168 Zoological Society : — 
in construction, — also the quarrying, streaming and mining in 
stratified deposits, tor gold, tin, coal, iron, salt, &c , the distribu- 
tion and mineral statistics of the three last-named being given ; 
and coal- mining and coal are fully treated, both here and in a pre- 
ceding section. The last chapter describes mining operations for 
those valuable substances contained in cracks or fissures in various 
rocks, as metallic veins, and which require methods somewhat dif- 
ferent to those that occur in stratified beds. This portion has been 
considerably enlarged ; the geological conditions under which mineral 
veins occur, as well as the mode of working, are explained, addi- 
tional illustrations of machinery and sections of veins being given. 
A useful glossary of scientific and technical words in mineralogy and 
geology is appended, including the explanation of numerous mining 
terms. Much information is usefully presented in a tabular form, 
and the 250 illustrations of sections and fossils are generally good. 
As before stated, the subject-matter is more varied than is usually 
found in elementary manuals, but it is concisely treated and methodi- 
cally arranged, so as to form a text-book for the student and a useful 
practical guide for the miner, engineer, and traveller ; for the author 
has " endeavoured not merely to describe facts and quote the obser- 
vations of field-geologists, but also to teach principles, leaving it to 
the reader to apply those principles and digest the facts, working out 
thus a sufficient education in the subject ;" and moreover, " if he un- 
derstands the nature of the materials of which the earth's crust is made 
up, the order of their arrangement, and the changes undergone both 
in the rocks themselves and in the position they occupy, he will not 
be inclined to question either the value of such knowledge to practical 
men, or the nature of the applications of geology to practical pur- 
poses." 
PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
March 11, 1856.— Dr. Gray, F.R.S., in the Chair. 
Observations on Strongylus filaria and Botaurus 
STELLARIS. By EdWARDS CrISP, M.D. 
Dr. Crisp exhibited specimens and drawings oi Strongyliis filaria, 
which he discovered had lately proved so destructive to lambs in 
many parts of England. In several lambs examined by Dr. Crisp, 
millions of these entozoa and their ova were found in the bronchial 
tubes and in the intestinal canal, and he believed that many of 
the ova of these worms had been mistaken for Cysticerci ; but the 
various stages of development could be readily traced under the 
microscope. Dr. Crisp had tried many experiments on the living 
worms as to the effect of poisons and other agents, and he believed 
that salt or sulphur given with the food, and the inhalation of sul- 
Prof. Owen on the Dinornis elephantopus. 169 
phurous gas, under proper superintendence, would be the most 
likely means of destroying these parasites. 
Dr. Crisp also placed on the table some parts of the anatomy of 
the Common Bittern (Botaurus stellaris), two of which birds (now 
comparatively rare) had recently been shot on the eastern coast of 
Suffolk. The bird from which the specimens were taken was a fine 
male, measuring from the tip of each wing 4 feet 1 inch, and from 
the point of the beak (when extended) to the lower part of the 
tarsus 3 feet. Among the peculiarities alluded to, was the smallness 
of the sternum, which measured only 3 inches longitudinally ; the 
depth of keel only | of an inch, and the lateral margins the same. 
The trachea measured twelve inches in length, and consisted of 198 
imperfect rings ; the bronchi of 20 semicircular elastic cartilages, 
readily approximated, and hence the production of the peculiar 
sound from which the bird takes its name. The stomach which was 
exhibited was large, and contained near its cardiac orifice a circle of 
gastric glands. A roach, weighing about four ounces, was digested 
at this part, but the tail, which was in the oesophagus, was intact. 
To show the voracity and capacity of swallow of this bird. Dr. Crisp 
said, that Sir W. Jardine and Mr. Yarrell had both taken a Water 
Rail from the stomach and oesophagus, and in Mr. Yarrell' s speci- 
men there were six small fish in addition. The pectinated claw was 
also exhibited. Dr. Crisp believing that it served for the purpose of 
cleaning the beak and mouth of the bird. 
April 8, 1856.— Dr. Gray, F.R.S., in the Chair. 
On Dinornis (Part VII.) : containing a Description of 
THE Bones of the Leg and Foot of the Dinornis ele- 
phantopus, Owen. By Prof. Owen, F.R.S., V.P.Z.S., &c. 
Mr. Walter Mantell having, on his recent return from New Zea- 
land, provisionally deposited his very extensive collection of remains 
of Dinornithic and other birds in the British Museum, I have gladly 
acceded to the wishes of that successful and enterprising collector, 
and of my friend the able Keeper of the Mineralogical Department 
of the Museum, to devote the leisure at my command to the exami- 
nation of this interesting and valuable collection. 
I had advanced as far as the determination of the bones of the leg, 
and their classification according to their species, when the distinctive 
characters of one series of these bones irresistibly brought a convic- 
tion that they belonged to a species of Dinornis that had not pre- 
viously come under my notice, and a species also which, for the 
massive strength of the limbs and the general proportions of breadth 
or bulk to height of body, must have been the most extraordinary 
of all the previously restored wingless birds of New Zealand, and 
unmatched, probably, by any known recent or extinct species of this 
class of birds. 
I was so much struck by the form and proportions of the meta- 
tarsal bone described in the memoir read to the Zoological Society, 
170 Zoological Society : — 
June 23, 1846, and figured in pi. 48,- figs. 4 and 5, voliiii. of the 
* Zoological Transactions,' that I alluded to it as " representing the 
pachy dermal type and proportions in the feathered class*," and the 
hone unquestionably indicated at that period *' the strongest and 
most robust of birds." By the side of the metatarsus of the species 
which I have now to describe, and for which I propose the name of 
elephantopus, that of the Dinornis crassus, however, shrinks to 
moderate, if not slender dimensions. But the peculiarities of the 
elephant-footed Dinornis stand out still more conspicuously when 
the bones of its lower limbs are contrasted with those of the Dinornis 
giganteus. 
