PL em T pate wee ee
tested
ay
4
"n
ND
THE
TRANSACTIONS
THE LINNEAN SOCIETY
LONDON.
VOLUME XV.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY RICHARD TAYLOR, RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET :
SOLD AT THE SOCIETY'S HOUSE, SOHO-SQUARE ;
AND BY LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, AND GREEN, PATERNOSTER-ROW;
AND WILLIAM WOOD, STRAND.
——
MDCCCXXVII.
IT.
LE
IV.
VI.
CONTENTS.
PART I.
A Cararocur of the Norfolk and Suffolk Birds ; with
Remarks. By the Rev. Revett Sheppard, A.M. F.L.S.
and the Rev. William Whitear, A.M. F.L.S. p.
On the Structure of the Tarsus in the Tetramerous and
Trimerous Coleoptera of the French Entomologists. By
W. S. MacLeay, Esq. A.M. F.L.S. Communicated |
by the Zoological Club of the Linnean Society - Ji-
Notice on a peculiar Property of a Species of Echinus.
Dy E..'T. Bennett, Esq. F. L.S. Communicated by the
Zoological Club of the Linnean Society - - p.
A Commentary on the Third Part of the Hortus Mala-
baricus. By Francis Hamilton, M.D. F.R.S. and
F.L.S. - - - - - - - p.
Observations on the Crepitaculum and the Foramina in
the anterior Tibic of some Orthopterous Insects. Dy the
Rev. Lansdown Guilding, B.A. F.L.S. - p.
Description of the Plectrophanes Lapponica ; a Spe-
cies lately discovered in the British Islands. By Pri-
155
deaux
vi CONTENTS.
deaux John Selby, Esq. F.L.S. Communicated by the
Zoological Club of the Linnean Society - = p.
VIL. Description of a new Genus of the Class Mammalia,
from the Himalaya Chain of Hills between Nepaul and
‘the Snowy Mountains. By Major-General Hardwicke,
F.R.S. and F.L.S. - - - - - p.
VIII. Description of two new Birds from Nepaul. Bu Major-
General Hardwicke, F.R.S. and F.L.S. - p.
IX. A Description of the Australian Birds in the Collection of
the Linnean Society ; with an Attempt at Arranging them
according to their natural Affinities. By N. A. Vigors,
Esq., M.A., F.R.S. F.L.S. and F.G.S., and Thomas
Horsfield, M.D., F.L.S. and F.G.S. Communicated
by the Zoological Club of the Linnean Society n.
X. Notice of a Species of Ursus from Nepaul. By Thomas
Horsfield, M.D. F.L.S. - - - - p.
PART II.
XI. Some Account of a Collection of Cryptogamic Plants
from the Ionian Islands. By Robert Kaye Greville,
LL.D. PLS: F. L.S, E. - - - - p
XI. Description of a new Genus belonging to the Natural
Family of Plants called Scrophularine. By Mr. Da-
vid Don, Libr. L.S. - - - - - p.
NUT. On Boswellia and certain Indian Terebinthacee. By
Henry Thomas Colebrooke, Esq. F. R.S. and L.S. p.
XIV.
161
166
CONTENTS.
XIV. The Natural History of Oiketicus, a new and sin-
gular Genus of Lepidoptera. By the Rev. Lansdown
Guilding, B.A. F.L.S. - - - - p.
XV. Observations on the Trachee of Birds; with Descrip-
tions and Representations of several not hitherto figured.
By William Yarrell, Esq., F.L.S. - - Dp:
XVI. On two new Genera of Land Tortoises. By Thomas
Bell, Esq., F.L.S. Communicated by the Zoological
Club of the Linnean Society - - - p.
XVII. Of the Insect called Oisrros by the Ancients, and
of the true Species intended by them under this Appel-
lation: in reply to the Obsercations of W. S. Mac-
Leay, Esq., and the French Naturalists. To which is
added, A Description of a ne Species of CUTEREBRA.
By Bracy Clark, F.L.S., and Foreign Member of the
Royal Academy of Sciences of Paris E - p.
XVIII. A Review of the Genus Combretum. By Mr.
George Don, A.L.S. E = z = p.
XIX. Description of a new Genus of Plants belonging to
the Order Nympheaceæ : in a Letter to H. 'T. Cole-
brooke, Esq., F.R.S., F.L.S. By Nathaniel Wal-
heh, D EL SE RS. Ed. dc. — - D:
XX. Observations and Experiments, made with a view to
ascertain the Means by which the Spiders that produce
Gossamer effect their aérial Excursions. By John
Blackwall, Esq., F.L.S. - - : - p.
XXI.
vil
402
412
442
449
De-
vill CONTENTS.
XXI. Descriptions of two Quadrupeds inhabiting the South
of Africa, about the Cape of Good Hope. By Andrew
Smith, M.D., Member of the Wernerian Society of
Edinburgh, Superintendent of the South African Mu-
seum, and Assistant Surgeon to the Forces. Commu-
nicated by Sir Everard Home, Bart., V.P. R.S., F.L.S.,
$c. - - - - - - - - p:
XXII. An Account of a Pair of hinder Hands of an Orang
Otang, deposited in the Collection of the Trinity- House,
Hull. By John Harwood, M.D., F.R.S. & L.S.
Communicated by the Zoological Club of the Linnean
Society - - - - - - - p.
XXIII. On Systems and Methods in Natural History. By
J. E. Bicheno, Esq., F. R.S., Sec. L.S. B p.
XXIV. An Account of a new Species of Pinus, native of
California: in a Letter to Joseph Sabine, Esq., FR.
and L.S., Secretary of the Horticultural Society. By
Mr. David Douglas, 4.L.S. Communicated by Mr.
Sabine - - - - - - - p.
XXV. Remarks on the Antilope Chickara : in two Letters
addressed to the Secretary. By Robert Hills, Esq.,
F.L.S. - - E - - - - p.
XXVI. Extracts from the Minute- Book of the Linnean
Society - - - - - - - p.
Catalogue of the Library of the Linnean Society - p.
List of Donors to the Library of the Linnean Society p.
Donations to the Museum of the Linnean Society - p.
460
497
TRANS-
TRANSACTIONS
OF
THE LINNEAN SOCIETY.
I. A Catalogue of the Norfolk and Suffolk Birds ; with Remarks.
Dy the Rev. Revett Sheppard, A.M. F.L.S. and the Rev. Wil-
liam Whitear, A.M. F.L.S.
Read April 20, 1824, and May 3, 1825.
THE proximity of the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk to the
northern part of the Continent, affords an opportunity to many
migrative species of birds to visit these parts of the kingdom, in
their passage to and from their breeding haunts. The abundance
of food which the sea-coasts, rivers, and marshes supply to the
waders and web-footed birds forms an attraction to these tribes.
Hence this district is particularly favourable to the pursuits of
ornithologists. The following paper has been drawn up with a
view to facilitate such pursuits, and to illustrate the history of
several species of birds. Its object will be sufficiently answered
if this end shall be in any degree accomplished; and, at the
same time, some light thrown upon the wisdom and goodness of
the Author of Nature in the works of his creation.
The classification and names adopted are those of the second
edition of ''emminck's Manuel d'Ornithologie, a work which
VOL. XV. B evinces
2 Messrs. Surpranp and Wurrear’s Catalogue
evinces in its author a more extensive and accurate acquaint-
ance with the birds of Europe, than any other that has been
hitherto published.
Genus I. Fatco.
1. F. Islandicus (Jerfalcon).
Several years since, a beautiful specimen of the Jerfalcon was
shot on Bungay common ; and being only slightly wounded in
the pinion, it lived for some time in the possession of John
Cooper, Esq. of that place.
2. F. peregrinus (Peregrine Falcon).
Mr. Hoy, of Higham in Suffolk, trapped two of these birds,
and has seen others at that place. He catches them by fastening
baited steel traps, covered with moss, on the top of a high tree,
upon which he has observed them to be fond of perching.
The Peregrine Falcon visits the warren at Beechamwell, on
the estate of John Motteux, Esq., in autumn, and continues
there during the winter. A pair of these birds bred many years
successively in the cliffs at Hunstanton in Norfolk, though con-
stantly deprived of their young, which were taken and trained
to falconry by Mr. Downes of Gunton; but during the three
last years they have ceased to build there.
3. F. Subbuteo (Hobby).
4. F. /Esalon (Merlin).
5. F. Tinnunculus (Kestril, Wind-hover, Hover Hawk).
The stomach of a Kestril killed late in the year was filled with
grubs.
The Rev. Joseph Harrison has employed with success the fol-
lowing method of taking the Kestril—A white napkin was
spread
of the Norfolk and Suffolk Birds. 3
spread in a meadow, and fastened at the corners with little hooked
sticks. On the middle of the napkin a live sparrow was fixed by
means of a string three or four inches in length. Slender twigs
were stuck up on both sides the cloth, to prevent the Hawk
from attacking the sparrow on either side. "Two long slender
twigs of weeping-willow, well covered with birdlime, were stuck
in the ground, one at each end of the napkin, both forming an
arch over the bird, but at such a distance that the sparrow
could not touch them with its wings whilst fluttering ; neither
could any Hawk reach the sparrow without coming in contact
with the limed twigs. ‘The intention of the white cloth was to
attract the attention of the Hawk at a greater distance to the
sparrow fluttering upon it. The limed twigs were stuck so
slightly in the ground, that if the Hawk, upon finding himself
entangled, should struggle, they would have gone off with him
and prevented his flight. Mr. H. observes, that twigs covered
with birdlime, when long and slender, will stop the flight of the
strongest bird, if fixed so as to pass off with him, when touched
by his plumage ; for they then become like a chain binding the
wings to the body. By these twigs he has caught the Cuckoo,
Pigeon, &c., and has no doubt but that the Eagle, and every
bird of prey, might be taken by them when their nests or haunts
are discovered.
