching of the specimen, which was probably taken 

 from spirits when it was prepared. The hair is of one uniform colour 

 to the base, wherein it agrees with the description of Lobostoma 

 cinnamomeum of Gundlach from Cuba, which I believe to be only a 

 variety of Chilonycteris macleayii. In the proportions of the arm- 

 bone and the fingers, &c, it also agrees with Chilonycteris macleayii. 



The generic characters of Aello, as given by Dr. Leach, occupy 

 nearly a page of a quarto book, and yet no one has been able to dis- 

 cover the genus. One could not have a more convincing proof that 

 it is not mere length of character that is required to define a genus. 



It is remarkable that Dr. Leach described two genera, Mormops 

 and Aello, so nearly allied to each other, without seeing their rela- 

 tion, and placed one in his group of Bats with leaves on the nose, 

 and the other in that without a nose-leaf. Yet he was a person who 

 had a quick eye for natural affinities ; and zoologists ought never to 

 forget that it is to him we owe our acquaintance with the work of 

 Cuvier and Latreille. It was the desire to present the latter to the 

 English reader that induced him to devote the greater part of his 

 nights to its translation. He made it a rule to translate a certain 

 number of pages every morning before he had his breakfast and 

 began his daily official duties ; and this hard work, I believe, caused 

 the breaking down of his health and early death. 



2. Additional Notes on the Anatidce of the Genera Dendro- 

 cygna and Tadorna. By P. L. Sclater, M.A., Ph.D., 

 F.R.S., &c, Secretary to the Society. 



I have a few additional remarks to offer on the species of Ducks 

 of the genera Bendrocygna and Tadorna, concerning which I have 

 previously communicated some notes to the Society*. 



Sp. 6. Dendrocygna major. 



The occurrence of Bendrocygna major in Madagascar has been 

 confirmed by the receipt of a skin of this species recently collected 

 in that island by Mr. Gerrard, which has been kindly submitted to 

 my examination by Mr. A. Newton f. This species is at once di- 

 stinguishable from B. arcuata by its larger size and the white band 

 across the upper tail-coverts. 



* " Note on the species of Tadorna living in the Society's Menagerie " (P. Z. S. 

 1864, p. 189), and " Note on the Geographical Distribution of the Ducks of the 

 genus Dendrocygna " (ibid. p. 299). 



f See Mr. Newton's account of this collection, P. Z. S. 1865, p. 837. 