I propose, in the present memoir, to combine with the account of 
the leg- and foot-bones of the Dinornis elephantopus, that of the 
bones of the lower limb of the Dinornis crassus, which had not pre- 
viously been described, and to bring out their characteristics by 
comparison with the bones of other species, especially those of the 
Dinornis robustus. 
Commencing with the femur, I shall premise the following table 
of admeasurements of that bone in Dinornis : — 
Dimensions of the femur in D. robustiis. D.elephanfopm. D. crassus. 
In. Lines. In. Lines. In. Lines. 
Length 14 2 13 11 10 
Transverse breadth of proximal end 6 5 10 4 5 
Fore-and-aft breadth of do 5 4 5 3 9 
Transverse breadth of distal end ... 6 5 11 4 7 
Fore-and-aft breadth of do 4 3 3 9 3 5 
Circumference, least, of shaft 710 7 9 6 
The above comparative dimensions bring out the characteristic 
proportions of the femur of the Dinornis elephantopus, as shown by 
its greater thickness and strength. As compared with the femur of 
the Dinornis robustus, this character is remarkably exemplified on a 
comparison of their articular extremities. Had these parts alone 
of the Dinornis elephantopus been preserved and submitted to me, I 
should have scarcely ventured upon a conclusion as to their specific 
distinction from the Dinornis giganteus or Dinornis robustus^ the 
correspondence of configuration being so close, and the difference of 
size so slight. 
The articular surface is continued from the head upon the upper 
part of the neck, expanding as it approaches the great trochan- 
ter, along the summit of which it is terminated by a ridge. In 
both species the surface for attachment of the ligamentum teres is 
formed, as it were, by a portion of the inner and back part of the 
hemisphere having been cut off obliquely with a slight excavation. 
The corresponding ligamentous surface in the head of the femur of 
the Dinornis crassus is relatively smaller, less depressed and less 
defined. The upper and fore part of the trochanter is less produced 
relatively to the breadth of the supra-trochanterian articular surface 
in the Dinornis elephantopus. In this species the sub-circular rough 
surface for the attachment of the iliacus internus muscle is relatively 
» lb. p. 325. 
Prof. Owen on the Dinornis elephantopus. 171 
nearer to the head of the bone than in the Dinornis robustus ; the 
rugged and thick fore part of the great trochanter descends lower 
upon the shaft ; indeed, the shortness of the entire bone seems to 
depend chiefly on the shaft being relatively shorter in the Dinornis 
elephantopus. The intermuscular ridge continued from the tro- 
chanterian one seems to bifurcate sooner in the Dinornis elephantopus. 
The depression behind the trochanterian ridge is less deep in the 
Dinornis elephantopus. The oblique rotular channel is relatively as 
wide and deep as in the Dinornis robustus, but the inner boundary 
formed by the fore part of the inner condyle is shorter. 
At the back part of the shaft the meduUo- arterial foramen is 
relatively nearer the proximal end of the bone ; the two tuberosities 
below this are closer together. The two sides of the fibular groove 
are at a more open angle, and the groove is less deep in the Dinornis 
elephantopus, the outer side being less produced. 
The antero-posterior breadth of the outer and inner condyles is 
equal in the Dinorrds elephantopus as in the Dinornis robustus ; but 
in the Dinornis crassus that dimension of the outer condyle exceeds 
the same dimension in the inner one, and the fibular groove is more 
open or shallow than in the Dinornis elephantopus. 
The generic modifications of the femur are, however, very closely 
preserved in each species, being strictly of the type ascribed to the 
genus Dinornis in my original memoir, Zool. Trans, vol. iii. p. 247. 
Dimensions of the tibia in D. robustus. 
Ft. In. Lines. 
Length 2 8 3 
Transverse breadth of proximal end 7 6 
Fore-and-aft breadth of do 4 9 
Least circumference of shaft 6 9 
Transverse breadth of distal end... 4 4 
D. crassus. 
Ft. In. Lines, 
1 7 6* 
16 6 
6 2 
3 6 
4 10 
3 3 
The characters of the upper end of the tibia of the Dinornis 
elephantopus closely accord with those of the Dinornis robustus, 
and the difference of size, as exemplified in the foregoing table, is so 
slight, that had this extremity only of the bone reached me, I should 
most probably have referred it to the Dinojmis robustus. The 
almost flat articular surface for the inner condyle of the femur is 
somewhat less in its shorter diameter ; the epicnemial ridge is less 
extended transversely ; the ectocnemial ridge curves more strongly 
outwards ; but there are individual varieties in all these characters in 
the tibiae before me. All the tibiae, however, differ in the earlier sub- 
sidence of the' ridge continued downwards from the procnemial plate, 
which ridge is continued in Dinornis robustus uninterrupted by that 
above the inner division of the distal trochlea. The space between 
the ecto- and pro-cnemial plates in the Dinornis crassus is relatively 
greater than in either of the above larger species ; the ridge con- 
* The extremes of size in a series of several bones are here given. 
172 Zoological Society : — 
tinued from the procnemial plate is interrupted as in the Binornis 
elephantopus . The fore part of the tibia internal to the procnemial 
ridge is impressed by irregular vascular grooves. The fibular ridge 
is interrupted by a smooth tract, in or near which is the orifice of 
the canal for the obliquely descending medullary artery in all the 
species of Binornis. The upper division of the ridge is shorter in 
the Binornis elephantopus than in the Binornis robustus, and rela- 
tively shorter than in the Binornis crassus. The surface between 
the fibular ridge and the inner border of the shaft at the back part 
is concave transversely in Binornis elephantopus^ not merely flat as 
in Binornis robustus and Binornis crassus, and, as it descends, it 
continues longer a flat surface before it changes gradually to a convex 
one. The oblong rough insertional surface above the inner condyle 
is relatively shorter and better defined in the Binornis elephantopus 
than in the Binornis robustus. On the characteristic fore part of 
the lower end of the tibia, that bone in the Binornis ele^ihantopus 
repeats all the modifications ascribed to the Binornis in my memoir 
on the Gastornisy or large fossil bird from the Paris eocene*. 
