xxu 



The eggs having been taken ar.d those of a Domestic Fowl 

 substituted, the Eagle hatched r.hree of the latter and reared 

 three fine birds, feeding them principally on the flesh of rats. 

 One of these fowls^ a cockerel, v/'as slain by his foster-mother 

 for taking undue liberties ; but the others have thriven. A 

 photograph was exhibited, showing the Eagle and the fowls. 



A letter addressed to Dr. Bowdler Sharpe by Count 

 Salvador: was read, in which he called attention to the 

 diflferences of plumage exhibited by a series of Diphyllodes 

 recently received by him from S.E. New Guinea. He 

 proposed to divide them as follows : — 



I. Capita fusco-griseo, minime rufescente. 



a. Alls ochraceis 1. D. maynifica. 



b. Alls Isete flavi? 2. D. seleucides. 



c. Alls aurantiacis 3. D. chrysoptera. 



II. Capite rufescenti-brunneo. 



d. Alis Isete flavis 4. D. .rnnthoptera,s-p. n. 



e. Alls laete aurantiacis 5. D. hunsteini. 



Mr. Howard Saunders made some remarks on his an'ange- 

 ment of the Order Gavice in vol. xxv. of the 'British Museum 

 Catalogue.'' He divided the Order into two Families : — 

 Larid.e, containing Terns, Skimmers, and Gulls ; Sterco- 

 rariid.e, for the Skuas. Besides the well-known cere to the 

 bill, the latter possess some important distinctive features, 

 which have been overlooked by most naturalists except 

 Dr. E. Coues — e. g. the sternuri Las only one notch on each 

 side of the posterior margin ; the creca are much larger 

 than in the Laridce. ; and the fully webbed toes are furnished 

 with strong, sharp, hooked claw-s. 



In his treatment of the subfamily Steniinfe he had felt 

 obliged to admit a few more genera than he did in his 

 revision in the P. Z. S. for 1876. To HydrocheMon (the 

 Marsh Terns) succeed Pluiethusa (the heavy-billed River Tern 

 of tropical America), Gelochelllon (the Gull-billed Tern), 

 Hydroprogne (the Caspian Tern), Seena (the Indian River 

 Tern), Sterna (for 33 species, commencing with S. melano- 

 gaster, including the Sooty Terns, and ending with S. 

 triideaui), Xcenia (for the Inca Tern), Procelsterna {iox the 



