144 TiMEHRI. 



Curtis, who presented them to the Museum, and 

 gave an unique chance of a proper preservation 

 of the skins. 



The Hoatzin. — This most curious of all living birds, the 

 Opisthocomus cristatus, commonly known in the colony 

 as anna, stinking pheasant and Canje pheasant, has 

 recently been the subje6l of considerable investigation, 

 based on specimens of adult birds, nestlings and incubated 

 eggs, colle6ted in Berbice and forwarded to London 

 preserved in strong spirit — the cost being defrayed 

 by a small grant from the funds of the Royal Society 

 through Dr. SCLATER, the Secretary of the Zoological 

 Society of London. Some preliminary notes, with special 

 reference to the fun6tionaI claws on the pollex and 

 index of the young, and to the pterylography of the 

 birds, have recently been published in the Ibis, by Mr: 

 Beddard, Prose6tor of the Zoological Society ; an 

 elaborate memoir has been prepared by Professor 

 Parker, who has termed his subje6l, the " Reptilian 

 Bird ; while notes on the habits of the birds have 

 been contributed by me for the next issue of the 

 Ibis. A detailed notice of the chief morphological and 

 other features connefted with the birds, will be published 

 in a later issue of this journal. 



The Fin-foot. — This is the common name given to a 

 small coot-like bird, Heliornis fiilica, usually known in 

 British Guiana as little ducklar, frog-footed duck 

 and narrow-bill duck. It is very common in certain 

 parts, as I discovered in the upper waters of the Abary 

 creek {Timehri, 1888, No. xiv, p. 373), where they were 