The tendinal canal inclines obliquely inwards parallel with the 
inner border of the expanding end, near which it is placed ; the bony 
bridge spans across it from a flattened tubercle developed from the 
lower part of the outer pier. The outlet of the canal is as wide as 
in the Binornis robustus ; its aspect is obliquely forwards and down- 
wards. External to the tubercle is an oblique rough depression, 
relatively narrower and better defined than in the Binornis robustus. 
The inner condyle is relatively narrower and more produced forwards 
than in the Binornis robustus, resembling more the proportions of 
that part in the Binornis crassus. The general form and oblique 
direction of the wide distal trochlear articulation are closely repeated 
in all the species, the canal being rather more sharply defined behind 
in the Binornis elephantopus than in the Binornis robustus. The 
depression on the entocondyloid surface is less deep in the Binornis 
elephantopus than in the Binornis robustus. 
The above-specified difl"erences, as well as all that I have noticed in 
the tibiae of other species of Binornis, are so inferior in degree to 
those which I have found in closely allied genera, and even in dif- 
ferent species of the same genus, of other large land- and wading- 
birds, as e. g. in species of Ciconia, and in the existing Struthious 
genera, as to leave a strong impression on my mind of the generic 
affinity of the species which I have referred to Binornis and Pal- 
apteryx, and which species have been divided, with a more liberal 
imposition of terms, by Dr. Reich enbach into the nominal genera 
Anomalopteryx, Movia, Emeus, Syornis, &c., no additional facts or 
characters being given by that nomenclator than are to be found in 
the pages or plates of my own memoirs. 
The fibula of the Binornis elephantopus remains, as in other 
Binornithes, and as in the existing Struthious genera, permanently 
distinct from the tibia ; as a general rule in birds, it soon becomes 
anchylosed to that bone. In the species now defined it is a straight 
* ' Proceedings of the Geological Society.' 
Prof. Owen on the Dinornis elephantopus. 
173 
styliform bone, 14 inches 6 lines in length. The head is subcom- 
pressed and produced, as if slightly bent backwards ; the upper arti- 
cular surface is convex from before backwards, almost flat trans- 
versely. The head of the bone is flattened on the inner side, almost 
flat, but a little convex on the outer side. The fore-and-aft dimen- 
sion is 2 inches 9 lines, the transverse diameter 1 inch 3 lines. Be- 
low the head the bone assumes a trihedral form, with the sides 
convex, gradually tapering, and blending into a shape elliptic in 
transverse section, and ending in a point about 9 inches above the 
ankle-joint. The outer surface of the shaft of the fibula is impressed 
by two oblong rough surfaces for the insertion of muscles, the upper 
one 2 inches 9 lines in length ; the inner part, which is ridge-like, 
dividing the fore from the back surface of the bone, presents a rough 
surface with a median interruption, for the ligamentous attachment 
to the fibular ridge of the tibia. 
Dimensions of the Metatarse of D.gigan- D.robustus. D.elephan- D. crassus. 
topus. 
In. Lines. 
18 6 
3 
4 
3 
2 

3 
Length 
Transverse breadth of proximal end ... 4 
Transverse breadth of distal end 5 
Least breadth of shaft 2 
Fore-and-aft breadth of proximal end... 3 
Circumference of ditto 12 
Least circumference of shaft 6 
Breadth of middle trochlea 1 10 
Length of do. following the curve 5 9 
I had hitherto regarded the metatarse of the Dinornis crassus 
(Zoological Transactions, vol. iii. pi. 48, figs. 4 and 5) as presenting 
the most extraordinary form and proportions of all the restored 
species of huge wingless birds of New Zealand ; but it is strikingly 
surpassed in robustness and in great relative breadth and thickness 
by the same bone of the present species, which chiefly on that 
account I have proposed to name elephantopus. Only in the great 
Maccaws and Penguins do I know of a metatarse with similar pro- 
portions to that of this most robust-legged of birds. But the Parrot 
tribe present those peculiar modifications of the distal trochleae, with 
the strong articulation for the back toe, which relate to the scan- 
sorial modifications of the bird's foot ; and the Penguins associate 
with their broad and short metatarse a characteristic retention of 
much of the primitive separation of the three constituent bones. In 
the Dinornis elephantopus these elements have become as completely 
coalesced as in any other species, and the general characters of both 
proximal and distal ends accord with those in previously described 
species. On a more special comparison of the metatarse of the 
Dinornis elephantopus with that of its nearest congener, the Dinornis 
crassus, the following differences present themselves : — The endo- 
condyloid depression is deeper, its fore-and-aft diameter is greater, 
and its transverse diameter less, than in the ectocondyloid one ; but 
the breadth of the endocondyloid depression is relatively greater, and 
its depth somewhat less in the Dinornis elephantopus than in the 
] 74 Zoological Society : — 
Di?wrnis crassus. The transverse convexity dividing the two con- 
dyloid depressions is relatively broader in the Dinornis elejyhantopus ; 
and the rough surface external to the anterior intercondyloid pro- 
minence is more strongly marked. The two calcaneal ridges present 
an equal prominence in Dinornis elephantopiis ; the ectocalcaneal 
one is the more prominent in Dinornis crassus. The anterior surface 
of the metatarse differs chiefly in the proportions indicated in the 
table of admeasurements from that in the Dinornis crassus ; like 
most of the metatarses of that species, one or more vascular foramina 
occur above the subcircular rough surface of insertion of the Jlexor 
pedisy which occupies the lower part of the shallow depression in 
the upper and fore part of the shaft. Along the lower half of the 
shaft, the median longitudinal, and progressively widening pro- 
minence, due to the middle of the coalesced metatarsal bones, is 
rather more marked than in Dinornis crassus. The inner side of 
the shaft is marked at its upper half by the oblique rough tract 
indicative of the insertion of the powerful aponeurosis of the gastro- 
enemii muscles. At the back surface the upper part of the middle 
metatarsal is relatively less prominent than in Dinornis crassus. 
