8006 



Reptiles, 



and it is believed that the bird which died at Windsor about forty years ago, in 



the possession of the late Princess Augusta, is the only example which had been seen 

 alive in Europe prior to the present arrival. Mr. A. R. Wallace, the indefatigable 

 traveller and explorer of some of the rarely visited islands of the Indian Archipelago, 

 has for some time been commissioned by the Zoological Society to fill up this gap in 

 their collection ; but all his endeavours failed to preserve alive some specimens he 

 obtained. By chance, however, and after he had left the neighbourhood of New 

 Guinea, he fell in with two of the much-desired birds, which had been a short time in 

 confinement, and these, under his continued care and attention, were safely landed in 

 England on Tuesday last. The birds are both males. They appear to have suffered 

 little from their long journey, and, excepting that their plumes are apparently but half 

 grown, their condition is as perfect as could be desired. Fortunately they are exceed- 

 ingly tame, taking food readily from the hand, and displaying their beautiful plumage 

 without showing any signs of fear. A dried skin of one of their brethren was immedi- 

 ately recognised, although at some little distance, and called forth loud and frequent 

 caws, proclaiming their relationship to the Corvidae, with which family ornithologists have 

 associated them, and leading naturalists to hope that, like their congeners, they may 

 prove hardy and long-lived in captivity. Their manners and customs will form an 

 interesting study. — E. W. H. Holdsworlh. 



Tenacity of Life in an Iguana. — From a letter lately received by me from my 

 brother Gordon, who writes from Quamby, Tasmania, T make the following extract, 

 which I venture to hope may prove beneficial not only to generations of iguanas yet 

 unborn, but also to such of their captors who may not be too proud to avail them- 

 selves of a useful hint: — "I have lately procured for you a very fine specimen of an 

 iguana, of whose precise species, however, I am somewhat in doubt. I intended to 

 skin him for you, but was prevented by a very formidable difficulty, viz.^ I could not 

 kill him ! It is wonderful what an immense amount of vitality these creatures 

 possess. He was brought to me struggling violently, with a string drawn round his 

 neck: not dead indeed, but still a very interesting example of suspended animation. 

 I put him into a box, when he became exceedingly savage, hissing and darting at me 

 whenever I opened his prison. First of all I tried to kill him with chloroform, 

 pouring what appeared to be half a dozen times more than sufficient upon a piece of 

 wadding within the box, and then tightly closing the lid. On looking at him some 

 time afterwards, I found that this had not taken the slightest effect, although the 

 fumes were even then quite enough for me. So far from being in the smallest degree 

 slupified, he darted about as actively as before, hissing furiously, with his tongue 

 playing about like lightning. Well ! I teased the poor reptile for a while, and then ? 

 as he evidently wished to bite somebody or something, I eased his mind by giving 

 him the feather end of a quill pen : he instantly snapped at it, and when I paid him 

 a visit next morning he still held it so firmly in his jaws that I lifted him up by it. 

 What his jaws and his temper were made of I can't say ; nor, by the way, do I know 

 whether the bite is harmless ; probably it is, but one does not like to try. Finding 

 that he rather liked chloroform than otherwise, I next got a large tub of water, shut 

 the ignana in a box with the lid partially propped open, and placed this at the bottom 

 of the tub, with a few bricks piled upon the lid to keep all fast. And then I thought 