The disposition of the Kestril is bold and familiar. Imme-
diately upon the capture of one by the above method, Mr. Har-
rison placed him upon a table, and gave him the sparrow which
he had killed when taken: he plucked and ate it in his pre-
sence, showing no more dread than if he had been brought up
tame. After capturing three of these birds, Mr. H. made no
further attempts upon them, as he considers them to be of great
benefit to the farmer, and doing very little injury to the sports-
man.
B2 A Hawk
4 Messrs. SugPPAn D and Wuirear’s Catalogue
A Hawk of this kind was observed to dart upon a weasel, and
immediately to mount aloft with it in his talons ; but had not
proceeded far before both fell from a considerable height: the
weasel ran off; but the Kestril, upon examination, was found to
have been killed by à bite in the throat.
6. F. fulvus (Golden Eagle).
An account of a bird of this species, killed in Suffolk, may be
seen in Pennant's British Zoology, edit. 1812.
7. F. Haliaétus (Osprey).
The Osprey has been met with in the neighbourhood of rivers
and large pieces of water, both in Norfolk and Suffolk. A very
fine specimen, which we saw in the possession of Mr. Crickmore
of Beccles, had a beautiful bronze gloss upon the upper parts of
its plumage.
8. F. Albicilla (Sea Eagle).
Some years since a Sea Eagle was met with in the western
part of Norfolk, and being only slightly wounded with a gun
was with difficulty overpowered. It afterwards lived sixteen
years in the possession of the late Henry Styleman, Esq. of
Snettisham, at whose house we saw it in full vigour in the
year 1818. Another bird of the same species in full plumage,
killed in Norfolk a few years ago, was sent to Mr. Hunt of
Norwich. In its young state,—the Sea-Eagle of most English
authors,—it has been frequently shot both in Norfolk and Suf-
folk.
A young one, which is kept by the Rev. Joseph Harrison of
Great Oakley in Essex, and is very familiar with him, and which
he procured when about ten weeks old from Sweden, sounds an
alarm upon the approach of any strangers, and will fly violently
to
of the Norfolk and Suffolk Birds. 3
to attack them if they approach too near: he has, however, a
little of the coward about him, as this is generally done when
their backs are towards him. We saw his manner of devouring
a large puppy. He ate the whole of the head, and then from
the neck picked out the remainder of the bones and flesh, dex-
terously turning the skin inside out as he proceeded. His note
at first a good deal resembled that of the Raven ; at present it is
more like that of the Great black-backed Gull.
9. F. Nisus (Sparrow-Hawk).
We have been favoured by Mr. Harrison with the following
observations upon this species.—** This bird may be taken in a
similar manner to that described for taking the Kestril,—by
limed twigs and a sparrow. His disposition, however, appears
much more shy and fearful of the human species than that of the
other. I made an experiment to tame one last summer. He was
brought to me whilst very young, and every possible care was
taken to gain his attachment ; but this proved of no avail: he
was fierce, savage and fearful, and without any attachment to
those who fed him. His wing was cut, to prevent him from
preying upon living birds. When oppressed with hunger he
would come upon my arm, if | approached him and showed him
either bird, mouse, or flesh of any kind, but would not long
remain unless he had something given him. He had a stand in
the garden, where he was regularly fed whilst young ; but when
he became capable of flying to a distance, he would not remain
there to eat what was placed upon it, unless it was fastened by
a string or wire; and even then he would leave it on the ap-
pearance of any of the domestics who had been in the habit of
feeding him, or of any animal. When I gently approached him
myself, at the same time calling to him, he would sometimes
remain. His favourite abode was in a meadow near the house,
perched
6 Messrs. SugerAn D and Wuttear’s Catalogue
perched on a rail by the side of a brook, where he would sit
almost from morning to night, calling to me at all times when I
made my appearance.
* [ found, after two months’ experience, that no discipline or
attention could gain his affections. Both this bird and the
Kestril seem fond of washing themselves in hot weather, and of
basking and rubbing themselves in dust and ashes."
10. F. Milvus (Kite).
11. F. Buteo (Buzzard).
19. F. lagopus (Rough-legged Falcon).
We are informed by Mr. Scales of Beechamwell, near Swaft-
ham, that this bird annually visits the warren at that place about
the month of November, and continues there for some time in
quest of rabbits. A fine bird of this species, which Mr. S. kept
alive many months, is now preserved in the Dritish Museum.
Not long since, a pair of Rough-legged Falcons were killed at
Holkham ; and we have heard of one which was shot at Butley
in Suffolk.
13. F. apivorus (Honey Buzzard).
A dark-coloured specimen of this bird was killed near Yar-
mouth, and is now in the beautiful and extensive collection of
British birds belonging to Joseph Sabine, Esq.
14. F. rufus (Moor Buzzard).
These birds breed in some of the marshes of Norfolk. ‘They
devour the eggs of wild ducks which frequent the same places,
and have been caught in steel traps baited with a duck's egg.
15. FE. cy-
of the Norfolk and Suffolk Birds. 7
15. F. cyaneus (Henharrier).
This bird breeds in the channel-fen at Barton in Norfolk,
where we have more than once thought ourselves in danger
of being attacked by it, when we had approached the place
where undoubtedly its nest was concealed.
Genus II. Srrix.
1. S. Nyctea (Snowy Owl).
A female Snowy Owl was shot at Felbrigg in Norfolk the first
week in April 1814, the weight of which was 51 pounds; length
2 feet; breadth 5 feet 4 inches. ‘This is the first instance we
have heard of the Snowy Owl being seen in England. In the
month of January 1820 another specimen of the same bird was
killed near Gunton, not many miles distant from the spot where
the former one was found. The latter bird is now in the pos-
session of Lord Suffield.
2. S. Aluco (Brown Owl).
3. S. flammea (White Owl).
This bird, as well as others of the genus, is destructive among
rabbits, as we have been informed by a relative, who has shot it
in the very act of striking them on a warren: and we have our-
selves frequently seen White Owls skimming over the burrows.
4. S. brachyotos (Short-eared Owl).
These Owls visit this part of the kingdom in September and
October, and remain till the spring. They arrive in flocks of from
ten to twenty, and frequent heaths; in which respect they differ
from the Long-eared species, which is fond of the gloom of fir-
plantations. Montagu says, that the ears in a dead specimen
are not discoverable ; but in one which we have seen, the ears
remained
8 Messrs. SuxPPARnD and WuiTEAR’S Catalogue
remained distinct from the rest of the plumage after the bird was
killed, —dead or alive there was no difference.
5. S. Otus (Long-eared Owl).
A pair of Long-eared Owls bred a few years since in Staven-
der-park near Orford. ‘There were five young ones in the nest,
one of which was kept alive for four years. It is said to be
common near Beccles, and to breed in that neighbourhood. A
female of this species, which we killed on the 15th of March,
was not so beautiful as a male killed the beginning of the same
month. We have seen seven of these birds together, and on
being disturbed they would take their flight high in the air,
where they resembled Hawks.
Genus III. Corvus.
1. C. Corax (Raven).
In October 1812 we had an opportunity of observing the
great superiority of the Crow over the Raven, although the lat-
ter is by much the larger bird. From a tree, whence we had
noticed an uncommon chattering and clamour to proceed, three
Ravens issued successively, and were instantly attacked and
driven off with the ereatest impetuosity by a Crow, which had
been seated on the same tree with them. "The antipathy, indeed,
these birds bear to each other is very strong, as we have more
than once had an opportunity of noticing. During the breeding-
season we have seen a single Rook attack and drive away a
Raven which had approached its nest, the Rook uttering at the
same time a very angry note. Yet the Raven, when impelled by
the force of affection for its young, may be superior to the Rook,
as appears by the instance recorded by Mr. Markwick, of a pair
of Ravens, which had a nest at Broomham in Sussex, causing
the
of the Norfolk and Suffolk Birds. 9
the Rooks to desert a rookery in the same grove, which they had
previously frequented for many years.
2. C. Corone (Crow).
We have often been much amused with the sagacious instinct
of this bird, and of others of the same genus, in getting at their
prey. In the winter season they frequent the sea-shores during
the ebb tide in search of muscles and other shell-fish. As soon
as the bird has found one, it flies up almost perpendicularly into
the air, with the fish in its beak, and lets it fall on the stones in
order to break its shell. The bird quickly follows the falling
booty, and devours it.
The eggs of the Crow are subject to vary both in shape and
colour. ‘Two of them in our possession, taken from the same
nest, differ considerably ; one being of a pale green with very
few small spots, and the other almost entirely covered with large
dusky spots.
