404 MR. R. lydekker on some large [May 20, 



caverns which had been collected by the late Admiral Spratt. These 

 were subsequently figured in vol. vi. j)l. xxx. of the ' Transactions'; 

 but what has now become of them I am unable to state. Several of 

 them are, however, almost or quite perfect, and therefore better 

 suited to the exact determination of the affinities of their owners than 

 those I have now to describe. 



The greater number of these specimens were regarded as belonging 

 to a species of Swan, for which the name Cygnus falcoiieri was 

 proposed. This species was described as being about one third larger 

 than C. musicus, from which it was distinguished by the relatively 

 shorter femur, the shorter tarso-metatarsus, and the much shorter 

 phalangeals. 



In recently examining the small series of bird-bones from the 

 Maltese caverns presented to the British Museum by Admiral Spratt, 

 all of which have hitherto been labelled Cygmis falconeri, I found 

 that only a few of them, viz. two specimens of the imperfect distal 

 extremity of the tarso-metatarsus and some phalangeals, really be- 

 longed to that form. These specimens agree with the types in being 

 decidedly larger than the corresponding bones of C. musicus, and the 

 phalangeals confirm the conclusion that the species is widely different 

 from any existing form. Most of the other bones, however, are 

 referable to a Vulture and a Crane, and these I now proceed to 

 describe. 



Gyps melitensis, n. sp. 



The bones of the Accipitres are so easily recognized and so widely 

 different from thoseof other birds that there is nodifl[iculty whatever 

 in deciding whether given fossil specimens belong to members of 

 this group. A considerable number of specimens in the series 

 already mentioned indicate the existence in Malta during the Pleis- 

 tocene period of a Vulture exceeding the existing Vultur monaclius 

 by about one fifth of its dimensions, and therefore the largest 

 member of the Accipitres yet known, with the exception of the still 

 more gigantic extinct New-Zealand bird described by the late Sir 

 J. von Haast under the name of Harpagornis. For this species, 

 which may be sufficiently diagnosed by its large dimensions, I 

 propose the name of Gyps melitensis, my reasons for the generic 

 reference being given below. 



It will be unnecessary on this occasion to give an account of the 

 distinctive osteological features of the Accipitres, since those who are 

 desirous of making themselves acquainted with this subject will find 

 full details in Professor A. Milne-Edwards's ' Oiseaux Fossiles de la 

 France ' ; and I accordingly at once proceed to notice the various 

 bones, commencing with the tibio-tarsus as one of the most charac- 

 teristic parts of the skeleton. 



In my drawings (see Plate XXXV. figs. 2, 2«) there are given two 

 views of the distal portion of the right tibio-tarsus, an anterior view 

 of the corresponding part of the homologous bone of Vultur monachus 

 being given in fig. '6. A comparison of the figures will at once show 



