r891.] Zoology. 55 
would be placed with the Pygopodes, but that osteology alone would 
refer them to the vicinity of the rails, though it differs from the latter 
in the sternum. The characters peculiar to the Heliornithidæ are the 
absence ofan aftershaft, the form of the sternum, the shape and rela- 
tions of the interclavicular, in the fusion of the pubes with the ischia, 
and the absence of post-acetabular ridges, in the arrangement of the 
intestinal coil, and in the form of the biceps crusis. On the whole, 
Beddard thinks it a distinct family, which has traversed for a certain 
distance the branch leading from the rails to the Colymbidz, and has 
then diverged rather widely in a direction of its own. 
Zoological Notes.—Ccelenterata.—The habits of the sea pens 
(Vergularia, etc.) have not been certainly known. Edgar Thurston 
says that near Madras V. juncea sticks straight up in the sand, an 
that as soon as touched they go down deeper and deeper, so that fre- 
quently a spade is necessary to secure them. 
G. C. Bonme® gives a catalogue of 55 Hydroids growing at Ply- 
mouth, England. The only novelty is Haloikema (n.g.) dankesterti, a 
Halecium-like form with non-retractile polyps. 
Molluscs.—The Opisthobranch molluscs of Plymouth, England, 
are catalogued? by Walter Garstang. Fifty-two species are enumer- 
ated, while very full notes are given of many species. The student of 
Nudibranchs on the New England coast cannot neglect this paper. 
Vertebrates.—Some five years ago the discovery in Mauritius of a 
cave containing the body of the dodo was announced. It appears 
that this was probably a mistake, two recent letters » showing that the 
person making the announcement had been imposed upon. The 
caves of Mauritius are not such as to contain such remains, swept as 
they are by frequent floods. 
Boulenger gives" a synopsis of the genus Arges, describing six 
species, two of which are new. They come from the Andes of Equa- 
dor and Peru. 
Howes believes that the proatlas is a normal feature in Hatteria, 
and regards it as a vestigial vertebra. He has found several specimens 
8 Jour. Marine Biol. Ass. United Kingdom, No. 4, p. 391, 1890. 
9 Jour. Marine Biol. Ass. United Kingdom, No. 4, p- 399, 1890. 
10 Proc. Zool. Socy. London, 1890, p. 402. 
1 Proc, Zool. Socy., 1890, p. 450- 