3. C. Cornix (Hooded Crow).
The Hooded Crow made its appearance in this country in the
year 1816 as early as October 9th. They are very common in
Suffolk on heaths. Sometimes they will approach the habita-
tions of man, and feed upon the carrion preserved for dogs.
This species is rather numerous in the neighbourhood of Yar-
mouth during the winter, feeding among the ooze at low-water ;
it is also frequently seen on the road between that place and
Norwich.
4. C. frugilegus (Rook).
The eggs of the Rook are very good to eat, and by some per-
sons have been thought equal to those of the Lapwing. Like
those of the Crow, they are sometimes seen of a pale green,
VOL. XV. C with
10 Messrs. SugePARD and Wuirear’s Catalogue
with scarcely any spots upon them. We have seen two instances
of a variety of this bird, in which the upper mandible was about
an inch longer than the under one. Mr. Harrison has put
Rooks’ eges into the nest of a Magpie, and the young Rooks
have been reared by that bird. He says, that he has known this
plan adopted with success by those who wished to have a rookery.
The same gentleman has had Thrushes reared by a Hedge-
sparrow, but in that case he usually assisted the old birds in
feeding them.
5. C. Monedula (Jackdaw, Cadaw).
We have seen a flock of these birds busily employed in pick-
ing acorns from an oak. ‘They used formerly to breed in hol-
low trees in the park at Ash in Suffolk. Their eges, as well as
those of Rooks, are very good to eat.
6. C. Pica (Magpie).
The sons of Mr. Lord of Ramsey; Essex, took four young
Ravens from a nest, and put them into a waggon in a cart-shed.
About the same time they destroyed the young of a Magpie,
which had its nest near the cart-shed, and the old Magpies,
hearing the young Ravens crying for food, carried them some,
and constantly fed them till they were disposed of by the boys.
1. C. glandarius (Jay).
Some years since, as two gentlemen were sporting at Tunstal
in Suffolk, distant about five miles from the sea, they observed an
extraordinary flight of Jays, passing in a single line from sea-
ward towards the interior. ‘This line extended further than the
eye could reach, and must have consisted of some thousands.
Several of them were killed as they passed. But the firing at
them did not occasion the rest to deviate from their line of flight.
This
of the Norfolk and Suffolk Birds. 11
This circumstance shows that they were then migrating, and it
seems highly probable that they came from the Continent.
Genus IV. BomByctvora.
1. B. garrula (Waxen Chatterer).
The Waxen Chatterer, though only an occasional visitant, has
not unfrequently made its appearance in these counties, and
generally from November to March. Some years since a pro-
digious tlock of them were seen in a grove at Bawdsey in Suf-
folk, by W. W. Page, Esq., then resident at that place. Mr.
Leathes informs us that these birds were in considerable abun-
dance at Herringfleet in the winter of 1810.
Genus V. Coractas.
1. C. garrula (Roller).
“In the month of May 1811, Sir Thomas Gooch's keeper
shot a female Roller near Benacre in Suffolk, on the same spot
where he had killed the male four years since: the ground they
frequented was a coarse sort of heath and fen intermixed." — Brit.
Zool. edit. 1819. In answer to some queries respecting a Roller
killed in Suffolk, Mr. Hunt of Norwich replies, ‘The specimen
of the Roller, which was shot at Bungay September 23, 1817, I
suspect was a young male bird, as it differs materially in plu-
mage from a female one now in my possession. This bird is
now in the collection of Joseph Sabine, Esq. Iam also credibly
informed, that another specimen of the same bird was killed in
the neighbourhood of Yarmouth about the same time. A few
years since a Roller was shot at Bromeswell in Suffolk. And
late in the spring of 1818 another was killed in the neighbour-
hood of Cromer.”
c2 Genus
12 Messrs. SuzrParp and WuiteEan’s Catalogue
Genus VI. Ortotus.
1. O. Galbula (Golden Oriole).
The late John Sheppard, Esq., of Campsey Ash, shot a female
bird of this species at that place. Three others (two males and
a female) were killed a few years since at Saxmundham. And
we have been informed that a pair of these birds built a nest in
the garden of the Rev. Mr. Lucas, of Ormsby in Norfolk. One
of those mentioned above was killed in the spring.
Genus VII. Srurnus.
1. S. vulgaris (Starling).
The Starling was formerly seen in Suffolk in much greater
flocks than at present, it being now a rare thing to see more than
two hundred together; whereas formerly many thousands might
be found congregated in the same flock. Very large flocks of
Starlings are still sometimes seen in the marshes of Norfolk.
Genus VIII. Pasror.
1. P. roseus (Rose-coloured Thrush).
This species has been four times noticed in Suffolk in the
course of a few years. One was shot upon a cherry-tree at
Chelmondiston, and being only winged, was fed with raw meat,
and kept alive three months: another was also feeding upon
cherries at the time it was killed at Polstead in the summer of
1818; a third was met with at Winston near Debenham ; and
a fourth, which was a beautiful specimen, was shot at Beccles
towards the latter end of the summer. About the same time one
was killed in the neighbourhood of Yarmouth.
Genus
of the Norfolk and Suffolk Birds. 13
Genus IX. Lanius.
1. L. Excubitor (Great Cinereous Shrike).
The migrations of this species are uncertain. It has been
killed in Suffolk in the months of January, April, May, and
September. And on the 9th of July 1816 we saw a female
Cinereous Shrike at Baytham in that county, which made a
noise like that of a pair of shears clipping a fence. We are
informed by the Rev. George Reading Leathes, that this bird
has been frequently seen in the Hyde near Bury (a large wood
on the estate of Sir Thomas Gage), and that he has received a
specimen shot there. In the autumn of 1819 four of these birds
were sent to Mr. Hunt, which had been killed in Norfolk. Early
in December 1819 a Cinereous Shrike frequented a thick thorn
hedge, near Mr. Hoy's house at Higham, but was so shy that it
could not be approached within gun-shot. On examining the
hedge Mr. Hoy found three frogs, and as many mice, spitted on
the thorns. He therefore set six very small steel traps, each
baited with a mouse. On the following day two of the traps
were found sprung, and the baits gone. By watching in con-
cealment Mr. H. soon afterwards observed the Shrike to dart
down upon a bait, and rise perpendicularly, but not quick
enough to escape, as it was caught by two of its toes. ‘The bird
was carried alive to the house, and placed in a room in which a
thorn bush was fixed, and some mice given to it: one of which
it was observed through a hole to spit upon a thorn with the
greatest quickness and adroitness.
2. L. Collurio (Red-backed Shrike).
A nest of this bird, built at Offton, was composed of dried
grass and green moss, with a few small twigs of the Clematis
vitalba, and lined with fibres. The eggs of the Red-backed
Shrike,
14 Messrs. SugePARnD and WuiTEAR's Catalogue
Shrike, like those of many other birds, are subject to some va-
riation. ‘The ground of them is sometimes blueish-white, some-
times yellowish-white, and the spots are much larger and more
numerous upon some than upon others. ‘The beak of one of
these birds which we shot, was coated over with cow-dung,
doubtless from its having been searching therein for insects.
We once saw a male Red-backed Shrike eager in chase of a
Blackbird. We have heard a bird of this kind exactly imitate
the cry of a young Owl; but are at a loss to conjecture its ob-
ject, as it cannot be supposed to have done so with a view of
decoying birds of that sort within its reach.
Genus X. Muscicapa.
i. M. Grisola (Spotted Flycatcher, Wall-bird).
The plumage of the young is very different from that of the
old birds, being all over spotted.
The form of the Spotted Flycatcher is altogether adapted for
activity of wing : its legs are very short ; its breast broad : the
bird narrows rapidly from breast to tail; and it has great length
of wing in proportion to its size.
A Spotted Flycatcher was once observed by us to alight upon
a rail with a large white butterfly in its mouth, which it swallowed
whole, wings as well as body ; whereas a tame Brambling, which
has often butterflies given to it, uniformly rejects the wings.
Having one evening let fly a large specimen of the Lucanus
Cervus, it was immediately caught by a Spotted Flycatcher.
This bird is known in Norfolk and Sutfolk by the name of Wall-
bird, from the circumstance of its frequently making its nest in
a tree against a wall.
2. M. albicollis (Pied Flycatcher).
We have seen a specimen of this bird, which was killed near
Cromer.
of the Norfolk and Suffolk Birds. 15
Cromer. Two others were caught by Mr. Downes in his garden
at Gunton in Suffolk ; and a fourth was shot at Keswick near
Norwich.
Genus XI. Turpus.
1. T. viscivorus (Missel Thrush).
The Missel Thrush sings its loud note till the beginning of
May, after which time it is not often heard. We have once.
and only once, heard it run through a great variety of the most
melodious notes, at a time when the male was wooing the female.
The young have somewhat the appearance of hawks. The old
birds are very fierce, and make a noise like a watchman’s
rattle. We have witnessed a similar affray between a pair of
these birds and some magpies to that mentioned in White's
History of Selborne. After the loss of their brood, the old birds
used from time to time to make a noise like a magpie.
2. T. pilaris (Fieldfare, Meslin-Bird).
In backward seasons the Fieldfare is late before it leaves this
country : it has been killed in the neighbourhood of Cromer the
first week in June. ‘The bird had then more dark spots upon
the breast and sides than one which was killed in autumn, and
the spots upon the first part were of a deeper hue. A specimen
shot at this season of the year is in the museum of Joseph Sa-
bine, Esq. On the 5th of May 1812, we saw Fieldfares in
prodigious numbers, flying very high and steering due north.
