19 



Plyctolophus productus. Plyct. rostro elongate ; brunneus, capite 

 nvchdque pallidi brunnescenti-griseis, harum dorsique plumis sa- 

 turatiore marginatis ; uropygio, ventre, crissoque saturate rubris; 

 gutture pectoreque flavis, illo ad gulam rubra tincto ; alarum flex- 

 urd subtus flavd olivaceo-rvfo tinctd ; rectricibus ad basin auran- 

 tiaco-fiavo brunneoque fasciatis ; remigum pogoniis internis ad 

 basin subtusque sordidi rufo brunneoque fasciatis. 



Long. tot. 15 unc; ala, 10; Cauda, 6; tarsi, 1-i; rostri, 24-. 



Rostrum pallidum ; pedes saturate brunnei. 



Hab. 



The bill is exceedingly produced, the upper mandible extending 

 fully one half of its total length beyond the lower. 



The bird belongs to that group which has been distinguished by 

 M. Kuhl among the Plyctolophi under the name of Nestor. 



A paper by Mr. Owen was read, entitled, " Descriptions of some 

 new or rare Cephalopoda, collected by Mr. George Bennett, Corr. 

 Memb. Z.S." The subjects referred to in it included specimens of 

 Cranchia scabra. Leach ; a small nondescript Loligo ; the head and 

 principal viscera of a Decapodous Dibranchiate Cephalopod from Port 

 Jackson ; a small nondescript species of Octopus ; and a very small 

 specimen of Argonauta Mans, with its Cephalopodous inhabitant (Ocg- 

 thoe Cranchii, Leach), and a large cluster of ova : all of which were 

 exhibited, in illustration of the communication, by permission of the 

 Curators of the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, of which 

 collection they now form part. 



The specimen of Cranchia scabra was taken by Mr. George Ben- 

 nett in a towing net in lat. 12° 15' S., long. 10° 15' W.; and was 

 at first regarded by him as a species of Medusa : and Mr. Owen 

 observes, that from the uncommon form which this very remarkable 

 Cephalopod presents, one cannot feel surprised that it should have 

 been, at the first view, referred by its captor to a Radiate family, 

 with which the Cephalopods bear, in more than one respect, an ana- 

 logical relation. 



As the type of its genus Mr. Owen eonsiders the Cranch. scabra 

 with reference to the generic characters that separate Cranchia from 

 the neighbouring groups : from Loligo and Onychoteuthis it is di- 

 stinguished by the continuity of its mantle with the dorsal parietes 

 of the head; and from Sepioteutkis, Sepiola, and Rossia by the pro- 

 portions and position of its fins. The form of the fins alone is evi- 

 dently insufiScient in Cephalopods for generic distinctions, as will 

 appear from considering the variations in this respect that occur in 

 the several species of the well-marked genus Onychoteuthis, Licht. ; 

 and also in the several species oi Loligo as at present restricted, some 

 of which, especially Lol. brevis, Blainv., make so close an approxi- 

 mation to Cranch. scabra in the rounded contour, as well as the ter- 

 minal position, of their fins, that were it not that the exterior margin 

 of the mantle is in all of them free on its dorsal aspect, the latter 

 Cephalopod, notwithstanding its singular form, could not be sepa- 

 rated generically from the Loligines on external characters alone. 



