EGGS FROM THE SOCIETY'S GARDENS. 741 



Amongst the additions specia.1 attention may be directed to : — 



1 Boi-nean Gibbon {Hylobates muellei-i), from British North 

 Borneo, deposited on Sept. 21st. 



1 Southern River-Hog [Potamochcerus chmropotmmis) $ , from 

 Mozambique, presented by Capt. William Dyer on Sept. 19th. 



1 Pink-winged Rose-Finch {Rhoclospiza ohsoleta), from Central 

 Asia, new to tlie Collection, presented by Alfred Ezra, F.Z.S., on 

 Sept. 8th. 



Yelloto Varieties of Green Parrakeets. 



Mr. Alfred Ezra, F.Z.S., exhibited living examples of three 

 rare lutino Parrakeets, and made the following remarks : — 



" The three lutino Indian Parrakeets I am exhibiting were 

 sent to me by my brother from India a few weeks ago. They 

 represent three species — the Alexandrine {Pcdceornis nepcdensis), 

 the Ring-neck (P. torquatus), and the Plum-head (P. cyano- 

 cephalus). In all three birds the yellow is pure and perfect, 

 being of a delicate sulphur shade common in these lutinos. The 

 Alexandrine has the usual red patch on the wing, and the wing- 

 coverts adjacent to it are also edged slightly with red, making 

 the bird very beautiful. Neither the Alexandrine nor the Ring- 

 neck has a ring, but the Plum-head has a pink head. As they all 

 have the full long tail they must be more than a year old. The 

 Ring-neck and the Pluni-head both have red eyes and flesh- 

 coloured feet, but the Alexandrine's eyes are normal in colour 

 a.nd the feet are light: however, some races of the Alexandrine 

 have pale-coloured feet na,turally. All these birds are rare, but 

 the Alexandrine, which is the finest-looking bird, is also the rarest 

 of the lot, and is the first lutino of tlie species I have ever seen." 



Eggs from the, SocieU/s Gardens. 



Mr. D. Seth-Smith, F.Z.S., Curator of Birds, gave an exhibition 

 of Birds' eggs which had been laid in the Society's Gardens 

 during the last few years. He explained that every endeavour 

 was made to induce the birds under his charge to reproduce theif 

 kind in ca,ptivity, and fertile eggs were incubated where possible ; 

 but, nevertheless, in any large collection of birds there was always 

 a number of eggs laid that did not hatch, and very often 

 unpaired female birds laid eggs as freely as paired birds, these 

 being of course infertile. 



During recent years eggs that were not likely to hatch had 

 been kept, with the result that a fair series was now in the 

 possession of the Society. 



Amongst the eggs of special interest shown were those of four 

 species of Tinamous, two species of Cassowary, three species of 

 Crane, three species of Ihtmix, the remarkable eggs of Apteryx^ 

 and such rarities as those of Rhinochetns juhatus^ Manucoclia 

 keraudreni, and Sarcorhanijjhus gryphiis. as well as a number of 

 species of Pheasants, Waterfowl, and Pasjseiine bii'ds. 