They were probably migrating at that time, as none were after-
wards seen. We observed a very large flock of these birds on
the 3rd of May 1820: they were extremely tame, and sutlered
us to approach within a few yards. They were observed again
on the following day in the morning, but were all gone in the
afternoon.
3. T. mu-
16 Messrs. Surpearyp and Wuirear’s Catalogue
3. T. musicus (Song Thrush).
4. T. iliacus (Red-wing Thrush, Storm Bird).
5. T. torquatus (Ring-Ouzel).
The Ring-Ouzel has been met with in this part of the king-
dom at various seasons of the year; but it appears to be most
common in October, at which time we have seen twenty of them
together. ‘The Rev. G. R. Leathes says, ** About the year 1804,
a pair of these birds built in a garden at Lowestoffe, and laid
eggs." When on the wing, the Ring-Ouzel makes a noise like
that caused by the striking of two large stones. Its flight more
resembles that of the Fieldfare than that of the Blackbird.
6. T. Merula (Blackbird).
Genus XII. CriNcrvs.
1. C. aquaticus (Water Ouzel).
A few of these birds have been killed in this part of the king-
dom.
Genus XIII. Svrvra.
1. S. Locustella (Grasshopper Warbler).
We have met with this species both in Norfolk and Suffolk.
Montagu does not mention, as Bewick has done, the spots upon
the throat and neck. Its plumage is very glossy, having a sil-
very tinge upon it, particularly the under part. It very much
resembles a Lark in its general figure, but the hind claw is not
long enough for it to rank in that genus.
On the 15th of May 1820, a nest of the Grasshopper Warbler
was found among some high grass, iu a wood in the parish of
Stoke by Nayland, in which were six eggs. The old male bird
was
of the Norfolk and Suffolk Birds. 17
was killed upon the nest. The structure of this nest resembled
that described by Montagu, but the eges were different from
those found by him. They were white, with numerous small
purplish-red spots. The nest was artfully concealed, having
the long grass drawn over the top; and a hole was made in the
grass, as if cut with a pair of scissors, forming a path for the
bird to escape. ‘Two other birds of this species were killed at
the same time, and several others were heard. "They were ob-
served to frequent that part of the wood where the grass was
high and the trees low.
2. S. Phragmites (Sedge Warbler, Reed-bird).
The legs and feet of the Sedge Warbler are remarkably large
in proportion to the size of the body ; the bill is also larger than
is usual in birds of this genus. The disproportion of these parts
has been noticed by Ray and White, but seems not to have been
remarked by other authors. In a specimen which we killed, the
legs as far as the toes were covered with an epidermis, which might
easily have been pulled off. The under part of the toes is yellow.
The base of the hind toe very stout and broad, doubtless to give
it a firm grasp, the bird living chiefly in sedges and bashes
hanging over the water. The wings are very short, compared
with the length of the body. Its shape is altogether well calcu-
lated for making its way through the close coverts which it fre-
quents. The Sedge Warbler will sometimes begin its song
exactly like that of the Swallow ; it will fly into the air singing,
and come down with its wings turned up in the manner of the
Lesser Field Lark, which may perhaps account for its having
been called Willow Lark.
3. S. arundinacea (Reed Wren).
The Reed Wren frequents the reeds in the river Gipping, and
VOL. XV. D we
18 Messrs. Surprarp and WuirrEAn's Catalogue
we have seen it at Higham: it is also found in other parts of
these counties. A bird, which appears to be a variety of this
species, was shot about the middle of May by the Rev. James
Brown of Norwich, in the marshes below that city. ‘This bird
has no vibrisse.
4. S. Luscinia (Nightingale).
5. S. Atricapilla (Black-cap).
The Black-cap may with propriety be called the English
Mocking-bird. We have heard it sing the notes of the Blackbird,
Thrush, Nightingale, Redstart, and Sedge Warbler ; and besides
its own peculiar whistle, which is most delightful, it frequently
makes a noise resembling that of a pair of shears used in clipping
a fence, which also is the noise made by the young of this spe-
cies. During the period of incubation the male Black-cap oc-
casionally sits on the eggs in the absence of the female.
6. S. hortensis (Greater Pettychaps).
This species of warbler has been found in the neighbourhood
of Ipswich, and we have received its eggs from Diss. One
which we examined agreed with Montagu's description ; to which
might be added, that the upper mandible is notched, and the
base of the bill beset with vébrisse. It may also be remarked,
that when the mandibles are closed, the suture appears of a yel-
lowish hue: the upper parts of the head and the back to the
insertion of the tail, have a silvery tint upon them, and in par-
ticular lights are damasked, as it were, in longitudinal lines.
The under parts of the young are deeply tinged with yellow. In
the evening the Greater Pettychaps will sit in the midst of a
thick bush, and warble very melodiously for a length of time, in
that respect resembling the Nightingale. It will frequently begin
its
of the Norfolk and Suffolk Birds. 19
its song exactly like that of a Blackbird, but always ends with
its own. Its general habits are similar to those of the Yellow
Wren ; for, like that bird, it seems constantly in motion, hopping
about from bough to bough in search of insects, and singing at
intervals.
7. S. cinerea (White-throat, Hay-jack).
8. S. Curruca (Lesser White-throat).
We have noticed the Lesser White-throat more than once at
Starston, and have also procured its eggs at the same place. It
appears to be not uncommon in the neighbourhood of Diss, at
which place we have seen several nests belonging to this species.
In the month of July 1820, we observed a Lesser White-throat
very busy in picking the Aphis lanigera from the apple-trees.
This bird often utters a remarkably curious and fine-drawn note,
scarcely to be heard. It also warbles softly and finely, as Mon-
tagu observes; and before its common note chu, lu, lu, lu, it
usually begins with a short and gentle warble.
9. S. Rubecula (Red-breast).
10. S. Phanicurus (Redstart, Firetail).
Perhaps the Redstart sings earlier and later than any other
diurnal songster. We have heard it singing after ten o'clock at
night, and at three the following morning. A Redstart, which
built in our garden in the summer of 1819, adopted part of the
song of a Lesser White-throat, which much frequented the same
place; and its imitation was so exact as sometimes to deceive the
nicest ear. Almost all the summer warblers are, more or less,
mock-birds.
11. S. Hippolais (Lesser Pettychaps, White-throat).
| D 2 12. S. si-
20 Messrs. Suneparp and Wutrear’s Catalogue
19. S. sibilatriv (Wood Wren).
13. S. Trochilus (Yellow Wren, Oven Bird).
14. S. Regulus (Golden-crested Wren).
The nest of this bird is generally built underneath the branch
of a tree, and in form similar to that of a Chaffinch. But we
have also seen it pendulous, with an aperture on one side ; so
that Montagu was wrong in contradicting what other authors
have said on this subject. There are few birds which do not
occasionally vary from the general form in building their nests.
There is one peculiarity in the nest of the Golden-crested Wren:
the inside of it is not made smooth, like those of the generality
of birds, but loose feathers hang into the middle of the nest, so
that neither the eges, nor the young, when small, can be seen.
The design of this structure seems to be, to preserve the warmth
of its diminutive contents.
15. S. Troglodytes (Common Wren; Jenny Wren, Kitty, ‘Titty,
and Bobby Wren).
Genus XIV. Saxicona.
1. S. Œnanthe (Wheatear).
The Wheatear breeds in the rabbit-burrows which abound in
the sand-hills on the coast of Norfolk. In Suffolk it frequents
eravel and sand-pits, heaths, and uncultivated places: it is also
found on similar spots in the first-mentioned county.
2. S. Rubetra (Whinchat).
3. S. Rubicola (Stonechat).
Genus
of the Norfolk and Suffolk Birds. 21
Genus XV. ACCENTOR.
1. A. modularis (Hedge Warbler).
Genus XVI. MoraciLLa.
1. M. alba (White Wagtail).
2. M. Boarurula (Gray Wagtail).
The Gray Wagtail is by no means uncommon in the autumn
and winter season in the low meadows by the river Gipping in
Suffolk, and likewise in the neighbourhood of Higham. It is
also frequently met with in Norfolk at the same seasons. It
runs upon the tops of the weeds, which are partly submerged in
the ditches, and probably feeds upon the Dytisci and Gyrini,
which are almost always to be found in those situations.
3. M. flava (Yellow Wagtail).
This species is not generally plentiful in Suffolk, though it is
pretty common on parts of the river Waveney, which divides that
county from Norfolk.
Genus XVII. Anruus.
1. A. pratensis (Tit Lark).
2. A. arboreus (Field Lark).
A common species in the neighbourhood of Harleston during
the summer ; and it is also found in various parts both of Norfolk
and Suffolk. ‘This bird is subject not only to an Hippobosca,
but likewise to a large species of Acarus. Five of these insects
were taken off the head of a lark on the first day of its arrival.
Genus
29 Messrs. SnrrrarD and Wuirear’s Catalogue
Genus XVIII. ALaupa.
1. A. arvensis (Skylark).
It appears from the following remarks of Mr. Woolnough of
Hollesley, that these birds frequently migrate into this country
from the Continent in autumn, and return thither in the spring.
