142 MR. A. NEWTON ON BIRDS FROM MADAGASCAR. [May 13, 



malformation, and it is believed that they belonged to the same 

 covey. 



2. The csecal appendages of the Impeyan Pheasant {Phasianus 

 impeyanus), for the purpose of showing their large size. The two 

 when distended measured 18 inches in length, and held seven ounces 

 of water. Dr. Crisp said that, with the exception of the larger size 

 of these cseca and a larger number of tracheal rings, the visceral 

 anatomy of this bird differed in no important points from that of 

 our common Pheasant (P. colchicus). 



3. The tail-glands of the Black Swan {Cygnus atratus) and of 

 the Red-throated Diver {Colymbus septentrionalis). In both these 

 birds the elevatores coccygis were seen to be firmly inserted into the 

 posterior part of the glands, so as to aid materially in the expulsion 

 of their contents. 



Mr. Fraser exhibited for Lord Powerseourt an enormous pair of 

 antlers with forty-four points, supposed to be those of the Red Deer, 

 from the Carpathian Mountains. Their weight was stated to be 

 seventy-four pounds ; the length of each antler 5 feet 8 inches, fol- 

 lowing the curve, the distance direct froni the base to the tip of 

 each antler being 4 feet 3| inches, the greatest width of the antlers 

 5 feet 5 inches. The following was Lord Powerseourt' s memoran- 

 dum respecting this remarkable specimen : — 



" This pair of horns was bought for me by the Hon. Julian Fane, 

 at Vienna, about six weeks ago. The history he got with them was 

 that they had belonged to a person who lived near Kronstadt in Tran- 

 sylvania ; that they were sold out of his Schloss, on his death lately, 

 and bought by a travelling merchant, who again sold them to a burgher 

 of Vienna, from whom Julian Fane bought tliem for me for j650." 



Mr. Alfred Newton exhibited some birds, collected in Madagascar 

 by his brother Mr. Edward Newton and Dr. Roch (both Corre- 

 sponding Members of the Society), who had formed part of the 

 Mission lately sent to that island by the Government of Mauritius. 

 He remarked that last autumn, when news of the despatch of the 

 envoys reached England, regrets had been expressed in some of the 

 pTiblic prints that no professional naturalist had been attached to the 

 Mission, and that the Society's Secretary had then pointed out, in a 

 letter to The Times, that the fears so manifested were groundless. 

 The Secretary's opinion had been fully verified, as regarded Orni- 

 thology, by the collections transmitted home by those gentlemen. 

 Though small, they consisted chiefly of specimens of great interest 

 and rarity, few of the species being contained in any museum in this 

 country. Dr. Hartlaub's description of one bird, entirely new to 

 science, the Society would shortly hear read ; and there could be 

 little doubt that the notes and observations which Dr. Roch and Mr. 

 Edward Newton were about to publish in * The Ibis' would well de- 

 serve the notice of naturalists interested in the Fauna of Madagascar. 

 Mr. Newton added that he understood that a collection of Reptiles 



