206 



Days. 



8. Califorman Quail (Callipepla californicd) 21 



9. Crowned Pigeon (Goura coronata) 28 



10. Crested Pigeon (Ocyphaps lophotes) 14 



11. Black-necked Swan (Cygnus nigricollis) 35 



12. Black Swan (Cygnus atratus) 35 



13. Cereopsis Goose (Cereopsis novce-hollandice) .... 35 



14. Sandwich-Island Goose (Bernicla sandvicensis) .. 31 



15. Ashy-headed Goose (Chloephaga poliocephala) . . 30 



16. Ruddy Shieldrake (Casarca rutila) 30 



17. Summer Duck (Aix sponsa) 30 



18. Mandarin Duck (Aix galericulata) 30 



6. Remarks on exhibiting specimens of Two Species of 

 Divers (Colymbus), from Mr. Gurney's Collection. 

 By Philip Lutley Sclater, MA., F.L.S., Secretary to 

 the Society. 



On showing to Mr. J. H. Gurney the specimen of the supposed 

 new Diver (Colymbus adamsi, G. R. Gray), belonging to Mr. Bar- 

 row, and exhibited at the last meeting of the Society, that gentleman 

 informed me that he had a somewhat similar bird in his own collec- 

 tion, killed off the coast of Norfolk. Mr. Gurney has kindly ordered 

 this specimen to be sent up for the inspection of the Society. As it is 

 in winter plumage, no comparison can be made relative to the white 

 markings of the neck and scapularies ; but in respect of the thickened 

 and whitened bill, it entirely agrees with Colymbus adamsi. In the 

 British Gallery of the British Museum I have also noticed an ex- 

 ample of the Great Northern Diver in which the bill has become 

 partially white. Upon the whole, therefore, I am inclined to agree with 

 Mr. Gurney's views that this is the effect of age, the bill becoming 

 thickened and whitened in the very adult birds, and that we cannot 

 use this character as a ground of difference to separate C. adamsi 

 front C. glacialis. It remains, however, yet to be proved that the 

 other characters assigned by Mr. G. R. Gray to his C. adamsi are 

 not of sufficient importance to maintain that species as distinct. 



As there might be some doubt raised as to whether Mr. Gurney's 

 specimen was really shot on the English coast, I subjoin the follow- 

 ing letter, which seems to set that question at rest : — 



" 24 Kensington Park Gardens, 

 30th May, 1859. 



" My dear Sir, — I have been endeavouring to verify the facts 

 respecting the White-billed Diver. 



" It was shot on the beach, or from the beach, at Pakefield, on the 

 coast of Suffolk, and was brought in the flesh to Mr. Scales, a gen- 

 tleman living in Pakefield, who sent it to Mr. Thirtle, a bird-stuffer 

 at Lowestoft, to preserve for him. I saw it at Thirtle' s, and wrote 

 to Mr. Scales to say that I should like to possess it, when he very 

 kindly gave it to me as a present. 