Mr. W. thus writes :—** I have frequently seen darks and rooks
come flying off the sea; not in one year only, but in many ; not
on one day only in the same year, but on several. I have seen
them coming off the sea for many hours in the same day ;—the
larks from five and ten to forty or fifty in a flock ; the rooks, on
the same day, in companies from three to fifteen. This I once
observed in November for three days in succession ; the early
part of that month was the general time of their coming: our
fields were then covered with the /arks, to the great destruction
of the late-sown wheat. They generally remained with us till
the first heavy fall of snow, and then disappeared. Early in the
February following they appeared again on the coast in innu-
merable flocks, but disappeared as soon as the weather became
fine, with a light westerly wind: from which circumstance I con-
cluded that they again crossed the sea. ‘They appeared to me
to be the same as our common Skylarks.
**'DPhose darks and rooks that I have seen coming off the sea, did
not appear like birds that had flown off for pleasure : they always
flew low, close to the water, and seemed fully intent on reaching
the shore, on which they often alighted directly on reaching it."
2. A. arborea (Woodlark).
The Wood-Lark breeds in this part of the kingdom, but it is
a thinly-scattered species.
Genus
to
C5
of the Norfolk and Suffolk Dirds.
Genus XIX. Panvs.
1. P. major (Great 'Titmouse).
This species has an astonishing variety of notes. When dis-
turbed on its nest it will make a hissing noise, and boom with its
wings like the Blue Titmouse. We have seen such a number of the
Great Titmouse in a large plantation of evergreens at Campsey
Ash, that the place resounded with the noise of their beaks rap-
ping against the bark of the yew-trees. The large hind toe and
crooked claw of this kind, and of others of the genus, are doubt-
less of service in enabling these birds to hang in a variety of
attitudes while searching for their food.
9. P. ater (Colemouse).
3. P. ceruleus (Blue Titmouse, Betty Tit and Jenny Tit).
In winter the Blue Titmouse frequents the sheds in which tur-
nips are kept, for the sake of feeding on the maggots which are
frequently found in that root, and many of which are exposed
when the tops of the turnips are cut off previous to their being
given to the cattle.
4. P. palustris (Marsh Titmouse).
5. P. caudatus (Long-tailed Titmouse, Pudding-poke, Capon
Long-tail).
In this part of the kingdom the Long-tailed Titmouse is known
by the name of Pudding-poke, without doubt from the circum-
stance of its building its nest in the form of that household arti-
cle. We have more than once this spring observed an old bird
of this species sitting in its nest, with its head partly out of the
hole
24 Messrs. SugePARnD and WurrEAn's Catalogue
hole in the side of the nest, and its tail turned over its head, and
projecting about an inch and a half.
6. P. biarmicus (Bearded Titmouse).
Genus XX. EmMBERIZA.
1. E. Citrinella (Yellow Bunting).
2. E. Miliaria (Common Bunting, Clod-bird).
3. E. Scheniclus (Reed Bunting).
The Reed-Bunting uses the same artifice to attract attention
from its nest, as the Partridge does to save its young,—limping
along upon the ground, screaming, and shaking its wings.
4. E. nivalis (Snow Bunting).
Flocks of Snow Buntings visit the coast of Norfolk every
winter; and they are sometimes found in great abundance at
Caistor near Yarmouth.—The wings of this species are long
and pointed, which give it somewhat the appearance of a Sand-
piper in flight. This enlarged power of wing was probably de-
signed to enable the bird to accomplish its migrations to and
from the arctic circle.
Genus XXI. Loxra.
1. L. Curvirostra (Crossbill).
In the year 1810 Crossbills were numerous at Offton in Suffolk.
March 4th, 1815, a small flock of them again made their appear-
ance at the same place, and were very busy in feeding upon the
seeds of Scotch, Spruce, and Larch Firs, apparently giving the
preference
of the Norfolk and Suffolk Birds. 25
preference to the latter. A male bird sang a little on their first
arrival; and in a few days after he poured out his full note,
which was very agreeable, and equal to that of many of our
singing birds, though different from the note of any other bird
we ever heard. We saw him tread the hen, which convinced us
that they would breed there. On the 26th of March they had
completed their nest, and we were looking forward with the
expectation of seeing the progress of rearing their young, when
our hopes were disappointed by a Hawk, which killed both the
old birds. A pair of Crossbills were, however, more fortunate
at Livermere, having succeeded in rearing their young several
times in the garden of Lee Acton, Esq. of that place. They built
on a Fir-tree.
Genus XXII. Puyrruuta.
1. P. vulgaris (Bulfinch, Blood-Olph).
Genus XXIII. FRrINGILLA.
1. F. Coccothraustes (Hawfinch).
The Hawfinch has occasionally been seen both in Norfolk
and Suffolk, and for the most part during the winter season.
2. F. Chloris (Green Grosbeak).
3. F. domestica (House-Sparrow).
The growth of the feathers of the young of this bird is very
rapid in hot weather. On the 9th of August we took a young
Sparrow from a nest ; there was neither down nor feathers upon
it, but the rudiments of the feathers were visible under the
skin upon the back of the head and along the back: on the
sides of the wings the shafts of the quills had just pierced the
VOL. XV. E skin.
"
26 Messrs. Suepparp and WuHITEAR’s Catalogue
skin. Eight days afterwards we took another young one from
the same nest. This bird was covered with feathers, and was
able to make some use of its wings. The parent birds had
adapted the food which they brought to their young to their
powers of digestion. ‘The stomach of the first of the above
Sparrows was weak, and filled almost entirely with insects ; only
one grain of wheat and a few grains of sand were found in it.
In the second the gizzard was become vastly more muscular,
and contained nine grains of wheat nearly whole, besides some
pieces, the remains of several small beetles, and some pretty
large gravel-stones.
4. F. montana (Tree-Sparrow).
We have received a specimen of the Tree-Sparrow from
the Rev. H. Tilney of Hockwold, at which place it breeds.
Mr. Scales pointed out to us this species at Beechamwell, and
favoured us with its eggs. We have also seen it at Freston in
Suffolk.
5. F. celebs (Chaftinch, Spink).
F. Montifringilla (Brambling).
This winter bird of passage sometimes makes its appearance
in very large flocks. At Beechamwell, Mr. Scales considered
them of service to his land, from their devouring in great abun-
dance the seeds of the Knot-grass (Polygonum aviculare). In the
severe winter of 1819-20 large flocks of these birds were ob-
served at Stratton Strawless feeding on the Beech-mast. Bram-
blings have been observed in the spring as late as the 27th of
April. A male and female, which were only winged, we kept
for some time in a cage, and fed with canary and hemp seed, of
which the former agrees with them best. The male was the larger
of
C
of the Norfolk and Suffolk Birds. 27
of the two: he would frequently erect his crest, and both of them
would snap their beaks at each other by way of menace. He
had no regular song, but uttered notes resembling those of the
Greater Redpole and Green Grosbeak, and also the gentle com-
placent note occasionally uttered by the female Chaftinch.—La-
tham says the legs are gray, and Bewick describes them as pale-
brown. The hind part of the legs and the bottoms of the feet
of a specimen which we examined, were of a bright yellow. In
a female killed late in April, the remark of Linnæus, alarum
basi subtus flavissima, was very striking.
7. F. cannabina (Common Linnet).
8. F. montium (Twite, French Linnet).
This is a winter bird of passage. We have found them plenti-
ful in the month of October on Pewit Island, and on the main
land of Essex near it, in flocks of ten and twenty together ; and
towards evening we noticed a flock of about a hundred: so that
it seems not improbable that the flocks may collect together to
pass the night. No other birds were mixed with these flocks,
which were feeding on the seeds of the Marsh Samphire (Sali-
cornia herbacea), and Sea Starwort (Aster tripolium). Their little
twittering note, as they sit or fly, might easily be mistaken for
that of the Siskin; but their ay, ay, ay, twite, twite, twite, (whence
certainly their name,) at once distinguishes them. — l'wites are
found in the salt-marshes near Yarmouth; and we have seen a
flock of them at Shotley Point in Suffolk. A Twite was killed on
the 23rd of May; so that a few may perhaps breed in this coun-
try. Mr. Scales informs us that this species of Finch visits
Beechamwell very early in the spring, and feeds upon the seeds
of the Alder as they drop from the cones.
At half-past five o’clock in the morning of March 20th, 1820,
E 2 a very
28 Messrs. SugePAn D and Wuirear’s Catalogue
a very extraordinary migration of small birds was witnessed at
Little Oakley in Essex. ‘The attention of the observer was
arrested by an uncommon chattering of birds, and looking up
he beheld an incredible number of small birds flying a-breast,
in a line extending as far as the eye could distinguish them, and
three or four yards deep. Their direction was towards the south-
east, the wind favouring them; their height only a few yards
from the ground. The flock was supposed to consist principally of
Chaftinches, Linnets, T'wites, and Bramblings. None of the two
latter species were seen in the neighbourhood after that time :
and there is on those shores in the winter season an immense
quantity of Linnets, more than can be bred in the neighbour-
hood.
9. F. Spinus (Siskin).
Small flocks of Siskins are occasionally seen in Norfolk and
Suffolk during the winter season, particularly in severe weather.
