1881.] M. TACZANOWSKI ON A NEW WEAZEL FROM PERU. 647 



is much more developed and sharp than in the species of Metopidius, 

 where it is small and blunt ; so that there is a correlation apparently 

 between a sharp spur and a simple radius, and a blunt spin- and 

 flattened radius. In Hydralector gallinacea there is a blunt spur, 

 with, so far as I can make out from a skin, a flattened radius. 



The •' claw " or "spur" of the wing of the Jagantis has, it may 

 be observed, no relation whatever to the " claw " or nail of the pollex, 

 which is also present, though small, in all the three genera I have 

 examined. The " spur," in Parrajacana at least, consists of an ex- 

 ternal, translucent, yellow epidermic layer, which invests a central 

 core of compact fibrous tissue, this in turn being supported by a 

 bony projection developed at the radial side of the first metacarpal. 



As regards the position of the Parridse in the group Pluviales, it 

 appears to me that they form a well-marked family, with no very 

 obvious relationships to any of the other families of that group, ap- 

 proaching, however, perhaps most nearly to the Charadriidse, from 

 which they are easily distinguishable by the absence of supraorbital 

 glands and occipital foramina, by their enormously elongated 

 toes, by the number of rectrices, and other points. A brief definition 

 of the Parridse may be given as follows : — 



Charadriiform birds, with ten rectrices, short cseca, and a tufted 

 oil-gland ; with the ambiens, accessory femoro-caudal, and accessory 

 semitendinosus muscles developed, and with the obturator internus 

 triangular ; with a two-notched sternum, and with the digits, in- 

 cluding the hallux, greatly developed ; with the skull provided with 

 basipterygoid processes, but lacking occipital foramina and supra- 

 orbital gland-impressions. 



4. Description d'une nouvelle Belette du Perou septentrional. 

 Par L. Taczanowski, C.M.Z.S. 



[Eeceived April 20, 1881.] 



MUSTELA JELSKII, n. Sp. 



Minor, castaneo-brunnea, capite obscuriore ; subtus isabellina ; 

 pedes corpori concolores ; Cauda corpore paulo brevior, apice nigra; 

 mystacibus longissimis . 



Hub. Peruvia bor. orient. 



Un exemplaire d'une Belette pris par M. Jelski a Cutervo, au 

 nord-est du Perou, et d(5pose au Musee de Varsovie, voisin de la 

 M. macroura, mais beaucoup plus petit, n'atteiguant pas les dimen- 

 sions de la M. erminea d'Europe, me semble appartenir a une forme 

 inedite. Get individu me parait etre adulte, car ses dents sont fort 

 usees et le squelette fort durci. 



La couleur generale est brune avec une nuance marron plus faible 

 que dans la M. macroura, a tete distinctement plus foncee ; celle de 

 la moitie basale de la queue est analogue a celle du corps, passant 

 ensuite en une l^gere teinte distinctement plus jaunatre, I'extr^mite 

 memeest d'un noir brunatre sur I'espace d'un pouce et demi. Les 



