776 n«. c, w. AisTDREwa 03f A NEW BiKD [June 20,' 



is the largest Cassowary ; but it is much exceeded in bulk and 

 height by Casuarius casuariiis sclateri and Casuarius uniajppendi- 

 culatus when pei'fectly adult. 



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



The following papers were read : — 



1. On the Remains of a new Bird from the London Clay 

 of Sheppey. By Chas. W. Andrews, B.Sc., F.Z.S. 



[Received June 2, 1899.] 

 (Plate LI.) 



The fossil birds hitherto recorded from the London Clay are so 

 few in number, and present such remarkable characters, that the 

 discovery of a new member of the Class from that horizon is of 

 the greatest interest. 



The National Collection has recently been enriched by the 

 addition of a clay nodule enclosing the skull, pelvis, and some 

 broken limb-bones of a new type of bird, which forms the subject 

 of the present paper. This specimen was obtained by that 

 indefatigable collector W. H. fShrubsole, Esq., F.G.S., from the 

 London Clay of the Isle of Sheppey, a locality with which he has 

 long been associated. "When found, one side of the skull and some 

 fragments of limb-bones were all that was exposed ; but the skilful 

 removal of the matrix by Mr. J. Hall, assistant formatore in the 

 Museum, has revealed most of the skull, the upper surface of the 

 pelvis, and the femur ; there are also remnants of the vertebral 

 column and ribs. The bird is lying with the head turned round 

 over the back, so that the lower surface of the beak rests on the 

 iliac crest of the pelvis ; behind the head several of the anterior 

 cervical vertebrse are visible, and in front of the pelvis there are 

 some thoracic vertebrae, but the posterior cervical and the anterior 

 thoracic vertebrae, together with the sternum and coracoid, have 

 been lost by the abrasion of the nodule. The upper portion of the 

 scapula and the left femur still occupy nearly their natural position. 



It may be stated at once that this specimen indicates the 

 existence of a new species of a type differing generically from any 

 previously known bird, but alUed to the Tropic-birds {Phaethon), 

 of which it may be an ancestral form ; for it I propose the name 

 Prophaetlion shrubsolel, referring to its suggested affinities and in 

 honour of the discoverer of the specimen. 



The SJcull and Mandible. 



The skull and mandible are, on the whole, in a remarkably good 

 state of preservation. The tip of the beak and a portion of its 

 upper surface have been broken away ; the lachrymals are missing ; 



