1884.] ON SKINS OF RARE EUROPEAN AND ASIATIC BIRDS. 409 



because a good Dingo ' is necessarily required for the sport, which is 

 a very difficult thing to get, as each tribe keeps only one or two tame 

 Dingoes and these they will not easily part with. It cost me three 

 months' work before I got my first specimen. The flesh of the Boon- 

 gary is greatly appreciated by the natives. It is very palatable ; but 

 this animal, like a great many other Marsupials, is infested by a worm 

 between the muscles and the skin, which of course makes the flesh 

 less inviting. The natives never think of hunting the Boongary 

 without the help of a Dingo trained for this kind of sport. In the 

 morning, while the Dogs still can smell the tracks of the animals, 

 they start for the Boongary chase. All the while they speak in a 

 peculiar characteristic mannerto the Dog, thus : Cha", Cha — Gangary 

 pull-pulka — cha pull — Jingery dundun — Mormango — cha pull (here, 

 here — smell Gangary — smell him — here smell, smell his feet — smart 

 fellow — here smell). As soon as the Dog has found the tracks, it 

 follows them, until it stops at the tree where the Boongary has 

 gone up. One of the blacks climbs up the tree, and either seizes 

 hold of the long tail of the animal with one hand, while with the 

 other he smashes its head with a stick, or compels it to jump down, 

 when it is killed by the Dingo. 



June 17, 1884.' 

 Prof. AT. H. Flower, LL.D., F.K.S., President, in the Chair. 



Mr. Henry Seebohm exhibited some skins of rare European and 

 Asiatic birds, and made the follov^ing remarks : — 



Tetrao fjriseiventris. — This is anew species of Hazel-Grouse from 

 the forests of Tcherdyn between the sources of the Petchora and tlie 

 Kama. It was described and figured as long ago as 1 880 (Menzbier, 

 Bull. Soc. Imp. Nat. Mosc. i. p. 10.5) ; and is an excellent species, 

 nearly allied to the Common Hazel-Grouse, but perfectly distinct 

 from it. Twenty or thirty examples have been ol)tained ; but, so far 

 as is known, none have ever found their way to England before. 



Tetrao miokosiewiczl. — This is another example of an isolated 

 specie.*, being nearly allied to, but jierfectly distinct from, the 

 Common Black Grouse. It breeds in the pine-regions of the 

 Caucasus, str.iying up to the rhododendron-regions to feed. 



Picus major pcehami. — This is the Caucasian form of the Great 

 Spotted Woodpecker. The West-European form of this species is 

 intermediate between the Caucasian form, with chocolate-coloured 

 underparts, and the Arctic form, with snow-white underparts. 



Haliaelus pelagicus. — This magnificent Eagle from Kamschatka 

 is probably the largest Eagle known, and is remarkable for having 

 14 instead of 12 tail-feathers. Adult males with white shoulders 

 are very rare in collections. 



' These Dingoes are obtaiued by the natives when puppies, and are trained 

 for Kangaroo and other hunting, but they seldom breed in confinement, aud 

 generally run away when they become old enough to breed. 



^ Gha cannot be translated literally. 