The two vascular foramina occupy corresponding relative positions. 
All other notable differences are those of size and proportion. 
From the metatarse of the Dinornis robustus that of the Dinornis 
elephantopus differs most strikingly in its proportions of length to 
breadth, being little more than half the length, but of nearly equal 
breadth; the distant trochlese, however, being relatively less ex- 
panded than in the Dinortiis robustus. 
The anterior vascular perforation is less than in the Dinornis ro- 
bustus ; the insertional roughness for the tibialis anticus below the 
foramen is of equal size. The upper half of the fore part of the 
metatarse of the Dinornis robustus is longitudinally channelled in the 
Dinornis robustus, not in the Dinornis elephantopus. The corre- 
sponding part of the back part of the shaft is much more prominent 
in the Dinornis robustus. The characteristics of the metatarse of 
the Dinornis elephantopus are more strongly manifested in the 
comparison with that of the Dinornis giganteus, of which bone 
it has only half the length, other dimensions being equal or even 
greater. 
Of the depression, which is very faint, in the Dinornis robustus for 
the ligamentous attachment of the rudimental back toe there is no 
trace in the metatarse of the D. elephaiitopus . 
The bones of the foot I shall compare with those of the Dinornis 
robustus*, to which they make the nearest approach in size. Equal- 
ling, or nearly equalling, the phalanges of that bird in breadth and 
thickness, they differ chiefly in shortness, but in a less degree than 
the metatarsi differ. These pro]:>ortional characters of the species are 
best and easiest given in the plates. A few minor differences, how- 
ever, may be noticed : the outer portion of the proximal end of the 
first phalanx of the inner toe is broader in proportion to its fore-and- 
aft diameter in Dinornis elephantopus. The inner portion of th£ 
* See Trans. Zool. Soc. vol. iv. pi. 1. 
Prof. Owen on the Dinornis elephantopus. 175 
proximal end of the first phalanx of the outer toe presents the like 
difference : the general form of that articular surface is less triangu- 
lar and more oval in hoth the specified phalanges of the Dinornis 
elephantopiis, one, the under side, heing indented as usual in the 
proximal phalanges of the inner and outer toes. 
The modifications in the other phalanges, besides those of size and 
proportion, are not greater or other than might be expected in dif- 
ferent species of the same genus. 
The first evidence of the Dinornis crassus reached me from a tur- 
bary deposit at Waikawaite, in the Middle Island ; it formed part of 
the collection made there by Mr. Earl. I have never received any 
evidence of the species from the North Island. 
In like manner the bones of the much larger bird, which I have 
called Dinornis robustus, and which I was formerly inclined to regard 
as a variety of the Dinornis giganteus, appear to be peculiar to the 
Middle Island ; or at least have not hitherto been found in any 
locality of the North Island. 
The richer series of illustrations of both the Dinornis robustus and 
Dino?'nis crassus in the collection of Mr. Walter Mantell are from 
localities in the Middle Island ; and the abundant illustrations of the 
Dinornis elephantopus are exclusively from one locality in that island ; 
they were obtained at Ruamoa, three miles south of Oamaru Point, 
or that called the * Vast Rocky Head ' in the new Admiralty map. 
This fact might give rise to the idea that the original range or locality 
of the Dinornis elephantopus had been a restricted one, unless, at 
the period when the species flourished, the geographical extent of the 
Middle Island was widely different from what it now is. Yet Mr. 
W. Mantell has obtained strong, if not unequivocal evidence, that the 
Dinornis elephantopus and Dinornis crassus existed contempora- 
neously with Maori natives. The bones described in the foregoing 
pages are in a recent and most perfect condition. They retain the 
usual proportion of animal matter and have undergone no mineral 
change. 
From the sum of our present information respecting the localities of 
the several species of Dinornit hides, we may infer that most, if not all, 
the species of the North Island were distinct from those of the South 
Island. To birds that could neither fly nor swim — at least swim well, 
— the channel called Cook's Straits would prove an effectual bar to 
any migration from one island to another. With each successive 
addition of materials for a complete history of this most remarkable 
family of birds, I feel, however, chiefly impressed with the con- 
viction of how little comparatively we still know respecting them, 
and how much more is likely, through the enlightened co-operation 
of active, resolute, and accomplished explorers, like Mr. Walter 
Mantell, to be, hereafter, contributed towards a perfect history of the 
New Zealand wingless birds. 
Of the very remarkable species of Dinornis based upon the 
powerfully developed limbs, the bones of which are described in 
the foregoing pages, Mr. Mantell' s collection includes right and left 
femora, right and left tibi«e, right and left fibulae, right and left 
17§ Zoological Society : — 
metatarsi, and a considerable collection of toe-bones, from wbich, 
probably, other entire feet might be reconstructed, in addition to 
the one of the left foot now submitted to the Society. There are 
also the two femora and the two metatarsi of an immature bird, 
apparently, by their proportions, from one individual, to which may 
also belong the proximal end of a tibia, wanting the articular epi- 
physis. The femora, as in the other birds, retain the two articular 
ends, which are sim{)ly rougher than in the adult, having been 
covered by a thicker cartilage, but are not developed upon distinct 
osseous pieces, as in laud mammals. The proximal epiphysis is 
wanting in both the immature metatarsi, exhibiting the separate ex- 
panded ends of the three constituent bones terminating in the three 
prominent trochlese below. The length of the femur of this young 
bird is 1 1 inches, that of the metatarse 7i inches. They already 
present the characteristic robustness of the adult bird*. 
April 22, 1856.— Dr. Gray, F.R.S., in the Chair. 
On Two New Species of Birds (Nestor notabilis and 
Spatula variegata) from the Collection of Walter 
Mantell, Esq. By John Gould, F.R.S. 
