ON THE PLUMAGE OF THE FEMALE JAPANESE PHEASANT. 211 



April 17th, 1917. 



Dr. A. Smith Woodward, F.R.S., Vice-President, 



in the Chair. 



The Secretary read the following report on the Additions 

 made to the Society's Menagerie during the month of March 

 1917 : — 



The number of registered additions to the Society's Menagerie 

 during the month of March was 149. Of these 21 were acquired 

 by presentation, 125 (chiefly small Finches) were received on 

 deposit, 2 by purchase, and 1 was born in the Gardens. 



The number of departures during the same period, by death 

 and removals, was 101. 



Amongst the additions special attention may be directed 

 to :— 



1 White-handed Gibbon {Hylobates lar), from Pahang, deposited 

 on March 29th. 



1 Bushy-tailed Galago (Galago crassicaudata), from Mafia I., 

 East Africa, presented by Commander R. J. N. Watson, R.N., on 

 March 5th. 



1 White-toothed Shrew, from Albert, France, new to the 

 Collection, deposited on March 23rd. 



Mr. C. Da vies Sherborn, F.Z.S., exhibited the piece of hairy skin 

 of a Gorilla, which specimen was torn on the freshly killed beast, 

 and posted to Richard Owen, by P. B. Du Chaillu, from the interior 

 of the Gaboon. *The envelope is postmarked " Etablissements du 

 Gabon, 1 Sept 1864," and was the precursor of Du Chaillu's long 

 letter of August, 1864, from the Fernand Yaz river on the coast, 

 announcing that six skins were being shipped to London among 

 other specimens. These were registered at the British Museum 

 1 Dec. 1864. 



Mr. D. Seth-Smith, F.Z.S., Curator of Birds, exhibited a female 

 Japanese Pheasant (Phasianus versicolor) which had assumed 

 the very nearly complete plumage of the male. The ovaries 

 were found on dissection to be very atrophied. 



A male specimen of the Carolina Duck (JEx sponsa) was also 

 shown in which the colour of the soft parts were similar to 

 those of the female. When living, this bird was thought to be a 

 female in male plumage, but on dissection proved to be a male 

 with atrophied testes. 



Mr. Seth-Smith also showed some specimens of the trachea of 

 various species of Ducks. 



