GENERAL NOTES. 5 LF 
head ; besides I did not get it till it was several days old. About 
the same time a similar specimen was shot near Hokitika. A 
specimen shot lately, near the Arahura, is even more remarkable. 
The part of the breast is white as in the normal white pigeon, 
but the other plumage is of silver-grey, light about the neck and 
head, and gradually darkening towards the wing tips and tail, 
which is darkest. The feathers on back as far as the wings are 
attached, and those of the upper part of the wings, are tipped 
with brown, making a very even and distinct marking. It is a 
large bird, and most likely a female, because the feet and back 
are of a pale red, although otherwise like those of the ordinary 
wild pigeon. Most likely the bird has been brooding late, as the 
feathers under the breast have the yellowish tinge found on them 
in the breeding season. The eyes seemed to me to be normal. 
—R. HELMS. Greymouth, June, 1883. 
IDOTEA ELONGATA.—In the note on the “ New Zealand 
Idoteidz,” on page 332 of this journal, the only habitat put 
down to /dotea elongata is “ Auckland Islands,” whence the spe- 
cimens in the collection of the British Museum were obtained. 
I have taken in Lyttleton harbour several specimens, which I 
have no doubt belong to this species. The specimens—about 
six altogether—have all been taken on brown seaweeds, which 
they closely resemble in colour ; the largest is a mature female, 
with the pouch underneath the thorax full of eggs. In this spe- 
cimen the thorax is much expanded, it gradually widens until it 
attains its greatest breadth in that segment, which is rather more 
than twice as broad as long; the fourth segment is about as 
wide as the third anteriorly, but suddenly narrows, so that poste- 
riorly it is but slightly wider than the rest of the body. The 
length of the body of this specimen is about one inch. In my 
other specimens the body is of the same width throughout. As 
I was not previously aware that the thorax of the mature female 
of /dotea may widen in this manner, I have thought it worth 
while to place the fact on record, In all the specimens the 
postero-lateral angles of the abdomen are rounder than shown 
in Mr. Mier’s figures.—C. C. 
PODOCERUS VALIDUS, DANA.—TI have to record the occur- 
ence of this interesting Amphipod (originally described from 
specimens taken by Dana in the harbour of Rio Janiero), in New 
Zealand. My specimens were obtained in a peculiar manner. 
They were found in great numbers hiding among the hairs which 
line the sutures on the thoracic sterna of the common cray-fish 
(Palinurus),and from the fact that they were found on aé the 
cray-fish examined (about twelve specimens), I imagine that they 
live on them as commensalists. Most of the specimens found 
were females, but in both sexes the remarkable character of the 
second pair of gnathopoda leaves no doubt of the identification. 
Mr. Chilton records the same species from Lyttleton harbour.— 
| GiaeT, 