Mr. Gould brought before the notice of the Meeting two species 
of birds from the New Zealand group of islands which he conceived 
to be new to science ; one, a magnificent Parrot, pertaining to the 
genus Nestor ; the other, an equally interesting species of Duck, 
belonging to the genus Spatula. Both these birds had been placed 
in his hands for the purpose of describing, by Walter Mantell, Esq. 
The Nestor y which is called '' Ked'' by the natives, is by far the 
largest of the three species of the form now known, and is certainly 
one of the most interesting of the ornithological novelties lately 
discovered. It not only differs from its near allies N. hypopolius 
and N. productus in its greater size, but in the greater uniformity of 
its colouring, in the yellow toothed markings of the inner webs of 
the primaries and secondaries, and in the orange toothed markings 
of the inner webs of the tail-feathers ; the yellow colouring of the 
under mandible is another of the peculiarities by which it may be 
distinguished. 
Mr. Mantell informed Mr. Gould that he first heard of the exist- 
ence of the Ked about eight years ago from some old natives whom 
he was questioning as to the birds of the Middle Island. They said 
the Ked somewhat resembled the Kdka (Nestor hypopolius), but 
that, unhke that bird, it was green, and added, that it used formerly 
to come to the coast in severe winters, but that they had not seen it 
lately. Mr. Mantell has only obtained the two specimens exhibited 
of this fine bird ; they were shot in the Murihiku country, and for 
one of them he was indebted to Mr. John Lemon of Murihiku. 
The following is a description of this new species, for which Mr. 
Gould proposes the name of 
* This paper will appear in the Transactions of the Society, illustrated with 
figures of the bones. 
Mr. J. Gould on two new species of Birds, 177 
Nestor notabilis. 
General hue olive-green ; each feather tipped in a crescentic form 
with brown, and having a fine line of the same colour down the 
shaft ; feathers of the lower part of the back and the upper tail- 
coverts washed near the tip with fiery orange-red ; primaries brown, 
margined at the base with greenish-blue ; tail dull green ; inner 
webs of the lateral feathers brown, toothed on their basal two- thirds 
with orange-yellow ; all the tail-feathers crossed near the extremity 
with an indistinct band of brown, and tipped with olive-brown ; 
feathers of the axillae fine scarlet ; under wing-coverts scarlet tipped 
with brown, the greater ones banded with brown and with yellow 
stained with scarlet ; basal portion of the primaries and secondaries 
largely toothed with fine yellow, which is not perceptible on the 
upper surface unless the wings are very widely spread ; upper man- 
dible dark horn colour ; under mandible yellow, becoming richer 
towards the point ; feet nearly yellowish-olive. 
Total length, 18 inches; bill, 2| ; wing, 12|; tail, 7|; tarsi, 1|. 
Hab. The Middle Island, New Zealand. 
The Shoveller forms the fifth species known of the genus Spatula, 
and is distinguished from the other members by the dark crescentic 
markings which decorate the feathers of the breast, sides of the neck 
and scapularies. The species of this well-defined form previously 
described are Spatula clt/peata, which inhabits Europe, North 
America, India and China ; S. rhi/nchotis, which is found through- 
out Australia ; S. maculata, the habitat of which is Chili, and pro- 
bably the neighbouring countries of Peru and Bolivia ; and S. ca- 
pensis of South Africa. For the fifth, or New Zealand species, Mr. 
Gould proposes the name of 
Spatula variegata. 
Crown of the head and space surrounding the base of the bill 
brownish-black ; on either side of the face between the bill and the 
eye a lunar-shaped streak of white, bounded posteriorly with speckles 
of black ; cheeks, sides and back of the neck dark grey with greenish 
reflexions ; front of the neck dark brown, each feather narrowly 
fringed with white ; back brownish-black, the feathers of the upper 
part margined with greyish-brown ; feathers of the breast, sides of 
lower part of the neck, the mantle and scapularies white, with a 
crescent of blackish-brown near the tip ; under surface dark chestnut 
blotched with black ; flanks lighter chestnut barred with black ; 
lesser wing-coverts dull greenish-blue ; greater wing-coverts dark 
brown, fringed at the tip with white ; first elongated scapularies blue- 
grey, with a conspicuous line of white on the outer web next the 
shaft, bounded posteriorly with black ; the next blue-grey, margined 
on the inner web with white ; the remainder greenish-black, with a 
lengthened lanceolate mark of dull or brownish-white down the centre 
of the apical half; speculum deep green ; primaries dark brown with 
lighter shafts ; under surface of the shoulder white ; on each side of 
the vent a patch of white freckled with black ; under tail-coverts 
black, tinged with shining green ; tail dark brown ; irides bright 
Ann. ^ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol xix. 12 
178 Zoological Society : — 
yellow ; bill dark purplish-black, the under mandible clouded with 
yellow ; legs and feet yellow. 
Total length, 16|^ inches; bill, 3; wing, 9i; tail, 4^; tarsi, If. 
Hab. New Zealand. 
Remark. — This is by far the handsomest species of the genus. 
Descriptions of Two New Species of true Cuckoos 
(Genus Cuculus as restricted). 
By John Gould, F.R.S. 
Cuculus strenuus, Gould. 
Crown of the head, back of the neck, cheeks and chin dark grey ; 
all the upper surface, including the upper tail-coverts, olive-brown, 
with shining purplish reflexions ; tail olive-brown, crossed by four 
bands of darker brown, and tipped with huffy white ; throat white, 
passing into the chestnut, which forms a band across the lower part 
of the chest, each feather also has a double mark of black and chest- 
nut down the centre ; breast and upper part of the abdomen white, 
crossed by semicrescentic bands of very dark brown bordered with 
pale chestnut-red ; edge of the shoulder, lower part of the abdomen, 
vent and under tail-coverts white ; upper mandible olive ; lower 
mandible yellow ; irides and feet rich yellow. 
Total length, 15^ inches; bill, 1^; wing, 9f ; tail, 9. 