A flock of them was observed at Sturston as late as the 4th of
March, 1820. They kept up a constant twittering as they flew
briskly from tree to tree, apparently for the purpose of keeping
the flock together. ‘The twittering of this bird very much re-
sembles that of the Lesser Redpole.
10. F. Linaria (Lesser Redpole).
11. F. Carduelis (Goldfinch).
Genus XXIV. Cucuzus.
1. C. canorus (Cuckoo).
The opinion still prevails among the vulgar in Suffolk, that
Cuckoos are transformed into Hawks in winter.—On July 31st,
1816,
of the Norfolk and Suffolk Birds. 29
1816, we observed a pair of Red-backed Shrikes very busy in
feeding a young Cuckoo which was perched on an oak. This
fact confirms Temminck's remark, who says that the Cuckoo will
sometimes lay its egg in the nest of the above-mentioned Shrike.
It also contradicts Montagu, who asserts that “the Y ellow-ham-
mer's egg is larger than that of any other bird in whose nest the
Cuckoo chooses to lay :" for the egg of the Red-backed Shrike
is larger than that of the Yellow-hammer. We have heard the
note of the old Cuckoo as late as the last day in July. The note of
the female Cuckoo resembles that of the Common Gallinule.
A Cuckoo has been observed to enter the nest of a Magpie, pro-
bably for the purpose of devouring the eggs, which, according
to Temminck, constitute part of its food.
Genus XXV. Picws.
. P. viridis (Green Woodpecker).
—
bo
. P. major (Greater Spotted Woodpecker).
An old male bird of this species was brought to us, which was
shot whilst flying about and making a most vociferous noise, as
a boy was robbing its nest from a hole in a tree. The young,
three in number, were completely fledged ; and what is singular,
one of them weighed more than the old bird. Their plumage
exactly corresponded with that attributed to the Picus medius of
English authors. This instance, therefore, is a corroboration of
that mentioned by Montagu in proof that these two birds are the
young and old of the same species. We have killed the young
of this species in the act of making a jarring noise, and are
unable to reconcile this fact with the assertion of Montagu, that
the jarring noise is the call of love. But every difficulty upon
the subject vanishes if the statement of Wilson be correct, who
asserts
30 Messrs. SHEPPARD and WniTEARr’s Catalogue
2
asserts that the jarring noise made by Woodpeckers is designed
to drive insects from their lurking-places.
3. P. minor (Lesser Spotted Woodpecker).
This species is pretty common at Campsey Ash in Suftolk ;
and it also breeds in Helmingham Park in the same county.
Mr. Hunt has frequently observed it in his garden at Norwich.
Genus XXVI. Yunx.
1. Y. Torquilla (Wryneck).
In general Bewick’s figures are remarkable for their accuracy ;
but that which he has given of the Wryneck is faulty : the beak
is too long, the head too small; and, indeed, the whole figure
represents the bird smaller than it really is. He has also made
the legs too slender, for it has exceedingly stout ones. The
Wryneck in fact is, as White observes, a very robust bird.
Genus XXVII. SrirrA.
1. S. europea (Nuthatch).
The Nuthatch is met with in great numbers at Campsey Ash.
The great length of its hind toe, in addition to its use in
assisting it to run up and down the trunks of trees, probably
assists it in grasping and carrying away nuts. It generally
breeds in the holes of trees made by the Picus viridis, which,
being too large, it walls up with mortar to a proper size. It
lays five, and often six eggs, and is so tenacious of its nest that
the bird will retain its possession until the last.
Genus XXVIII. CERTHIA.
1. C. familiaris (Common Creeper).
Genus
of the Norfolk and Suffolk Birds. 31
Genus XXIX. Upupa.
1. U. Epops (Hoopoe).
Several instances have occurred of the Hoopoe having been
met with both in Norfolk and Suffolk, particularly in the latter
county.
Genus XXX. MeErops.
1. M. Apiaster (Bee-eater).
A Bee-eater, killed on a white-thorn at Blyburgh in the month
of May, is now in the possession of Mr. Whittingham of Yox-
ford. Another, shot near Yarmouth, is in the collection of
Mr. Seaman of Ipswich. ‘This is a smaller bird than the former.
In the third volume of the Linnean Transactions mention is also
made of a bird of this species having been killed in Norfolk.
Genus XXXI. Arcrpo.
1. A. Ispida (Kingfisher). |
The Kingfisher appears to vary much in size: we have seen
large ones in Suffolk and in Essex, whereas all those we have
met with in Nottinghamshire have been smaller. This bird
seems to be subject to a partial migration, as it comes up the
river Gipping in Suffolk every autumn. In the autumn of 1818
Kingfishers abounded along the shores and creeks of the Stour,
though not one was to be seen in the summer. At the latter
end of the last year none were to be found in the same places.
Some were destroyed by the severity of the preceding winter,
and were picked up dead ; and it is probable that others might
have perished by the rising of the waters from the heavy rains
which fell during the breeding season. "l'emminck asserts that
this bird, besides fish, will eat aquatic insects, worms, leeches,
and snails. A young one which Montagu had would eat nothing
but
32 Messrs. Surpearp and Wunirrar’s Catalogue
but fish, and died in a few weeks for want of proper food. The
Kingfisher will sometimes lay its eggs on the bare earth, at the
end of a hole, without making any nest. In Suffolk the nests of
this bird have been found in holes in gravel-pits, at the distance
of a mile from any large pond or river. The eggs are white and
round.
Genus XXXII. HinvuNpDo.
1. H. rustica (Swallow).
At the time when Swallows are congregated in the autumn
for the purpose of migrating, a part of them have been observed
to ascend in the air in a spiral direction beyond the reach of
human vision, and after continuing out of sight a short time, to
descend again. Sometimes they would continue to do this at
intervals for two or three days together, and then all would dis-
appear. Query: Do they ascend in this manner to ascertain
whether there is an upper current of air favourable to their mi-
gration? and do they prefer migrating high in the air, in order
to have a greater scope of vision ?
A young Swallow, which was kept alive by a lady, was observed
to become uneasy as the time of migrating approached ; and when
its cage was hung in the air, the wild Swallows came about it,
and appeared to invite it to go with them. After they had all
disappeared it became tolerably easy.
The following extraordinary circumstance in the natural his-
tory of the Swallow, which occurred at Christ Church, Ipswich
(the residence of the Rev. Mr. Fonnereau), very forcibly illus-
trates the unusual coldness and backwardness of the season :-—
** On the mornings of the 5th and 6th of June 1816, the gar-
deners could have taken up hundreds of these birds in their
hands: they were collected in knots, and sat on the grass in
parcels of thirty and forty. This, there is reason to believe, was
owing
of the Norfolk and Suffolk Birds. 33
owing both to cold and hunger.”—Suffolk Chronicle, June 15,
1816. The same summer many House Martins were found dead
on the ground in Norfolk, and others were so weak that the
cats sprang upon them and caught them as they flew near the
ground. A pair of these birds, which had completed a nest
under the eaves of our house, were both found dead in 1t before
any eggs were laid. From the above circumstances birds of this
kind were unusually scarce throughout the summer.
2. H. urbica (Martin).
Some young Martins did not leave their nest at Starston till
the 7th of October, 1819; and on the 11th of the same month all
the Martins had left that part of the country.
Genus XXXIII. Cvrszrvs.
1. C. murarius (Swift, Deviling).
Genus XXXIV. Ca»niMULGUs.
1. C. europeus (Goatsucker).
We have twice seen a Goatsucker hawking about in search
of food in the middle of the day ; and upon one of these occa-
sions the sun was shining very bright.
Genus XXXV. | Coruuna.
1. C. Palumbus (Ring-Dove, Dow).
2. C. Œnas (Stock-Dove).
We are informed by Mr. Scales of Beechamwell that the
Stock-Dove breeds upon his warren in old rabbit-burrows. He
describes the eggs as being much rounder, and less than those
VOL. XV. F of
34 Messrs. SugePARnD and Wuitear’s Catalogue
of the Ring-Dove. When the warreners find the young in a
burrow, they fix sticks at the mouth of the hole in such a man-
ner as to prevent the escape of the young, but to allow the old
birds to feed them; and when they are in good condition they
are taken for the table. This bird is now rarely seen in Suf-
folk ; formerly it used to visit that county in prodigious flocks
during the winter season, feeding on the Buck-wheat stubbles.
Mr. Leathes says that it breeds in old trees near the decoy at
Herringfleet. It lays two eggs, which are nearly oval.
3. C. Turtur (Turtle-Dove).
Genus XXXVI. PnasiANUSs.
1. P. Colchicus (Pheasant).
At Campsey Ash, where the Pheasants are well fed with pota-
toes, buck-wheat, and barley, a cock Pheasant has been killed
which weighed four pounds and a half.
Genus XXXVII. Pznpix.
1. P. rubra (Guernsey Partridge).
These birds are now very plentiful in some parts of Suffolk.
We have seen at least 150 brace ina morning upon Dunming-
worth-heath; and they are found in greater or less numbers from
Aldborough to Woodbridge. A few are also sometimes seen
in Norfolk. And in moving a straw-stack in the neighbourhood
of Harleston last summer, a nest of the Red-legged Partridge
was found upon the top of it, in which were six eges.
The sportsman finds birds of this kind more difficult to get at
than the Common Partridge, as they run very much before the
dogs.
