Vol. xii.] 14 



Mr. Ogilvie Grant exhibited examples of the Finch-Larks 

 (Pyrrhulaitda) which had been collected by Mr. R. M. Hawker 

 on the White Nile. The great point of interest in these 

 birds was the fact that they represented two closely allied, 

 but perfectly distinct, species, which, for want of material, had 

 been united in the ' Catalogue of Birds ' (cf. vol. iii. p. 637). 

 The males of one of these species, P. leucotis (Stanley), were 

 characterized by having the bill dusky, the white band across 

 the nape narrow, the chestnut upper parts darker, and the 

 lesser wing-coverts black. In the second species, P. otoleuca 

 (Temm.), which was new to the British Museum, the male 

 had the bill white, the white band across the nape wide, the 

 chestnut of the upper parts paler, and the lesser wing-coverts 

 dirty white. These differences were also apparent in quite 

 young birds. The name of Alauda melanocephala, Licht., if 

 synonymous with P. otoleuca (Temm.), wall have to be sub- 

 stituted for the latter. 



Mr. Hawker obtained his specimens of P. leucotis 20 

 miles north of Fashoda, and those of P. otoleuca at Khar- 

 toum. The former appears to be the Eastern representa- 

 tive, the latter the Western, as it is known to range to 

 Senegal. 



Mr. Tegetmeier exhibited the egg of an Australian Crane, 

 being one of four pairs laid during the present year by a hen 

 in the possesion of the Rev. Hubert Astley ; and the tarsi 

 of a mature hen Pheasant, in which the tarsal bones had 

 become expanded at the lower extremities in consequence of 

 the amputation of the feet by a mowing-machine. 



Mr. F. Cob urn exhibited a large series of specimens of birds 

 collected by himself in Northern Iceland during the summer 

 of 1899. The most interesting species was the American 

 Wigeon (Mareca americana) , which was found breeding by 

 Mr. Coburn in two districts, and adult males and females 

 and nestlings were exhibited. A fine series of young birds 

 in different stages of growth, from the nestling upwards, 

 illustrated the progress of the plumage in the following 