Hab. Manilla. 
Remark. — In outward appearance this species so nearly resembles 
the Cuculus sparverioideSy that one description would nearly serve 
for both ; but in size it so far exceeds that bird, as well as every 
other true Cuckoo I have yet seen, that I have no doubt of its being 
distinct, and I have therefore assigned it a separate specific appel- 
lation, and have selected the term strenuuSy as indicative of its great 
size and strength. 
The specimen from which the above description was taken now 
forms part of the collection at the British Museum. 
Cuculus hyperythrus, Gould. 
Crown of the head, all the upper surface and wings dark slate- 
grey ; spurious wings white ; lores, ear-coverts, moustache, and a 
spot on the chin black ; throat white, with a fine line of brown down 
the shaft of each feather ; under surface dull rusty-red ; tail grey, 
crossed by two narrow irregular bands of black bordered with brown, 
and by a very broad band of black near the extremity, the tip being 
reddish-brown ; upper mandible black ; lower mandible and feet 
yellow. 
Total length, 11| inches; bill, 1|^; wing, 8; tail, 6^. 
Hab. China. 
Remark. — In size this species is rather less than the Cuculus 
canorus of Europe, and is altogether less elegant in its general con- 
tour. The rufous colouring of the breast and under surface, and the 
black marks on the cheeks and throat, characters seldom seen among 
the CuculidtPy are the features by which it may be distinguished. 
The specimen described, like the preceding, is deposited in the 
National Collection. 
Mr. P. L. Sclater on some species of Birds, 1 79 
3. Note on Buglodytes albicilius, Bp. 
By Philip Lutley Sclater. 
Prince Bonaparte, in his "Notes Ornithologiques sur les colle<\- 
tions rapportees par M. A. Belattrey" read before the French 
Academy in 1853, has instituted a new genus, BuglodyteSy alhed to 
CampylorhynchuSy Spix, and described but one species as belonging 
to it under the title of B. albicilius. 
Having had an opportunity of examining this type (which is now 
in the British Museum), I have to state, that I believe it to be 
the same bird that was long ago named by Mr. Swainson *' Fur- 
narius yriseus,*' and the type of Cabanis' genus Heleodytes. It 
has, however, nothing to do with Furnarius^ and seems, as Prince 
Bonaparte has remarked, intermediate between Campylorhynchus 
and Bonacobius. These forms appear to connect the American 
Mimince very closely with the Wrens, and to render the position of 
the former group among the true Thrushes rather doubtful. The 
synonymy of Buglodytes albicilius will stand as follows : — 
Furnarius griseus, Sw. An. in Men. p. 325. 
Campylorhynchus griseus, Schomb. Reise in Brit. Guiau. iii. 
p. 674. 
Heleodytes griseus y Cab. Mus. Hein. p. 80 ; G. R. Gray, List of 
Gen. and Subgen. p. 26, no. 404. 
Buglodytes albicilius, Bp. Notes Orn. p. 26 ; G. R. Gray, List 
of Gen. and Subgen. p. 32, no. 499. 
My specimen of this bird is from Trinidad. Schomburgk's were 
collected in British Guiana. The examples upon which the name 
Buglodytes albicilius was founded were obtained by MM. Verreaux's 
collector in the vicinity of Santa Martha, on the north coast of New 
Grenada. 
From Trinidad also I possess a bird which seems to be the 
Heleodytes minor of Cabanis. It is so similar to Heleodytes griseus 
in every respect except in size, that I question whether it may not 
be a variety of age or sex of that species. 
On some New ob Imperfectly-known Species of 
Synallaxis. By Philip Lutley Sclater. 
1. Synallaxis ruficapilla. 
Synallaxis ruficapilla, Vieill. N. D. d'H, N. xxxii. p. 810 ; Enc. 
Meth. p. 622 ; Gal. Ois. pi. 1 74. 
Sphenura ruficeps, Licht. Doubl, p. 42. 
Synallaxis cinereus. Max. Beitr. iii. 685. 
Synallaxis olivascens, Eyton, Cont. Orn. 1851, p. 150. 
Olivascenti-brunnea, pileo toto cum nucha, alis extus et cauda 
rufis : striga superciliari fiavida : loris et regione auriculari 
nigricanti-cinereis : subtus albicanti- cinerea, hypochondriis et 
crisso brunnescentibus, ventre medio albicantiore cinereo. 
Long, tota 60, alee 2-1, caudse 30. 
Hab. Brazil. 
12* 
180 Zoological Society : — 
2. Synallaxis Spixi, sp. nov. 
Parulus ruficeps, Spix, Av. Bras. i. pi. 86, p. 85 (<^). 
Synallaxis rujicapilla^ Reich. Handb. d. Sp. Orii. p. 158. 
Supra olivaceo-brunnea, pileo et alis extus rvfis, cauda dorso con- 
colore sed minus olivascente : capitis lateribus et corpore subtus 
cinereis : gutturis pennis intus nigris, extus argent escenti' 
albis : ventre medio albo : lateribus et crisso brunnescente 
tinctis. 
Long, tota 6'5, alae 2*1, caudae 3*5. 
Hab. Brazil. 
These two Synallaxes, which appear to me to be very distinct 
birds, have always hitherto been confounded together. Specimens 
of S. Spixi are rather the most abundant in collections, and are 
usually marked rujicapilla or ruficepsy names both originally applied 
to the former species. 
The S. Spixi may be distinguished by its brown tail, nearly the 
same colour as the back, not rufous like the head, as is the case in 
S. rujicapilla; by having no traces of yellowish supercilia, the 
whole sides of the head being uniform grey like the breast, and by 
its smaller and shorter bill, and longer, narrower and more pointed 
tail-feathers. The throat- feathers are black, finely edged with silvery 
white, which gives an appearance of a black patch on the throat when 
the plumage is slightly raised. In S. rujicapilla the throat and 
breast are uniform cineraceous white, and there is more olive-brown 
on the flanks than in the other species. 
