1890.] RED-BREASTED FLYCATCHER. 617 



wind was east at daylight, then north-east, going round to south in 

 the afternoon. 



The following description was taken a few hours after death. 

 Mr. T. E. Gunn, the well-known Norwich naturalist, dissected the 

 bird b-^fore me, and I am also indebted to him for verifying my 

 description and measurements. 



Red-breasted Flycatcher. $ (? 2nd year), Sept. loth, 1890. 



Wei(/ht 4-3 drs. 



Length 5g inches ; wing 2|^ inches ; tail 1|- inches. [Beak f ; 

 tibia j^ ; tarsus |-J.] 



Mandibles, upper dark horn-colour; lower the same, getting 

 lighter towards the base. 



Iiides blackish brown. The irides were far darker than the arti- 

 ficial ones which have been used : in fact, they were so dark that I 

 thought at first the iris was absolutely black. 



Leys and toes black. 



Cheeks ashy brown ; crown, nape, back, and wing-coverts mouse- 

 colour. Primaries and secondaries a shade darker, with slii^htly paler 

 margins. Chia, throat, Ax\i flanks warmbiiff, a faint transverse line 

 between throat and upper breast. Belli/ and under tail-couerts white, 

 the latter faintly tinged with buff. Upper tnil-coverts mouse-colour 

 above, lower feathers black tipped witli wood-brown. 



Tad 12 featiiers. Basal portion of four outer feathers on either 

 side white (except part of outer web of outer feather and inner 

 web of fourth feather, which are nearly black), four central feathers 

 (and apical portion of other feathers) dark brown or black. 



By dissection $ ; ovary large and well-defined (no ova visible on 

 examination with a lens). Crop empty. Stomach containing large 

 quantity of insect remains*. 



No doubt many of the ornithologists present will be able to give 

 an authoritative opinion as to the age of this specimen. 



Itseems probable to me that it is at least a second year's bird ; there 

 does not seem to be any very evident traces of immaturity about 

 the feathers, and the size and appearance of the ovary rather support 

 this view. 



Prof. F. Jeffrey Bell, F.Z.S., exhibited a specimen of Holothuria 

 nigra, and made the following remarks thereon : — The Holothurian 

 now exhibited is an example of the Cotton-Spinner (^Holothuria 

 nigra), taken this summer off the west coast of Ireland, and has 

 been sent to me for determination by Prof. Herdman. Its interest 

 lies chiefly in the fact that it has been caught in i^s own toils, for, 

 as will be seen, it is a good deal covered with " cotton." 



Mr. Boulenger exhibited the skull of a large specimen of a Sea- 



^ [These were very kindly examined for me by Mr. James Edwards, F.E.S., 

 of Norwich, and proved to consist mainly of earwigs ; there were also fragments 

 of two species of ground-beetles (D'/sohiritis glo^osus, Dickirotrkhus obsoletus) 

 and of a homopterous insect {Acocephaliis nervoms).'] 



