1881.] PROF. W. H. FLOWER ON THE MANATEE. 453 



minutely freckled all over with rich purplish red, the speckles passing 

 into a zone at the larger eiid, and measures about 09 by 0"6 inch. 



Mr. H. E. Dresser, F.Z.S., exhibited a specimen of Saxicola cle- 

 serti (male in autumn dress), which had been shot at Gartmore Dam 

 near Alloa, in Clackmannanshire, and was in the collection of Mr. John 

 J. Dalgleish of Edinburgh ; also an adult male Picus pubescens, said 

 to have been shot in an orchard near Elban (Seine-Inferieure), France, 

 by M. Noury. This specimen had been sent by M. Noury to Mr. 

 E. Hargitt as Picus minor, and was only on subsequent examination 

 found to belong really to Picus pubescens (a purely American form), 

 and not to P. minor. 



Mr. W. A. Forbes read some notes on the external form and on 

 the anatomy of the Californian Sea-lion (Of aria gillespii.) 

 This paper will be published in the Society's * Transactions.' 



The following papers were read : — 



1. Notes on the Habits of the Manatee. 

 By William Henry Flower, LL.D., F.E.S., P.Z.S. 



[Eeceived March 1, 1881.] 



It is strange that so important a point in the natural history of 

 those peculiarly interesting mammals the Sirenia as whether they have 

 the power and are in the habit of voluntarily quitting the element in 

 which they habitually reside, should still be a question of doubt. 



Some years ago, after investigating all the somewhat scanty 

 positive evidence that I could find upon the subject, I came to the 

 conclusion, notwithstanding the statements of nearly all zoological 

 writers^ to the contrary, that, though they may occasionally be found 

 stranded by the tide or waves, there is no direct evidence of their 

 voluntarily leaving the water to bask or feed upon the shore. 



Dr. Murie, who has paid great attention to this group, says, 

 speaking of the Dugong, "the stories of their being found ashore 

 browsing on land-herbage are not supported by fact ; indeed the 

 inadequate strength of their fore limbs, the absence of hind extremities, 

 and their unwieldy bodies prevent them from travelling on land " ^. 

 Though not expressly mentioned in the work quoted, he tells me that 

 the observation equally applies to the Manatee. 



1 Among whom may be mentioned Cuvier (Regne Animal), Desmarest (Mam- 

 malogie), Owen (Anatomy of Vertebrates), Giebel (Saugethiere), J. E. Gray 

 (Cat. Seals and Whales), and Van Beneden (Ost6ographie des Oetac(5s). On 

 the other hand, Dampier, one of the best observers of the habits of the American 

 Manatee, at the time the animal was abundant, expressly says, "They never 

 come ashore, nor into shallower water than where they can swim" ('Voyage 

 round the World,' vol. i. 6th edition, 1717, p. 34). 



2 Cassell's Nat. Hist. vol. ii. p. 270. 