Another bird, very closely allied to these two, is S. elegans, which 
I have lately described, from Bogota. S. pallida, Max., is also very 
similar to S. rujicapilla, but has conspicuous white supercilia, and 
the under parts pale brown. S. albescens, Temminck, (which has 
been also united to S. rujicapilla by Prince Bonaparte and other 
writers) is likewise different, and more closely resembles S. Spixi, 
from which, however, it is to be distinguished by having only the 
back part of the head rufous. A sixth nearly allied species is the 
Bolivian S. Azarce, d'Orb. 
3. Synallaxis caniceps, sp. nov. 
S. dorso, alis caudaque cinnamomeo-rujis : capite toto cervice- 
que grisescentibus, pileo albescentiore : subtus lactescenti-alba : 
rostro et pedibus pallidis : remigibus intus nigricantibus : rostro 
elongato, parum incurvo, Jlavicante : pedibus pallide brunneis. 
Long, tota 5*5, alae 2*3, caudae 2*1. 
Hab. Brazil. 
Mr. Eyton was obliging enough to send me his specimens of 
Synallaxes for examination a short time since, and most liberally 
offered to allow me to describe any I might think new. A single 
example of the present species which was in the collection seems 
different from any previously named. I have therefore taken advan- 
tage of Mr. Eyton' s kindness to give characters to it under the 
specific title of S. caniceps. There is no other member of the genus 
i 
Br. J. E. Gray on the genm Proserpina. 181 
that I am acquainted with that much resembles it in colouring. The 
rectrices are ten in number. 
Mr. Ey ton's S. modesta, described in * Contributions to Ornitho- 
logy' (1851, p. 159), of which the types are in his collection, is one 
of a small group of species from Bolivia, Chili and Patagonia, con- 
sisting of S.fiamgularis, Gould, 8. sordida. Less, and S. hrunnea^ 
Gould ; but I am doubtful whether all the four are really specifically 
distinct. 
Professor Reichenbach, in his ' Handbuch der Speciellen Ornitho- 
loyie,' has chopped up the genus Synailaxis into seven or eight 
different sections. Some of these ought no doubt to be adopted, 
but the Professor has unfortunately referred some of the most closely 
aUied species to different sections, and I think it better therefore to 
continue the employment of the old name for the whole of them, 
until a more accurate revision and arrangement of the whole of the 
species can be made. 
On the Position of the Genus Proserpina in the 
System, and a Description of its Dentition. 
By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S., P.B.S., etc. 
In the Synopsis of the British Museum for 1840 (p. 129), I 
mention amongst the genera of Helicidce which have a thin edge to 
the mouth of the shell, a genus named Proserpina. It is peculiar 
amongst land shells for having a series of laminae revolving in the 
throat, and the outer surface of the shell polished. This genus has 
been adopted by Sowerby, Pfeiffer, Jonas, and most other authors. 
M. Duclos referred the species to the genus Carocolla ; Adams, 
Pfeiffer, and Jonas in some of their earlier works considered them 
as species of the extended genus Helix. 
M. d'Orbigny in his work on the MoUusca of Cuba, renamed the 
genus Odostomtty and referred it with doubt to the family Cyclo- 
stomidce. 
Though the shell is far from uncommon in the West Indies, Cuba, 
and some parts of the American continent, the animal escaped the 
researches of Guilding, Adams, Chitty, d'Orbigny and other observers. 
In 1854, when in Berne, my friend. Dr. Shuttleworth, informed me 
that it had two subulate tentacles, with the eyes sessile on the outer 
side of their base ; and Mr. Bland has mentioned that the animal has 
no operculum, and absorbs the septa between the upper whorls of the 
spire, like some species of the genera Neritina^ Auricula, Helicina, 
Stomastoma, and a few Helices. 
These observations induced me to place the family in my most 
modern arrangement near Oligyradce. 
Mr. Cuming has kindly brought to me a specimen of the genus, 
with its animal, which M. Salle discovered under leaves in the moun- 
tains of Mexico, at some distance from the sea. 
The species is allied to Proserpina eolina, but differs in the spire 
being much more convex ; I hence propose to call it P. Salleana. 
182 Zoological Society : — 
Like P. eolina, it differs from all the others I am acquainted with in 
the upper surface of the whorls being rugose, and only smooth on 
the lower surface, as is the case with many Nanince, showing, if the 
smoothness and polish of the surface depend on the extension of the 
mantle of the animal, that the extension in this kind is confined to 
the under surface of the shell, as is proved by the examination of 
the animal itself. 
This being the case, I am inclined to form this shell and P. eolina 
into a new genus under the name of Ceres, characterized by the 
roughness of the upper surface and the non-dilatation of the front 
edge of the mantle, which is believed to be dilated in all the other 
species of the true Proserpince. 
It will be seen that most authors have placed these Mollusca either 
with Helices or Oligyrce, and I was much inclined to follow their 
example, even after a cursory examination of the animal itself. It 
has much the external appearance of the animals of the latter family, 
having a short, broad, annulated muzzle with a triangular mouth, two 
subulate lateral tentacles, with the eyes sessile on the outer side of 
their base ; a moderately short foot, truncated in front, acute and 
keeled above and behind, without any appearance of beards or any 
membranous ridge on the sides ; the shell is slightly sunk into a cavity 
in the front of the upper keeled part of the foot, as if it possessed 
an operculum ; the edge of the mantle is free from the back of the 
neck, producing an open rtuchal respiratory cavity like Cyclostoma 
and Oligyra, and other operculated and unisexual land shells. 
When the animal is more closely examined, it is found that there 
is no operculum ; the concavity on the front part of the foot into 
which the under surface of the shell fits is furnished with a con- 
tinuation of the mantle, having a raised crumpled edge evidently 
capable of being expanded over the under surface of the shell, and 
explaining the polished surface of this part of the shell ; — a structure 
I have not observed in any other Mollusca. This extension of the 
mantle might be mistaken for the mantle of the operculum, which, 
as far as I know, is always quite distinct and separate from the 
mantle of the shell, but in this animal the fringed edge of the con- 
cavity is in direct continuity with the true or shell-forming mantle, 
both at the columnar and the outer external angle of the mouth of 
the shell. 
