2 MR. E. HARTERT ON EGGS OF CUCULUS CANORUS. [Jan. 5, 



was presented to the Society by Thomas Perkins, Esq., F.Z.S., 

 Dec. 1st, 1891. 



Dr. E. C. StirUng, C.M.Z.S., exhibited some specimens of the 

 new Australian Marsupial (Notoryctes typhlops), and gave a short 

 account of the habits of this remarkable animal, as observed in a 

 specimen recently kept in captivity by one of his correspondents. 



The following extract was read from a letter received by the 

 Secretary from Dr. F. A. Jentink, F.M.Z.S., dated Leyden, 

 4th December, 1891 :— 



"In a paper published September 1890 (Notes from the Leyden 

 Museum, p. 222) I called the attention of naturalists to the re- 

 markable Bush-rat, Pithechir melanurus, from Jav/a and Sumatra. 

 The type of this black-tailed red Rat is a drawing in colours, by 

 Duvaucel, reproduced in Cuvier's ' Mammiferes.' No specimen of 

 the Pithechir melanurus is in the Paris Museum, nor has it ever 

 been observed by a naturalist, except by the late Dr. S. Miiller, who 

 procured in 1834 two skins from Padang andBatavia for the Leyden 

 Museum, where they are still preserved. I think it will highly 

 interest the members of the Zoological Society to know that I have 

 just received a postcard from Mr. Pasteur, of Batavia, announcing 

 that he has in his possession a whole family ( c? » 2 and young) of 

 P. melanurus, captured in the neighbourhood of Batavia, which he 

 intends to present to our Museum. Within a few weeks, I hope to 

 get them, preserved in spirit, and to be able to give a more detailed 

 description of the specimens and their skeletons &c." 



Mr. Ernst Hartert exhibited 31 clutches of eggs of different birds' 

 eggs associated with eggs of Cuculus canorus, mostly collected by 

 himself and reliable friends. He made remarks about the mimicry 

 of the egg in the Cuculidce, and observed that some of the Indian 

 species of this family illustrate this fact much better than the 

 European Cuckoo. • 



Although attempts had been made to prove the contrary, one 

 individual female Cuckoo in his opinion always laid similarly coloured 

 eggs. To prove this fact he called attention to several series of eggs 

 that had apparently been laid by one female. In every case the 

 eggs of the same female were entirely similar to each other in form, 

 size, and colour. 



As a very remarkable fact Mr. Hartert mentioned that as regards 

 the dark closed nests of the Common Wren no adaptation of the egg 

 of the Cuckoo to the eggs of the owner had ever been noticed. 



The following papers were read ; 



