164 PROF. NEWTON ON NEW BIRDS* EGGS. [Jail. 24, 



the hope I formerly expressed, that my good Danish friends would 

 be able to clear up the doubts on this subject ; and the satisfaction 

 is so great that I feel I need not take upon me the invidious task of 

 deciding who hitherto has not had the veritable egg of Nucifraga 

 caryocatactes. I must, however, mention that Herr Fischer has 

 published in the new series of Kroyer's 'Tidsskrift' for 1863 and 

 1864 two papers, giving an account of the breeding of the Nut- 

 cracker in Bornholm {Gf. Ibis, 1865, p. 226). 



Tooth-billed Pigeon. 



Bidunculus strigirostris (Jardine). (PL XV. fig. 6.) 



The extinction of this species, which seems so speedily impending, 

 makes any excuse for dwelling on so great a rarity as a specimen of 

 its egg unnecessary. The specimen figured was entrusted to my 

 care by Mr. Bartlett, our Superintendent, to whom it was delivered 

 by the person who had charge, during the voyage to England, of the 

 living Bidunculus presented to the Society in 1864 by Dr. Bennett 

 (P. Z. S. 1864, p. 158). The specimen (PI. XV. fig. 6) is of a 

 large size in proportion to that of the bird, measuring 1"78 inch by 

 1*16 inch, and, notwithstanding that it was laid under very unnatural 

 circumstances, does not appear to me to be abnormally developed. 

 Though it possesses the normal form, it is not of so pure a white 

 colour as is generally seen in the eggs of the Columbce, but has a 

 pale greenish-grey tinge. 



HoAZIN. 



Opisthocomus cristatus (Linnaeus). (PL XV. fig. 7.) 



Among the various forms of bird-life which the more cautious 

 systematists regard as " incertce sedis," the Hoazin must be looked 

 upon as one of the most remarkable. The egg of this species is 

 stated by Mons. Des Murs (Oologie Ornithologique, pp. 408, 409) 

 to have been first made known to naturalists by Mons. Alcide d'Or- 

 bigny ; but, so far as I am aware, it has never yet been figured ; and 

 the specimen I exhibit is the only one I remember to have seen, 

 though examples should exist, according to the distinguished oolo- 

 gist I have quoted, in the Museums of Paris and Philadelphia. It 

 was sent by an officer of the Royal Artillery to Mr. Whiteley of 

 W^oolwich, who has kindly lent it to me. Its dimensions are 1*74 

 inch by I "33 inch ; and its colouring cannot be better described than 

 in Mons. Des Murs's words: — " Le fond de la coquille est d'un 

 blanc k'gerement carne, avec quelques taches de couleur de sang 

 fige, d'autres, en plus grand nombre, de couleur de brique ro- 

 satres, et plusieurs, assez larges, d'une teiute gris-lilas ou grisatre- 

 violacee." 



Its resemblance to the eggs of some of the Rallidce {Poi-phyrio 

 for example) is manifest ; but I do not on that account suppose that 

 this very strange form is allied to that family ; indeed its osteology, 

 according to M]\I. Gervais, Lherminier and De Castelnau, in my 

 opinion, entirely precludes such a view. 