9. P. ci-
of the Norfolk and Suffolk Birds. 35
2. P. cinerea (Partridge).
The Partridges at Blakenham in Suffolk, where the soil is
chalky, are said to be of a lighter colour than they usually are
seen upon other soils. We know not whether the same remark
has been made upon those which inhabit the other chalky dis-
tricts of the kingdom. Temminck, in his Natural History of
Pigeons and Gallinaceous Birds, observes, that the Common Par-
tridge, as well as other birds, is subject to vary both in size and
colour from local causes, particularly from the abundance or
want of food. We have seena brace of White Partridges, which
were killed last year at Kittleburg in Suffolk: through the
white, the markings of the feathers, on close inspection, faintly
appear.
The bills of young Partridges are dusky at the base, with horn-
coloured tips. Those of the old ones are of a pale lead colour.
The legs of the young birds have a yellow tinge, which in the
old ones is changed to a blueish tint.
3. P. Coturnix (Quail).
This species used formerly to be very common in the neigh-
bourhood of Diss. It is now become scarce, but still occasion-
ally breeds in that part of the country: and not long since two
Quails’ nests were found by some workmen mowing clover. In
one of them there were seventeen eges ; in the other, twelve. We
have also received its eges from the neighbourhood of Hunstan-
ton in Norfolk. These birds are also become scarce in those
parts of Suffolk where they formerly abounded.
Genus XXXVIII. Orrs.
1. O. Tarda (Great Bustard).
These noble birds still continue to breed in the open parts
both of Norfolk and Suffolk, though they are become much
r2 scarcer
36 Messrs. SHEPPARD and WurrEAn's Catalogue
scarcer than formerly. The places most frequented by them
are, Westacre in the former county, and Icklingham in the lat-
ter. At both places they are carefully preserved by the pro-
prietors. In the summer of 1819, nineteen of them were observed
together at Westacre. We have twice seen a male Bustard in
the neighbourhood of Burnham. It suffered itself to be ap-
proached to about the distance of a hundred yards, then walked
deliberately a few paces, and took wing without the least diffi-
culty. In flying it moved its wings slowly, more like a Heron
than one of the gallinaceous tribe. Mr. Hardy of Norwich has
more than once succeeded in domesticating this species.
2. O. Tetrax (Little Bustard).
We have been informed by John Cooper, Esq. of Bungay,
that a female Little Bustard was killed near that town in No-
vember 1804. A bird of the same species was also shot on the
bank of the Ipswich river, near the seat of Sir Robert Harland,
in whose possession it now is.
Genus XXXIX. Œpicnemus.
1. O. crepitans (Thick-kneed Bustard).
Genus XL. Carripnis.
1. C. arenaria (Sanderling).
The Sanderling visits the eastern coast of England in the
spring, and remains till the autumn. Its toes are fringed with
a widely serrated membrane, which is probably of service in
giving it support upon soft ground. The flight of this bird is
very placid, and without noise.
Genus
of the Norfolk and Suffolk Birds. ef
Genus XLI. Hæmarorus.
1. H. Ostralegus (Oyster-catcher).
The northern shore of Norfolk is a favourite breeding-place of
this species. The Oyster-catcher is an expert diver ; one which
had its wing broken was with difficulty caught by a good water
dog.
Genus XLII. CHARADRIUS.
1. C. Pluvialis (Golden Plover).
Golden Plovers make their appearance in this part of the
kingdom in the spring, on their passage to the North, and again
on their return towards the end of the year, at which season they
are sometimes seen in large flocks ; and they have been killed as
late as the end of December. It is probable that they may
occasionally breed in Norfolk, as a few of these birds were seen
last year during the breeding season on Mousehold-heath near
Norwich.
2. C. morinellus (Dottrel).
Both in spring and autumn the Dottrel has been met with in
Norfolk. A considerable number of them were seen in May
1816 in the parts westward of Burnham. We have also noticed
them on Martlesham-heath, Suffolk.
3. C. Hiaticula (Ringed Plover).
Mr. Scales informs us that the Ringed Plover breeds on the
warren at Beechamwell: this place is many miles distant from
the sea. And in Mr. Sabine’s museum there are specimens of
this species of Plover which were killed at Elston near Thetford.
Genus
38 Messrs. SHEPPARD and WniTEAn's Catalogue
Genus XLIII. VANELLUs.
1. V. Melanogaster (Swiss Sandpiper).
This beautiful bird has been met with several times in the
spring of the year at Yarmouth, probably on its passage to its
breeding haunts. It has also been killed at the same place late
in autumn, at which time it has acquired the plumage usually
attributed to the Gray Sandpiper; and it is by no means un-
common on the Essex coast throughout the winter. As the
plumage upon the upper parts of this bird in autumn is inter-
spersed with yellow spots, it assumes at that season a resem-
blance to a Golden Plover. And there can be little doubt that
it was a Swiss Sandpiper in its autumn dress to which Mr. Mark-
wick alludes, when he says, ** I once saw a Golden Plover which
had a small back toe."—. Linn. Trans. vol. iv. pp. 25, 26.
'The flight of the Swiss Sandpiper is smooth, gentle, and with-
out noise, much like that of the Sanderling ; and it carries its
wings arched in flight, in the manner of that bird.
2. V. cristatus (Lapwing, Flap-Jack, Horn-Pie).
Genus XLIV. SrnzEPsiLAs.
1. S. collaris (Turnstone).
These birds are found sparingly on the sea-coast. We noticed
tive of them passing from the Mussel Islands to the main-land
of Essex: they flew in a line one after the other, and so low as
almost to touch the water.
Genus XLV. Ciconra.
1. C. alba (White Stork).
A few years since a pair of White Storks were seen at Gorles-
ton, and one of them was killed. Another pair was observed at
Aclea
of the Norfolk and Suffolk Birds. 39
Aclea in the month of June 1817. And about the same time a
female of this species was killed near Burgh Castle, and another
in the month of November following.
Last year two young Storks were taken from a nest in Holland,
and given to Mr. Harrison. "They have borne the winter, though
not without much shivering on the coldest days, on which they
were always observed to be more than usually voracious. Each of
them has swallowed two rats which were more than half-grown ;
and whilst the tail of the second was hanging out of the bill a
third has more than once been attempted. On these cold days,
when Mr. H. has been cutting horse-flesh for them, so voracious
have they been that he was fearful of cutting the ends of their
bills as they darted at their food. They rest much on one leg :
and are fond of wading into a pond, from which they procure
some kind of food, though there are no fish therein.
Genus XLVI. ARDEA.
1. A. cinerea (Common Heron).
We once watched the motions of a Heron which was standing
by the side of a river, where the bank was rather steep: in
darting at a fish he precipitated himself into the water, but was
out again in an instant with his prey. When a Heron has caught
a large eel, it carries it upon firm land, and dashes it repeatedly
with violence against the ground, till the fish is so weakened
that it can be swallowed with ease. The edges of both the
mandibles of this bird are sharp, which structure enables it more
securely to hold its slippery prey.
We remarked in a paper already laid before the Society, that
the feathers of this species are frequently loaded with a blue
powder. We have since noticed an abundance of white dust
upon the feathers of the breast and belly of a White Owl killed
in
40 Messrs. SHEPPARD and WurrEAR's Catalogue
in August. Bruce, upon lifting the Bearded Eagle which he
shot in Abyssinia, found himself covered with a yellowish dust ;
the plumage of the bird being tawny. "The flesh of the Heron is
much admired by some persons. The legs have sometimes a
rank fishy taste, though the other parts of the bird are well-
flavoured.
2. A. Egretta (Great White Heron).
On the 3rd of October last, in a walk on the banks of the
river Stour, we observed a large White Heron cross over from
the Suffolk to the Essex side of the river. It appeared to be
pure white, and to stand up rather taller than some Common
Herons which were feeding not far off. A similar bird was
observed in the spring on the Oakley shores ; and, subsequently
to our observation, one was seen on the banks of the river Or-
well.
3. A. Nycticora (Night Heron).
Mr. Stagg of Yarmouth shot a Night Heron upon a tree in
his nursery. And we are informed by Mr. Hunt, that the spe-
cimen of this bird in his possession was shot in Suffolk, and kept
alive some time, being only slightly wounded. Another bird of
the same species was killed at Mr. Coke’s in the winter of 1819,
and is now in the possession of the Rev. George Glover.
4. A. stellaris (Bittern).
Some of the marshes of Norfolk afford a breeding-place to
the Bittern, whence we have received its egg, both ends of
which are nearly of the same shape. Pennant has justly re-
marked that this bird has a double iris. In one which we
examined, that next the pupil was reddish-yellow, the outer one
hazel. There was also a notch at the extremity of the upper
mandible ;
of the Norfolk and Suffolk Birds. 41
mandible ; and both mandibles, nearly half-way along the edges
(reckoning from their tips), are furnished with a beautiful and
regular serrature, the points of which stand inward, and are so
fine as almost to require a magnifying-glass to distinguish them.
This structure must be of great service to the bird in securing
its prey.
5. A. ralloides (Squacco Heron).
An account has already been laid before the Society by Mr.
Youell of a beautiful specimen of this rare bird which was taken
at Ormesby.
