Mr. Howard Saunders exhibited the specimen of the 

 small Shearwater obtained off the island of V^alentia, Kerry, 

 on the 11th of May, 1853. For years this specimen had 

 been identified as the Dusky Shearwater, Puffinus obscurus 

 (Gm.). Recent investigations by Mr. Ogilvie Grant in the 

 islands near Madeira, as well as !Mr. Boyd Alexander in the 

 Cape Verde x\rchipelago, had aroused a suspicion that there 

 might be an error in the identification of the Irish specimen. 

 The authorities of the Science and Art ^luseura of Dublin 

 having kindly forwarded the example in question for com- 

 parison with the specimens of P. obscurus in the British 

 Museum, it is clearly established that this is not P. obscurus, 

 but the closely allied P. assimilis of Gould, which may be 

 distinguished from P. obscurus by its smaller size, by the 

 white or pale centres to the inner webs of the primaries, the 

 white under tail-coverts, and a more decided white line on 

 each side of the neck. The identification is confirmed by 

 Mr. Osbert Salvin. P. assimilis breeds in the islands of the 

 Madeira and the Canary groups, as well as in the Cape 

 Verde Islands, while P. obscurus breeds in the Bermudas and 

 the Antilles. Both species have a wide range. 



Mr. F. W. Styan sent for exhibition a new Woodpecker 

 from Fokien, which he proposed to call — 



Chrysophlegma ricketti, sp. n. 



Adult male. Most nearly allied to Chrysophlegma pierii, 

 but differs from that and other allied species in having the 

 primaries coarsely barred with chestnut and black to the 

 extremity ; the chin is, moreover, rufous streaked with black, 

 and only the malar region is white with a faint yellowish 

 tinge. 



Hab. Clung Ting, Fokien. 



Mr. ScLATER brought forward the subject of " Bipolarity/* 

 which had been much discussed recently in the dcljates on 

 the question of the scientific advantages of an Antarctic 

 expedition, and remarked that in the case of the higher 

 Vertebrates, or in that of Birds at least, no sort of '•' Bi- 



