380 DR. W. PETERS ON 6ALAGO DEMIDOFFII, [NoV. 10, 



different species from Phaethon phoenicurus, the under plumage being 

 of a duller tint : none could be obtained, although many were shot. In 

 34° N. lat. and 140° .W. Ion. the sea, for two days in a calm, swarmed 

 with a species of Vitella : no square foot of the ocean within sight 

 was without four or five of them. I have never seen life so abundant. 

 North of the line we had always some Albatroses accompanying the 

 ship ; some were caught ; they belonged to Diomedea nigripes of 

 Audubon. Two solitary specimens of D. brachyura, Temm., were 

 seen near the Straits of Fuca. I cannot agree with Mr. Cassin * when 

 he says that "D. nigripes is only the young of D. brachyura." 

 These species were never seen together, although thirty or forty of 

 the Black Albatros were seen each day. Among the latter, occa- 

 sionally specimens were noticed having a ring of white around the 

 base of the tail. "Diomedea nigripes (Aud.) : — Alar extent 84| inches, 

 length 31|^ inches, bill 3*3 inches, tarsus 4'6 inches, wing 37"2 inches. 

 Bill and entire body brownish black ; legs black ; base of bill whitish; 

 white patches beneath the eye, and extending posteriorly for a short 

 distance. Under wing-coverts lighter than rest of body ; primaries 

 with white shafts, shading towards tips into black, one dark brown." 

 I am sorry that the voyage has been so meagre of natural-history 

 results, but hope to be able to make up for it by researches in British 

 Columbia and the Sandwich Islands. 



3. Note on the Galago demidoffii of Fischer. 

 By Dr. William Peters, For. Memb. 



(Plate XXXV.) 



G. Fischer f published, in 1806, a paper on a small Galago, which 

 he named, in honour of the Chevalier de Demidoff, Galago demidoffii. 

 Besides a plate representing the animal of the natural size, he gave 

 the following very short description : — 



" Elle a la grosseur d'une souris, des oreilles nues et une iongue 

 queue tr^s-touffue. Son poll est roussatre, son dessous grisatre, et 

 le cou noiratre. Des polls tres-longs, en forme de moustache, cou- 

 vrent les coins de la bouche, les joues et le coin de I'oeil." 



Total length 2" 2'", tail 3" 1'", head 1" 1'", arms 1" 5'", legs 2" 6'", 

 thigh 8'", tibia 10'", foot and tarsus 1". 



The specimen noticed by Fischer has not been examined by any 

 later writer ; and as in its size it more resembles the smaller species 

 of Madagascar Lemurs (^Microcebus, Chirogaleus, &c.) than the 

 known species of Galago, it has ever been doubted whether it really 

 belonged to the latter genus. 



M. Temminck|, describing in 1853 his Otolicnus peli, could not 



* lUust. B. Calif, p. 210. 



t Memoires de la Societe des Naturalistes de I'Universite Imperiale de Moscou, 

 1806, i. p. 24. 



t Esquisses Zoologiques sur la Cote de Guinee. Leyde, 1853, lere partie, Mam- 

 luiteres, p. 42. 



