JOURNAL 



■ 



OP THE 



ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL, 



Vol. LXXI. Part II. — NATURAL SCIENCE. 

 No. II.— 1902. 



VI. — On specimens of two Mauritian Birds in the collection of the Asiatic 

 Society. — By F. Finn, B.A. F.Z.S., Deputy Superintendent of the 

 Indian Museum. 



[ Received March 26th ; Read April 2nd, 1902.] 



I. On a specimen op the Moorhen prom Mauritius. 



In Blyth's catalogue of the Birds in the Museum of the Asiatic 

 Society, p. 286, one of the specimens of Gallinula chloropus is noted as 

 follows :— Gr. Var. ? From the Mauritius. Presented by Willis 

 Earle, Esq. 



This specimen is still in existence, but as it is in poor condition, 

 having lost many feathers, and the remainder being loose in places, 

 I have deemed it well to have it figured, as it presents certain points of 

 interest which make its appearance worthy of record. (See Plate IV). 



Being a staffed specimen it is not easy to measure exactly with 

 regard to length, but with a tape I make it out to be 1 ft. f inches 

 from tip of bill to end of tail, a fair average length judging from the 

 measurements given by Dr. Sharpe in the British Museum Catalogue 

 of Birds. The wing, however, is only about 6'1 inches, and although 

 its feathers are much abraded, it could never have been more than about 

 6| inches long, whereas Dr. Sharpe gives 7*3 inches as the length of 

 wing for a bird measuring only a foot and half an inch in length, i.e., 

 about the size of this one. The tail of the Mauritius birds is 2*5 inches 

 in length, whereas the British Museum specimen alluded to has the 

 tail 2-9. 



The most remarkable point about the present bird however is its 



powerful bill and feet. The beak, with frontal shield, measures 1*65 



inches ; in thickness, at the proximal end of the nostril, it is "45 of an 



inch, whereas the biggest-billed Old World bird in the Indian Museum 



J. ii. 12 



