63 



" The hybrid bird in my possession, which is a female, may be 

 thus shortly described : 



" Tarsi half-feathered, without spurs, of the same colour as in the 

 Pheasant. Bill resembling that of the Pheasant, both in colour and 

 shape. Irides hazel. Crown and throat mottled black and brown. 

 Neck glossy black, with a tinge of brown. Breast of nearly the same 

 colour as that of the cock Pheasant, but more mottled with black. 

 Tail of the same colour as in the grey Hen ; centre tail feathers 

 longest ; under tail coverts light brown. 



" The plumage of this bird is very curious ; as some parts of it 

 resemble either sex of both black game and Pheasant. 



" I had an opportunity of examining the body after it was taken 

 from the skin, and of comparing it with the black game and the 

 Pheasant. 



" The following are some remarks which I made on its anatomy : 



" Left'oviduct very imperfect ; the ovaries very small ; the eggs 

 scarcely perceptible, and very few in number. 



" The sternum approaches nearer to that of the black Grouse than 

 of the Pheasant ; but the bone is not so massive, the anterior edge 

 of the keel is more scolloped, and the bone between the posterior 

 scollops is not so broad as in the black game. 



" The OS furcatorium is that of the Pheasant, being more arched 

 than in the black game, and having the flat process at the extre- 

 mity next the sternum broader. 



" The pelvis is exactly intermediate between the two, having more 

 solidity, and being both broader and longer than in the Pheasant ; 

 but resembling that of the Pheasant in having the two processes on 

 each side of the caudal vertebrce, which serve for the attachments of 

 the levator muscles of the tail. 



" The subjoined Table shows some comparative measurements 

 between the hybrid bird in question, the cock Pheasant, and the 

 grey Hen. 



Length of the tarsus 



Length of the middle toe 



Expansion of the wings 



Length of the middle tail feathers 

 Length of the intestinal canal from "1 



vent to gizzard J 



Length from the vent to the cceca 

 Length of the cceca 



Mr. Gray exhibited, from his own collection, specimens of a Coral, 



