XXX Vll 



and remarked that among a number o£ bird-skins from 

 Venezuela^ recently received at ]\lr. Walter Rothschild's 

 INInseum at Tring, are specimens of the Eupsychortyx 

 sonmnii from the plain of Valencia; while from Cumana^ on 

 the north coast of Venezuela^ there was an apparentl}' new 

 siDecieSj which lie proposed to call 



EUPSYCHOKTYX MOCQUERYSI^ Sp. UOV. 



This is nearest to E. sonninii (Temm.), but differs from it 

 in having the throat white all along the middle^ most of the 

 feathers showing distinct narrow cross-bars of black. The 

 breast^ instead of being pale viaaceous brown with fine black 

 vermiculations and sparsely spotted with white, is of a 

 peculiar -vinaceous-cinnamon and quite uniform except on the 

 lower part. This same colour extends — slightly brightened 

 in tint — down the abdomen and sides of the body_, where, 

 however, it is varied by large white spots bordered with black. 

 Length about 9 inches, wing 4'1 to 4"25, tail 2'6, tarsus I'l, 

 middle toe with claw 1"35. 



Dr. BowDLER Sharpe made some remarks on the classifi- 

 cation of the HeronS; with reference io the monographic 

 papers of Dr. Reichenow (J. f. O. 1877, pp. 225-277) and 

 Dr. Stejneger (Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. x. pp. 271-319) . The 

 last-named naturalist has divided the ArdeincB into two 

 groups, Herons and Bitterns, the former having twelve 

 tail-feathers and the latter ten. This Dr. Shari^e considered 

 to be an excellent arrangement, and in the latter group he 

 jDroposed to place tlie genera Boiaurus, Ardetta, Nannocnus, 

 ArdeiraUus, and Zebrilus. All the specimens of the last 

 genus in the British JNIuseum possess ten tail-feathers, 

 though Dr. R^eichenow gives the number as twelve. 



To the group of Bitterns with ten tail-feathers Dr. Sharpe 

 added two more, which he proposed to call 



Xanthocxus, gen. nov. 



This ■ genus contains four species, viz. : — X. flavicoUis 

 (Lath.), X. melas (Salvad.), X. gouldi (Bp.), and X. nesophilus 

 (Sharpe). Cf. Bull, aiiiea, p. xxxii. 



All these species have hitherto been placed in the genus 



