78 



killed in this locality — one male in the last week of May 18/il, and 

 a male in May 1852 : this was with a female. 



" James Thirtle, 

 "Bird Preserver, fyc, Lowestoft." 



Mr. Gould also called the attention of the Meeting to three 

 beautiful specimens of Steller's Duck, which had been brought for 

 exhibition by Mr. Stevens. Mr. Gould remarked, that although this 

 species was a native of high northern regions, even to within the 

 Arctic circle, it had been more than once killed in England. The 

 bird certainly belongs to the family of the true diving ducks, of which 

 the King and the Eider may be considered typical examples, and 

 with these it has usually been associated by ornithologists ; but the 

 female differs remarkably from the females of those species in pos- 

 sessing a well-marked speculum on the wing, and the bill on exami- 

 nation will be found to differ in form, approaching nearly to that of 

 the Smew (genus Mergellus), or perhaps still more nearly to that 

 of Merganetta ; but it is not precisely like that organ in either of 

 those genera, and Mr. Gould therefore considered that Mr. G. R. 

 Gray had very properly made it the type of a new genus, Eniconetta. 



The following papers were read : — 



1. On the Characters of four species of Bats inhabiting 

 Europe and Asia, and the description of a New 

 Species of Vespertilio inhabiting Madagascar. By 

 Robert F. Tomes. 



(Mammalia, PI. LX.) 



One of the most beautiful of the Bat kind is the Vespertilio 

 pictus of Pallas. Like many of its congeners, it has been abundantly 

 supplied with titles. One of these is Vesp. Kerivoida, given to it by 

 Boddaert. 



Dr. Gray having perceived that it possessed some peculiarities 

 which entitled it to further consideration, and to still further di- 

 stinction, proposed to elevate it to the rank of a distinct genus, and 

 employed the rejected name given to it by Boddaert by which to de- 

 signate the new genus. 



In the 'Annals and Magazine of Natural History,' vol. x., Dr. 

 Gray made it the type of his genus Kerivoula, and associated with it 

 several other species which he considered as representatives also of 

 the new genus. Without going at length into the details of the 

 examination which have led me to make use of the generic name 

 above noticed, I may mention, that throughout the present commu- 

 nication, whenever 1 have occasion to speak of the species, it will be 

 under the name of Kerivoula picta. But whilst I adopt this name 

 for the species, I reject most of the associates provided for it. 



The great beauty of the Kerivoula picta consists in its bright rust- 

 coloured fur, and in its pied orange-and-black membranes. But 



