204 Transactions, —Zoology. 



does not seem appropriate. It will be observed that the middle or cleansing 

 claw has a slight twist, and the comb differs from that on the middle claw of 

 Ardea in the case of the bird under notice ; the comb really appears to be an 

 addition carried ont to the end of the claw, and is doubtless an useful and 

 well-used instrument \ it is flexible to a certain degree, and it would be more 

 proper to describe it as a scraping instrument than a comb ; in fact it is the 

 inside edge of the middle claw produced into a scraper of about sixteen broad 

 curved flexible teeth. 



As far as we know the spotted shag dives from the surface of the water, 

 not from the heights from which some of the anserine order dash on their prey, 

 yet those who examine its structure will note how admirably its anatomy is 

 calculated to resist the strain or pressure caused by its manner of obtaining 

 food, the coracoid and adjacent bones being not only in themselves of great 

 strength, but also firmly attached to the sternum. The eye subject to so much 

 exposure is defended in addition to the armature of the lore by a circlet of 

 round flexible plates. In life at certain seasons these are of deep turquoise 

 blue, and add greatly to the appearance of this bird. 



Perhaps no other species of our Pelecanidce is sooner or more completely 

 robbed by death of so much of its beauty and character as P, ininctatus^ the 

 evanescent colours of the membranes that decorate as well as protect certain 

 parts of its body, and the varying tints of yellow, green, blue, and purple, 

 defy the skill of the taxidermist to preserve and fade away into the semblance 

 of a mass of leathery wrinkles. 



The changes that take place in the plumage and in the colouration of the 

 membranous processes have led some persons to make two species of the 

 spotted shag, but a careful study of a large series of specimens procured at 

 various periods of the year, and a tolerably close observation of the bird in its 

 favourite haunts, prevents the writer from coinciding in this view. Having 

 described the young from the embryo through several of its changes of 

 appearance till it is of a size almost to quit the nest we now give some notes 

 of its state of plumage at diflerent ages and seasons. 



Young female killed in March. Upper surface dull smoky grey, the apex 

 of the scapulars of dull greenish brow^n ; outer wing-coverts dull brown, edged 

 with pal^e fawn ', under surface white ; thighs dull brown ; tail-coverts dark 

 brown \ tail dark brown, shafts white ; lore and chin yellowish flesh, tarsi and 

 feet dull flesh colour. Female killed in August — Upper surface dark smoky 

 brown, with a greenish glint on the head and neck, scapulars terminating in a 

 deep green spot \ back dark brown, changing to dark green ; under surface 

 white \ throat and anterior of neck pale ash, leaving a broad stripe of white 

 from the base of the uppei' mandible below the eye as far as the wing ; lore 

 and chin (of fine texture) dull, rather yellowish flesh colour ; tarsi and feet 



