4 Zoological Miscellany. 
nostrils, large, siiborbicular, basal, in a deep nasal groove; head and neck 
naked, covered with deflexed bristles ; feet large, strong ; legs, feathered 
to the knees ; tarsus very strong, long, longer than the middle toe, covered 
with reticulated scales, and with two larger series of scales in front ; spurs, 
0; toes 3-1 ; the front ones unequal, covered with a series of scales above, 
and with minute scales on the side, the inner ones rather shorter than the 
outer, which is scarcely shorter than the middle one. The hind toe cn the 
same line as the others ; half the length of the middle one ; claws, long, 
(half as long at the toes,) slightly curved, blunt; hinder rather longer; 
wings moderate, rounded ; first, second, third, and fourth quill graduated, 
the fifth longest; tail, long, rounded, dependant. 
Latham's Alectura. Alectura Lathami. JVew Holland Vulture, 
Lath. Hist. 1, t. 6. not good. Black; feathers of belly, pale edged; 
neck, reddish, when alive. Length 29 inches ; tarsus, 4^ inches ; 
middle toe, 2 inches; claw, 1;J inch ; together, 3 j inches ; hind toes, 1 
inch; claw, 1 inch. 
The genera Menura, Shaw ; Megapodius, Quoy and Gaimard. Alec- 
tura, Latham; Alecthelia and Talegalla of Lesson, may with advantage 
be united together, into a family under the name of Menuridce, charac- 
terized amongst the Gallinaceous Birds by the hind toe being placed on 
the same level as the other toes, and peculiar for the head being more or 
less naked, and the claws long and slightly curved. They are of a black 
dull colour, and without spurs. All the genera are peculiar to New Hol- 
land and its neighbouring Islands, they appear to unite the Gallinaceous 
Bird to the rails. 
The genus Alectura differs from all the others in this family, by the 
tarsi being reticulated. 
VI. Description of three new species of Fish, including two unde- 
scribed genera, discovered by John Reeves, Esq., in China. 
Gen. Leucosoma, n. g. Fam. Salmonidcc. 
Head depressed, scaleless; muzzle, very long, acute; mouth, large; 
two- thirds of the upper edge of the upper jaw formed by the intermax- 
illary bones, intermaxillas, maxilla, palate, tongue, and lower jaw toothed. 
Vormer toothless ; branchial rays 3 ? Body long, slender, compressed, 
scaleless, first dorsal fin just before the front of the anal fin. — This genus 
should be inserted in M. Cuvier’s arrangement directly after Saurus. 
Chinese White-fish. Leucosoma Reevesii, n. s. Opaque white, 
when preserved in spirits pale brown, B. 3. P. 10. D. 11 — O. A. 25. V. 
7. C. 20. Inhab. China. In the British Museum and the collection of 
Gen. Hardwicke. The muzzle very long and tapering ; eyes large, la- 
teral ; mouth reaching to the eyes ; the maxilla shelving in over the 
lower jaw ; lower jaw narrow, with six or eight larger teeth forming a 
group in front, which pass through the three holes in the upper jaw. 
Length 6 inches. Eaten as a relish by the English at Canton. 
Gen, Samaris, n. g. Fam. Pleuronectidce. 
Pectoral fin small, long only on the side in which the eyes are ; ven- 
