332 Mr. A. Newton on a Bird from the Seychelles. 



The skin sent to me is marked as that of a young male bird ; 

 but it appears to have assumed its mature plumage ; though it is 

 to be noticed that above, and in front of, the right eye there is a 

 single white feather, which may be either an accidental circum- 

 stance or else an indication of some seasonal change of dress. 

 Premising also that, when first caught, its wings and tail were 

 cut, and that they may therefore not have yet attained their full 

 growth^, I accordingly proceed to characterize this species as 



CopsYCHUs SECHELLARUM, sp. nov. (Plate VIII.). 



C. omnino niger, nitore chalybeo resplendens, tectricibus alarum 



superioribus albis exceptis. Rostro et pedibus nigris, Re- 



mige primo brevissimo, secundo duplo longiore, tertio 



probabiliter longissimo : cauda valde gradata. Iridibus 



fuscis : lingua et rictu interne citrinis. 



Long, tota 10, alseacarp. 4"65, caudae4"4, rostri a fronte "75, 



a rictu 1*3, tarsi 1*45, digiti med. cum ungue 1*15, hallucis c. 



ung. I'Ol poll. angl. et dec. 



Hah. In insulis Sechellarum quibusdam. 

 Mus. A. et E. Newton. 



The person who obtained this bird informed my brother tliat 

 it was only found on two islands of the group, one of them being 

 a small islet quite close to Mahe. But on the matter of its dis- 

 tribution in the Seychelles, I trust that my brother will before 

 long be able to give some more precise information ; as he 

 hopes, on his way home to England from Mauritius, to pass 

 a month in exploring that archipelago, the avifauna of which, 

 from the little we know of it, is likely to present some singular 

 and interesting facts. 



I cannot, however, conclude this short notice without remark- 

 ing on the various services rendered to ornithology by Sir Henry 

 Barkly, some of which, as it seems to me, have not met with their 

 due acknowledgment. It is, I believe, mainly to his good offices 

 that the Zoological Society owe the living example of Didunculus 

 strigirostris which they received about a year ago ; for though 

 Mr. Williams had long been endeavouring to obtain specimens 

 of this bird, it was not until a drawing from Mr. Gould's plate 

 representing it had been transmitted to the Samoan Islands 

 through Sir Henry Barkly (at that time Governor of Victoria), 



