420 DR. A. MACALISTER ON GYROPUS DICcoTYLIS. [June 10, 
able rapprochement towards true Scolopax, though we think it best 
to keep it within the limits of Gallinago, its nearest structural allies 
being G. stricklandi and G. jamesoni, both of which have short 
robust tarsi and the tibize feathered, as in the present species, nearly 
down to the tarsal joint. The wings of our single specimen of this 
bird are not in very perfect condition ; but, as far as we can tell, the 
third and fourth primaries would be rather longer than the first and 
second, and longest. The secondaries, as in all Snipes, are very long, 
and in the present bird quite reach to the points of the primaries 
when the wing is closed. The tail-feathers are likewise deficient, 
only three of them remaining in situ. These show no traces of 
transverse markings whatever, in which respect this bird is more like 
true Scolopax than Gallinago. But there are likewise no traces of 
the white terminations of the tail-feathers, which are so conspicuous 
in the Woodcocks. 
3. Note on Gyropus dicotylis, a new Species of Parasite. 
By Avexanper Macarister, Demonstrator of Anatomy, 
Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland*. 
The specimens of this insect which have been submitted to me 
were obtained from the skin of a Collared Peccary (Dicotyles tor- 
quatus) which died in the Dublin Zoological Gardens several years 
ago; and for the opportunity of examining and describing them I 
am indebted to Dr. Carte, Director of the Royal Dublin Society’s 
Museum, and to Mr. Kirby, Assistant Curator, who kindly forwarded 
them to me. As far as I am aware, the species is a new one; and 
accordingly I have followed the practice usually adopted in the no- 
menclature of Anoplura and have named the parasite after its host. 
The specimens submitted to me were ten in number, of both sexes, 
and had been lying in spirits for some months. They accorded in 
all respects with the generic character of Gyropus given by Nitzsch 
(Thierinsekten, p. 44) and Denny, namely :—head depressed, scale- 
like, horizontal; frontal and temporal margins sinuated ; mouth 
anterior; mandibles without teeth; maxille obscure; labium and 
labrum produced, trapezoidal, entire; maxillary palpi long, rigid, 
conical, four-jointed ; labial palps none ; antennz four-jointed, capi- 
tate ; eye inconspicuous or none ; thorax of two segments ; abdomen 
of ten segments; tarsi two-jointed, ungues simple; two posterior 
limbs of each side long, curved to base of femur; stomach symme- 
trical. 
The specimens vary from *]5 to ‘175 of an inch in length, the 
males being rather longer but narrower than the females. The head 
is broader than long. The clypeus is not marked with the deep frontal 
sinuosities which are visible in G. ovalis or gracilis, The temporal 
lobes are produced and acute, with their anterior margin slightly 
* Communicated by Dr. J. Murie. 