The teeth of the lingual membrane are unlike those of Cyclostoma 
and Helicina, which agree with those of Littorina and other marine 
Rostriferous univalves. The teeth resemble those of the typical 
Raphidoglossa, as in the families Nerntinidce, Turbonidce, Trochidce, 
Roliolidce, &c. All the Mollusca hitherto known belonging to these 
families are aquatic, and all but the genera Neritina and Navicellus 
are truly marine. They all have well-developed gills, and the 
greater part have a more or less developed lateral membrane on each 
side of the body, furnished with three or more beards on its lower 
surface, and almost all have the eyes placed on a more or less distinct 
peduncle at the outer side of the base of the tentacles, all characters 
Dr. J. E. Gray on the genus Proserpina. 188 
absent in Proserpina. But notwithstanding all these peculiarities, 
I am inclined to arrange the family Proserpinidcs (including Proser- 
pina and Ceres) in the order Scutibranchia, section Raphidoglossa, 
and to form a suborder for it under the name oi Pseudobranchiay in 
the same manner as the families CyclophoridcB and Helicinidce form 
the suborder Phaneropneumona of the order Rostrifera. 
It may be thus characterized : — 
Pseudobranchia. Gills vascular, branched on the inner surface 
of the mantle ; body and shell spiral ; eyes sessile ; operculum none. 
The open respiratory cavity, the separate sexes and the form 
of the teeth, preclude its being arranged with the Pulmonobran- 
chiata, with which it has been hitherto placed on account of its 
terrestrial mode of life ; but as our knowledge of the structure of 
MoUusca extends, it is found that some Pulmonobranchiafa are 
marine, as Siphonariadce and AmphibolidcEy in the same manner as 
the terrestrial CyclophoridcB and Oligyridce are properly arranged 
with the marine and fluviatile Rostrifera. The Proserpinidce might 
be arranged with the latter families, as was proposed before the 
teeth were known ; but there can be little doubt that the animals 
which have the very numerous rows of such peculiar-formed teeth 
as the Raphidoglossa, must have very different habits and modes of 
life from those which have only seven rows of nearly uniform teeth, 
as the Tcenioglossa or Rostriferous Mollusca. 
And though the animal of the Proserpinidce differs from the 
more typical Raphidoglossa, yet all the peculiarities, except the 
vascular organs of respiration and terrestrial mode of hfe, are found 
in some of the genera of the suborder. Thus the eyes of Fissurella 
are sessile on the outer side of the base of the tentacle ; the whole 
family of Neritinidce and some of the genera of Fissurellidce are 
destitute of any lateral fringe or beards ; so that though these organs 
are the usual characteristic of these animals, their absence is no 
proof that the family does not belong to the group, especially when 
we consider that the teeth have all the peculiarities, indeed, are per- 
fectly typical in form with this well-marked and very peculiar tribe, 
and very probably it may prove that many terrestrial Mollusca may 
properly belong to the order. 
The lingual membrane elongate, broad, with numerous longi- 
tudinal series of close-set teeth ; the central teeth in 1 1 longitudinal 
series, 5. 1.5, the two outer teeth on each side being large and irre- 
gular ; the lateral teeth are numerous, crowded, compressed, linear, 
nearly equal, transparent, with recurved tip. 
In Ceres Salleana the lingual membrane is broad, elongate, with 
close-set teeth. Teeth .00. 5. 1.5. 00, in numerous longitudinal 
series ; the central tooth is oblong, with a smooth recurved tip, the 
1st and 2nd lateral teeth rather broader than the central, with three- 
toothed recurved tip, the 3rd narrow, elongate, with a slight recurved 
end, the 4th and 5th much larger, oblong and irregular shaped, the 
4th about half the width of the 5th, with 3 or 4 denticles on the 
inner side of the upper edge ; the 5th very large, broad, with a 
large subcentral reflexed lobe ; the lateral teeth are very numerous. 
184 
Geological Society :— 
subequal, compressed, transparent, with a recurved tip, which in the 
inner teeth of the series is bifid. 
•L 5 
Teeth of Ceres Salleana. 
1. Ceres Salleana, Gray. 
Shell yellow ; upper surface conical, convex, rugulose, with nu- 
merous close, parallel, granular concentric strise ; lower surface 
smooth, polished ; keel acute, expanded. 
Hab. Cordera, State of Vera Cruz, Mexico, in dense woods, under 
dead leaves {M. A. Salle). 
2. Ceres eolina. Proserpina eolina, Duclos, Mag. Zool. 
The shell orange ; upper surface flat, rugulose, with numerous 
short, parallel, diverging, narrow, sharp ridges ; keel very acute, bent 
up ; lower surface convex, subhemispherical, polished, orange ; axial 
callosity thin, semitransparent, whitish. 
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
January 7, 1857. — Colonel Portlock, R.E., President, in the Chair. 
The following communications were read : — 
1. " On the Dichodon cuspidatus." By Professor Owen, F.R.S., 
F.G.S. 
In this paper additional facts were communicated relative to the 
dentition of the Dichodon cnspidatus to those given in the author's 
original memoir on the species in the ' Quarterly Journal of the Geo- 
logical Society,' vol. iv. p. 36. They related to the structure of the 
last molar tooth of the lower jaw, which has a third bicuspid lobe, 
and to the forms and period of succession of the permanent teeth. 
The formula of the deciduous dentition was 
dm 
4—4. 
that of the permanent dentition is 
= 32; 
3—3 
The form and structure of all the permanent teeth, with the excep- 
tion of the fourth premolar, are now known. 
The deciduous formula is the same as in the genus Sus ; the per- 
manent one differs by the displacement of the first deciduous molar