Zoological Society 



6157 



same species had been brought to Sydney ; tliat he had successfully negoeiated the 

 purchase of ihe original adult bird, which had been placed on board the ship ' British 

 Merchant,' in charge of Dr. Plomley, who was returning to England; and that ihe 

 ship sailed on the 2nd of March, with the bird alive and in good condition. Mr. 

 Gould therefore trusted that this rare and valuable bird would, under the care and 

 attention of Dr. Plomley, arrive alive in the gardens. It is intended as a present to 

 the Society from Dr. Bennett. A drawing of the young bird was exhibited to the 

 meeting. 



The Secretary read an extract from a letter dated Eastbourne, May 3, 1858, 

 addressed to Mr. Gould, from his son, Mr. Charles Gould ; it ran as follows : — " In 

 the course of my walk yesterday I came close to a sand pit rather suddenly : a num- 

 ber of rabbits were playing about, which scampered off as soon as they became aware of 

 the dread proximity of man, leaving behind them, however, six or seven nondescript 

 companions about their own size, sedately playful, awkward and grotesque. At the 

 distance at which I first saw them I was quite at a loss to imagine what they were. 

 Finding they were curious rather than shy, I approached nearer, and found them to 

 be young fox-cubs ; they allowed me to venture within about fifteen yards of them, 

 and then retired without any indecorous haste, one by one, into their holes.'' 



Mr. Gould made some observations on tlie Indian Phasianidae imported last year, 

 and now laying in the gardens of the Society. 



Drawings of the eggs of the Impeyan pheasant, the Cheer, the purple pheasant, 

 and two species of Kalegej, were exhibited to the meeting. 



Mr. Hokisworth made some remarks on the sea-anemones, and particularly on a 

 specimen of the rare Anthea Couchii, now exhibited for the first time in the aquarium. 



Mr. Sclater laid before the meeting the third and concluding portion of his 

 " Synopsis of American Ant-birds (Forraicariidae)," containing the third sub-family, 

 Formicariinte. Among ihe forty-six species referred to this division were two from 

 the Upper Amazon, which were considered to be new, and named Myrmelastes 

 plumbeus and M. nigerrimus. 



With reference to the eggs of Indian Phasianida", Mr. Sclater remarked that, 

 though the eggs of the Gallophasis albo-cristata and G. melanota were easily recog- 

 nisable, as of distinct species, as indeed were the birds themselves, yet it was well 

 known in India that, in the region where these two species inosculate, a transitional 

 variety is found, passing from one to the other. This was not so surprising in a 

 gallinaceous bird, but the same thing occurred in two instances in birds of the 

 Passerine groups, and was very remarkable. No one would deny the specific distinct- 

 ness of Coracias bengalensis of the Indian peninsula frotn C. affinis of Assam, or of 

 Colaptes aurata of the eastern United Stales of America from C. mexicanus of Cali- 

 fornia and Mexico ; yet, in the country where these species respectively inosculate, 

 intermediate varieties are found. 



Mr. Sclater also read the statement of the person who reared the Magellanic 

 geese now in the gardens, from which it appeared that they were all three hatched 

 from eggs taken from one nest in the Falkland Islands ; and all doubts as to the very 

 dissimilar male and female being of one species were thus removed. —D. W. 31. 



