392 MR. A. NEWTON ON A HYBRID DUCK. [DeC. 10, 



on the side ; there is a very long curved canine tooth on the outer 

 side of the cardiform teeth, followed by a series of five or six teeth 

 of moderate size. Lower jaw with a pair of very strong canines 

 anteriorly, and with four or five strong, canine-like teeth on the 

 side. The upper canines are received in a notch behind those of the 

 lower jaw. Vomerine and palatine teeth in a narrow band, the 

 former angularly bent. 



Lower jaw more than half as long as the head. Prseopercular 

 margin rounded, finely serrated posteriorly, and with a small spine 

 on the middle of its inferior margin, pointing forwards. Pectoral 

 rounded, scaly at the base, as long as the mandible ; ventral not 

 quite half as long as the head. The spinous dorsal is separated from 

 the soft by a very deep notch : the spines are rather slender ; the 

 fifth and sixth are the longest, one fourth of the length of the head. 

 The soft portion higher than the spinous, with the upper margin 

 nearly even ; base scaly. The second anal spine as long as, but 

 stronger than, the third. Caudal truncated. 



Upper part of the head, cheeks, back of the trunk, and the spinous 

 dorsal bright red ; the remainder of the fish yellow, with a very 

 broad, irregular, brown band from the axil to the lower half of the 

 caudal. Head and upper parts of the body with scattered irregular 

 small blue spots, most of which are edged with brown ; the brown 

 band with large dark-brown spots. Fins immaculate, except the 

 spinous dorsal, which has a few small blue spots. 



Freemantle (Australia) . 



Length 15| inches. 



The nearest ally of this species is Plectropoma dentex, Cuv. & Yak; 

 but the coloration, as represented in the ' Voyage de I'Astrolabe ' 

 (Poiss. pi. 4. fig. 2), is so entirely different that we cannot refer our 

 specimen to that species. PI. dentex has been figured for the 

 second time in the ' Voyage of the Erebus and Terror,' pi. 57, from 

 a stuffed specimen in the British Museum. This specimen agrees 

 well with PI. richardsonii in general form, but its original colours 

 have nearly entirely gone ; large round light blotches are still visible 

 on the side of the body, but there is no trace left of the white spots 

 on the back. Whether this specimen belongs to PI. dentex or to 

 PI. richardsonii is impossible to say ; probably it is referable to the 

 former. 



2. On a Hybrid Duck. By Alfred Newton, M.A., F.L.S., 



F.Z.S. 



I am indebted to the kindness of my friend Mr. Newcome for the 

 opportunity of exhibiting to the Society a specimen of a fine hybrid 

 Duck, beautifully mounted by Mr. Ellis of Swaffham, which presents 

 several points of interest. 



This bird (a male) was bred by Mr. Durham of Bremley Grange, 

 near Ripon, from a male Widgeon {Mareca penelope, Selby) and a 

 female which was a cross between the common Wild Duck {Anas 



