Zoological Society. 401 *' The large rivers were peopled with crocodiles ; turtles and por-poises floated upon thera ; and these tenants of the water, strange and varied as they were, and unlike the present inhabitants of the district, were not without resemblance to many species still met with on the earth. " The interior of the land, of which the surrounding waters were thus peopled, was no less remarkable, and exhibited appearances no less instructive. Troops of monkeys might be seen skipping lightly from branch to branch in the various trees, or heard mowing and chattering and howling in the deep recesses of the forest. Of the birds, some, clothed in plumage of almost tropical brilliancy, were busy in the forests, while others, such as the vulture, hovered over the spots where death had been busy. Gigantic serpents might have been seen insidiously vv^atching their prey. Other serpents in gaudy dress were darting upon the smaller quadrupeds and birds, and in-sects glittered brightly in the sun. All these indications of life and activity existed, and that, too, not far distant from the spots on which are placed the two most important cities in the world. But this happened not only before our island was visited by its earliest human discoverer, but long before man had been introduced on the earth." The illustrations of the work (which is gorgeously •' got up ") deserve much praise ; the absence of complicated detail renders their comprehension more easy by general readers. Altogether this is a welcome addition to a class of books which we hope to see increase, namely popular scientific works written by scientific men. PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Feb. 23, 1847.— William Yarrell, Esq., Vice-President, in the Chair. Drafts for an arrangement of the Trochilidje, with descrip-tions OF SOME NEW SPECIES. By JoHN GoULD, F.R.S. Genus Petasophora, G. R. Gray {Heliothryx, Boie ; Ramphodon, Less.; Colibri, Spix). This is one of the best-defined groups of the family, and is distin-guished by several peculiarities, the principal of which are the greatly developed ear-coverts and their blue colour, and the similarity in the colouring of the sexes, the females possessing all the brilliancy of the males and only distinguishable from them by their smaller size and more delicate contour : the young too assume the plumage of the adult. The oldest known species of this form constitutes the type ; it is the Sp. 1. Petasophora serrirostris. Trochilus serrirostris, Vieill. Nouv. Diet. torn. vii. p. 359 ; Ency. Mah. part 2. p. 561 ; Ois. Dor. torn. iii. pi. 1. ined.
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