109 



2. On new species of Mammalia and Birds from 

 Australia. By J. Gould, F.R.S., F.Z.S. etc. 



The Proceedings of the Zoological Society having been the means 

 by which the many interesting novelties in Natural History obtained 

 during the surveying voyages of Captains King, Beechey, Belcher, 

 Fitzroy, Blackwood, &c., by the naturalists attached to their seve- 

 ral ships, have been made known to the scientific world, a more appro- 

 priate channel cannot, I presume, be selected for communicating the 

 interesting results, so far as known, of the expedition now exploring 

 the coasts of Northern and Eastern Australia, under the command of 

 Capt. Owen Stanley ; and I therefore hasten to lay before the Society 

 such novelties as have been received in the two branches of natural 

 history to which I have devoted myself, viz. Mammaha and Birds. 



The collection recently sent home by Capt. Stanley and INIr. Mac- 

 Gillivray, the able naturalist of H.M.S. ' Rattlesnake,' is a very fine 

 one ; it has been procured on what may be considered hitherto un- 

 trodden ground, I cannot therefore do better than give a list of the 

 whole, — such hsts, showing the geographical distribution of species, 

 being in the highest degree valuable. I have said that the collection 

 is a very fine one, and I must not omit observing that much credit is 

 due to Capt. Stanley for affording the naturalist the requisite oppor- 

 tunities for obtaining so many interesting species ; nor is a lesser meed 

 of praise due to Mr. MacGilhvray, for the very excellent manner in 

 which the specimens are prepared, and the accuracy with which all 

 the information connected with them that could be obtamed has been 

 noted down. The collection of Quadrupeds and Birds only has been 

 placed in my hands for examination, vrith a view to my publishing 

 such novelties as it may contain in my works on these subjects ; after 

 which the specimens are to be sent to the British Museum. The pe- 

 riod that has elapsed since the arrival of the collection has been far 

 too short to admit of my investigating the subject as I could wish ; 

 'I shall therefore, on the present occasion, exhibit some of the species 

 that appear to me to be new, and defer my remarks upon the entire 

 collection to the next or some future meeting of the Society. 



I shall now proceed to describe two species of mammalia and two 

 species of birds from this collection, as follows : — 



Pteropus conspicillatus, Gould. 



Sp. Ch. — Crown of the head black, slightly grizzled with buff ; round 

 each eye a large oval patch of deep brownish buff, which advances on 

 the sides of the face and shows very conspicuously ; at the nape a broad 

 crescent-shaped band of deep sandy buff, which extends dovm the 

 sides of the neck and nearly meets on the breast ; centre of the back 

 glossy black, slightly grizzled with grey ; cheeks, chin, all the under 

 surface and rump, black, slightly grizzled vdth buff ; ears and wing- 

 membranes naked and of a deep purplish black ; claws black. 



Hab. Fitzroy Island. 



This species is about the size of Pteropus jioliocephalus, but has a 



