1862.] CRANIAL BONES OF LEPIDOSIREN ANNECTENS. 129 



Avium, 1850, i. p. .013), though subsequently (Cat. des OIs. d'Enr. 

 1856, p. 4) he refers to it as the young of Carpodacus ei'ythrinus. 



Mr. Rowley's specimen, which I now offer for your inspection, 

 seems to me without doubt to be a female of the common Green- 

 finch (CJdorospiza chloris), but is distinguished from the ordinary 

 type by an entire absence of yellow colouring, which is replaced by 

 nearly pure white, and the whole bird is generally of a paler hue. 

 One or two friends to whom I have shown it are inclined to suppose 

 it a hybrid between the Greenfinch and the Common Linnet {Linota 

 cannahina) ; but of such an origin I perceive no indication either in 

 the plumage or structure. 



Now Dr. Jaubert, who is without doubt a naturalist peculiarly 

 fitted to form an opinion on the subject, has stated — I may almost 

 say, proved — that at least the male of the so-called Fringilla incerta 

 is a curious variety, probably caused by confinement, of Carpodacus 

 erythrimis (Rev. Zool. 1853, p. 109; 1856, p. 66); and his view 

 of the case has been endorsed by Dr. Gloger (Journ. f. Orn. 1856, 

 p. 313). It is certainly not for me, who know very little about the 

 matter, to question his solution ; but Prince Bonaparte is also no 

 mean authority, and his so long referring the Fringilla incerta to 

 the group Chlorospiza, rather than to Carpodacus, must not be for- 

 gotten. It appears, then, to me that the only way of reconciling 

 these conflicting opinions is by the supposition that this Fringilla 

 incerta, which has caused so much perplexity to ornithologists, has 

 been made up of the abnormal plumages of two species, — the male 

 being founded, as Dr. Jaubert says, on flavescent (if I may coin a 

 word wanted to express a variation not micommon in many classes 

 of animals) examples of Carpodacus erythrinus, and the female, as 

 I have here suggested, on under-coloured specimens of Chlorospiza 

 chloris. 



P.S. 5th May, 1862. — If uncertainty of opinion be eve^^allowed 

 to a naturalist, perhaps it is pardonable in the case o^ P^mgilla in- 

 certa. Since I communicated the foregoing conjefitMe to the. Soj^ r/ 

 ciety, I have had an opportunity of examining Prinlre Bonaf^we's' ^' 

 great work the ' Fauna Italica.' I must honestly confess that the ^ 



bills of both the birds represented in plate 38 have -the . convex - t;i;->^t/ 



character peculiar to the genus Carpodacus. Under these circum- \^.\^''^'Ji>^ 



stances, I can only say that my supposition must go for what it is 



worth, which I fear may be very little ; and I trust to the ornitho- 

 logists of the south of Europe to clear up the matter more fully, by 

 examining any specimens that may be contained in Prince Bonaparte's 

 collection. 



. 3. On the Cranial Bones op Lepidosiren annectens. 

 By T. Spencer Cobbold, M.D,, F.L.S,, etc. 



(Plate XIII.) 



The conformation of the skull of Lepidosiren is exceedingly pecu- 

 liar, not only as regards its general outline and construction, but also 



Proc. Zool. Soc— 1862, No. IX. 



