100 



broad, but its form is very similar, and distinct from that of other 

 grallatorial birds. It differs from Thinochorvs (with which I at 

 first thought it might be allied) in having two fissures in the posterior 

 margin of the sternum, Thinochorus having but one. On comparing 

 the skeleton with some portion of the skeleton of Glareola pratin- 

 cola, the bones are almost identical in form, particularly the sternum, 

 head and pelvis. I should therefore be inclined to place Chionis 

 and Glareola in the same family. 



Mr. G. R. Gray arranges this form along with the Thinocorince 

 in his order ' Gallince ; ' Prince Bonaparte, in his ' Conspectus Sy- 

 stematis Ornithologipe ' (1854), places it next to the Gulls, in the 

 order ' Gaince.' 



3. Observations on the Genus Cuscits, with the Descrip- 

 tion of a New Species. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S., 

 V.P.Z.S., Pres. Ent. Soc, etc. 



(Mammalia, PI. LXI. LXII.) 



Mr. Wallace having sent two specimens of this genus to the British 

 Museum, to determine them I went over the previous observations on 

 the genus, and examined the numerous specimens which are in the 

 Museum collection, received from the French voyages of discovery, 

 Mr. J. Macgillivray, the Naturalist of H.M. Ship ' Rattlesnake,' 

 and those now sent from the Island of Ula ; and I have come to the 

 belief that they are all to be referred to four species, which are very 

 variable in the colour of the fur ; one being variable in both the sexes, 

 and the other, in which the sexes differ greatly from each other, 

 but appear to be permanent in their colour ; one species in which 

 the furs of the two sexes are alike and uniform in colour ; and one, 

 of which the female sex only is known, which is uniform iron-grey. 



The two have the ears small, hairy on both sides, and hidden in 

 the fur ; the other two have larger ears, exposed beyond the fur and 

 bald within. 



Herr Temminck, in the first volume of the ' Monographies de 

 Mammologie,' published in 1827, divides the short hairy-eared kinds 

 into three species. 



At the time he wrote he only had specimens from the northern 

 part of Celebes, brought home by Professor Reinhardt, and from 

 the islands of Banda and Amboyna. 



The species evidently depend principally on the colour of the 

 fur, which appears to be very variable in different individuals. It is 

 true that he describes and figures skulls of the different individuals ; 

 but the difference between those of Phalangista chrysorrhos and P. 

 maculata appears chiefly to depend on the age and development of 

 the specimen figured. M. Temminck and the writers of his school 

 always forget that the skull and other parts of the skeleton are 

 liable to quite as much variation from local circumstances, food, 



