368 



Dr. Charles Pickering remarked that the Feejees made their pottery 

 by hand, of very elegant shapes, and so uniformly rounded that one 

 could hardly distinguish it from that formed on the potter's wheel. It 

 was done by inserting the hand, grasping a smooth stone, into the mouth 

 of the unformed vessel, and hammering upon it, by means of another 

 stone, on the outside. 



The following papers were presented : — 



Description of a New Variety of Parus from Yarmouth, 

 Nova Scotia, by Henry Bryant, M.D. 



The specimens of Parus hudsonicus from Yarmouth and those from 

 the Hudson-Bay territory present as great, if not greater, differences 

 in size than exist between P. carolinensis and P. atricapillus ; and in 

 color, between P. septentrionalis and P. atricapillus. I am inclined 

 myself to consider P. atricapillus, septentrionalis, meridionalis, and occi- 

 dentalis, as varieties of one species ; but, if they are considered as spe- 

 cifically distinct, there can be little question of the propriety of sepa- 

 rating the Yarmouth bird from those found in the Hudson-Bay terri- 

 tory. The following description is based on five specimens, including 

 a family of male, female, and the young ; and were all procured at 

 Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, on the 7th of July. 



P. HUDSONICUS ; var. littoralis. 



Form, similar to P. hudsonicus. 



lyimensions. d adult. Length, .12Q;* extent, .180; wing from 

 flexion, .58 ; tail, .57; tarsus, .16^; middle toe, .9 ; middle toe claw, 

 .6|^; hind toe, .5^^ ; hind toe claw, .8 ; outer toe, .8|- ; outer toe claw, 

 .5 ; inner toe, .7|; inner toe claw, .5| ; bill, along ridge, .10 ; gape to 

 top of lower mandible, .11|- ; depth of bill, .3^; breadth of bill, 3|; 

 length of nostril, f ; breadth of nostril, ^. 



Colors. Nasal plumules, lores, and a narrow frontal line, brownish 

 black ; crown and hind neck, faded yellowish-brownish ash, shaded ab- 

 ruptly on the forehead into the narrow dark frontal line. A conspicu- 

 ous but indistinct white stripe extends from the base of the upper 

 mandible to the posterior portion of ear coverts, covering the whole 

 cheeks and ear coverts, though gradually shaded on the latter into the 

 ash of the head and hind neck ; back, scapular, and rump, dirty ash ; 

 upper tail coverts, same as back, but slightly lighter ; wings and tail, 

 slaty wood-brown, with the outer webs of all the remiges, except 

 tlie first and second, narrowly margined with white, and of the rec- 

 trices with light slate ; throat and fore neck, sooty black ; breast and 

 abdomen, white ; hypochondriacs, dull ferruginous ; vent and crissum, 



* Millimetres. 



