1886.] MR. p. L. SCLATER ON XEMA SABINII. 81 



wing being forked beyond the middle. In a paper in the ' Proceed- 

 ings,' for 1870, pp. 777-8, I recorded similar modifications of the first 

 subcostal branch in the hind wings of Acrcea andromacha, and in 

 • Lepidoptera Exotica ' I described and figured modifications of the 

 upper radial in the front wings of Morpho sulkowskyi (p. 113a, 

 pi, xlii. figs. 1, la): the case of A. hippia, however, is more inter- 

 esting, as it exhibits, in a partial manner, a low type of venation in 

 which two radial veins are present in place of one, and thus tends 

 (so far as this character is concerned) to support Mr. Bates's view of 

 the affinity of the Papilionidce to the Heterocera : it would be still 

 more interesting if it could be shown tliat the HesperiidcE showed a 

 greater tendency to reproduce the same vein. 



The larva of ^. hippia, judging from a nearly full-grown specimen 

 preserved in spirit, presented by the Society to the Museum, has 

 rather the aspect of some of the shorter-haired larvae of the Arctiidce 

 than of what one would expect in the caterpillar of a butterfly ; this, 

 again, seems to point to a nearer relationship between the Papilionidce 

 and the Heterocera than one sees iu the NymphalidcB : the larva 

 above referred to is of a dull flesh-colour, with lateral and dorsal 

 series of conspicuous black spots, the head, first dorsal segment, and 

 anal claspers black \ the third, fourth, and twelfth segments clothed 

 with dense rust-red hair down to the lateral series of black spots, 

 the second segment(first dorsal) and head clothed with stiff, porrected, 

 greyish hairs, and the remaining segments with pale testaceous hair : 

 the pupa is either bright gamboge-yellow or cream-coloured, mottled 

 and spotted with black, in some specimens differing in no respect 

 from that of A. cratagi in pattern, but frequently with the black 

 markings united into bands and patches. 



February 2, 1886. 



Prof. W. H. Flower, LL.D., F.R.S., President, in the Chair. 



Mr. W. B. Tegetmeier, F.Z.S., exhibited and made remarks upon 

 a skin of a Pheasant from the Persian borders of Transcaucasia, 

 which appeared to be referable to the true Phasianus colchicus. 



Mr. C. A. Wright exhibited a specimen of a Dove from Malta, 

 which seemed to be a semi-albino variety of Turtur auritus. 



Mr. Sclater exhibited, on behalf of Mr. \V. H. Dobie, 22 Upper 

 Northgate Street, Chester, a young specimen of Sabine's Gull 

 {Xema sahinii). Mr. Dobie stated that the bird had been shot at 

 Mostyn on the coast of Flintshire, North Wales, in a field adjoining 

 the shore, by Mr. John Williams, who watched it for some hours 

 before he was able to obtain a shot. It was quite alone and did not 



' In a beautiful coloured drawing submitted to me by Mr. Thomson, the 

 claspers are represented as flesh-tinted at the sides, a probable variation. 



Proc. Zool. Soc— 1886, No. VI. 6 