6. A. minuta (Little Bittern).
We are assured by Mr. Hunt that a Little Bittern was killed
at Burlingham in the winter of 1819.
Genus XLVII. RECURVIROSTRA.
1. R. Avocetta (Avoset, Shoeing-horn).
During the breeding season the Avoset used to frequent the
marshes at Winterton: and in the summer of 1816 we saw one
there which had young. "This bird made several circles round
us, uttering a shrill note, and then alighted in the middle of a
pool of water, on which it floated ; then took several turns on
wing, and again alighted on the water, where it sat motionless. |
The bill of the Avoset is so flexible that it is totally unfit for
a weapon of offence, and the bird itself has a peculiarly harm-
less and meek appearance.
Genus XLVIII. PLATALEA.
1. P. Leucorodia (Spoonbill).
This species is occasionally met with near Yarmouth, and
VOL. XV. G generally
42 Messrs. SugPPAn D and Wuirear’s Catalogue
generally during the winter season. It has also been shot on
the river Stour, which divides the counties of Essex and Suftolk.
A pair of Spoonbills were seen at Cromer in June 1818; and
one was killed at Yarmouth in the month of May of the same
year. Inthe stomach of this last bird there was an abundance
of the shells of shrimps.
Genus XLIX. Isis.
1. £F. Falcinellus (Glossy Ibis).
We have seen a bird of this species which was shot in the
winter of 1818 in the marshes on the western coast of Norfolk,
near Lynn. It did not appear to have attained its full plumage,
from the circumstance of its having four transverse bars of white
on its throat. In the month of May 1822, three birds of this spe-
cies were seen at Hockwold in Norfolk. ‘Two of them were
killed, and are in the possession of the Rev. Henry ‘Tilney of
that place.
Genus L. NuwEwivUs.
1. N. Arquata (Curlew).
Curlews may be met with at all times of the year between
Ipswich and Harwich; but their nests have hitherto not been
found in those parts. The common note of this species is Aoë,
hoë, hoé, hoc. It has another note, which may be sounded kor-
lew, whence its name.
2. N. Pheopus (Whimbrel, Half-Curlew).
These birds arrive upon the coasts of Essex and Suffolk early
in May, and migrate again in the latter part of the autumn. The
note of the Whimbrel may be thus expressed, weddy, tetty, tetty,
tetti, tet, quickly repeated.
Genus
of the Norfolk and Suffolk Birds. 43
Genus LI. TrINGA.
1. T. subarquata (Pigmy Curlew).
Several of these birds have been killed at Yarmouth in the
autumn. One of them, which was shot at that place in the
month of August, had a red breast, and was in plumage similar
to the one in a summer dress preserved in the British Museum.
We have met with this species on Pewit Island. It is more
solitary than the Dunlin, not more than a pair being seen to-
gether; and is a stupid bird, suffering a boat to approach close
to it. The legs of this bird when fresh killed are of a pale-green,
but when dried they appear black.
2. T. variabilis (Dunlin, Sea-Snipe, Stint).
Very large flocks of Dunlins are sometimes seen on the east-
ern coast of the kingdom.
3. T. maritima (Purple Sandpiper).
A few of these birds have been killed at Yarmouth. We once
observed a Sandpiper, which appeared to belong to this species,
flying along the shore of the Stour, hovering like a bird of prey,
and continually darting down close to the ooze.
4. T. minuta (Little Sandpiper).
We have received this bird from Yarmouth, and also killed it
on Ray Island in the river Stour.
5.. T. cinerea (Knot).
In spring the Knot visits the coasts of this part of the king-
dom, on its way to the North to breed: and again makes its
appearance on its return, sometimes as early as the month of
August; but the principal flocks arrive later in autumn, and a
G 2 few
44 Messrs. SHEPPARD and WurrEAn's Catalogue
o
few sometimes remain throughout the winter. At these times it
is found in various states of plumage. Some of the birds killed
in the spring have only partially acquired the red breast; and of
those shot in autumn some have only partially lost it. ‘This
appears to be an exceedingly stupid species. We met with a
flock of sixteen in September last, which, though repeatedly
shot at, would not leave the spot, and were all killed. Some of
them being wounded fell into the water, and swam about with
great ease. A Redshank, which was shot the same day, showed
an equal facility in swimming. "The species was observed by
Captain Parry within the arctic circle.
6. T. Pugnax (Rutt).
Ruffs and Reeves breed in the marshes of Norfolk ; but they
are becoming scarcer every year, on account of the old birds
being eagerly sought after as soon as they arrive, for the London
market; to which place also the eggs are sent, together with those
of many other marsh birds. The Reeve is very tenacious of her
eggs. In the summer of 1817 one was taken upon the nest by
the warrener's boy at Winterton, who carried it to his master,
and was ordered to set it at liberty : on the following day we
found the same bird upon her eggs again.
Genus LII. Toranus.
1. T. fuscus (Spotted Snipe).
A bird of this species, in the autumn plumage, was killed at
Yarmouth, and preserved by Mr. Youell. Another, shot near
Ipswich, in its summer dress, is now in the Dritish Museum.
Mr. Wigg of Yarmouth has also seen two other specimens which
were shot near that town.
The use of the small web between the outer and middle toes
of this and of several other species of waders appears to be, to
eive
of the Norfolk and Suffolk Birds. 45
give the bird a surer footing when wading upon soft mud. In
consequence of this structure, the inner toes of each foot must
necessarily sink deeper than the outer ones, and secure the bird
from all danger of falling over on either side.
2. T. Calidris (Redshank, Red-legs).
A specimen of this bird, examined April 28th, varied from
the descriptions given by Linnæus and Montagu. ‘The base of
the lower mandible only was red; the coverts of the primaries
were purplish on their outer webs, and dusky black on their
inner. Montagu says ‘the secondaries are tipped with white :”
in the above specimen they were more than half white.
The Redshank is found in considerable numbers in many of
the marshes both of Norfolk and Suffolk during the breeding
season. It is indeed more common than any other kind of
wader. ‘To sportsmen it is very troublesome, flying around
them and uttering an incessant shrill whistle, which alarms all the
birds near the spot. A few Redshanks are sometimes met with
during the winter season, but the greater part of them migrate.
This species is found solitary and also in flocks on the ooze of
the river Stour. ‘The ordinary posture of the young Redshank
is with the head sunk back between the shoulders, the back of
the neck being void of feathers, like that of the Bittern.
3. T. Ochropus (Green Sandpiper).
We cannot positively affirm that this species breeds here,
though it seems probable that it sometimes does so, as five
Green Sandpipers were constantly found one summer near the
old decoy at Levington in Suffolk. It is seen in these counties
throughout the winter.
4. T. Hypoleucos (Common Sandpiper, Summer Snipe).
The Common Snipe comes up the river Gipping in Suffolk in
the
46 Messrs. SugPPARD and Wuirear’s Catalogue
the spring, and stays till the end of autumn. At night it makes
a remarkably loud piping noise. Some years since, we saw a
Sandpiper flying across a river attacked by a Hawk, when it
instantly dived, and remained under water until its enemy dis-
appeared. It then emerged, and joined its companions. This
bird when flushed, sometimes utters a note resembling as nearly
as possible that of the Kingfisher. It has a habit of jirking its
tail up and down as it runs.
5. T. Glottis (Greenshank).
Genus LIII. Lrwosa.
1. L. Melanura (Red Godwit).
We have named this bird (the Red Godwit of English authors)
after 'l'emminck, because both species of British Godwits have
red breasts in spring.
Some of these birds used to breed in the marshes of Norfolk,
and three years since we received the ege of this species from
Yarmouth. But it is doubtful whether they are to be found at
present in their former haunts. The draining of the marshes, the
eagerness with which eggs are sought after for market, and the
keen pursuit of sportsmen, have rendered water-birds of all kinds
much scarcer than they used to be formerly. There was, how-
ever, a large flock of these birds at Yarmouth in October 1819.
2. L. rufa (Common Godwit).
We have examined specimens of this bird killed in Norfolk
in various states of plumage. ‘Those met with in autumn have
been in the dress of the Common Godwit of English authors :
but when the individual was killed early in the spring, it was in
a state of change between that bird and the Red-breasted Snipe
of Montagu. Defore it leaves this country to breed, it has
assumed
of the Norfolk and Suffolk Birds. 47
assumed the full plumage of that bird; and we have noticed it
in the same state on its return in the beginning of August.
Genus LIV. ScoroPrax.
1. S. Rusticola (Woodcock).
A Woodcock was killed in Suffolk on the 3rd of September
1818. Mr. Seaman of Ipswich had a bird of this species brought
to him alive and in fine condition in the month of July 1817.
And we have been informed by the Rev. G. R. Leathes, that
the eggs and young of the same were taken two years in suc-
cession at Drettenham, the residence of the late G. Wyn-
wyve, Esq.
2. S. major (Great Snipe).
We have examined several specimens of this bird killed in
Norfolk. Its legs are of a light flesh-colour, blended with a
slight tinge of green. The length of its bill is subject to great
variation.
3. S. Gallinago (Common Snipe).
4. S. Gallinula (Jack Snipe).
Genus LV. Rattus.
1. R. aquaticus (Water Rail).
Genus LVI. GALLINULA.
1. G. Crex (Crake Gallinule).
The Crake Gallinule occasionally breeds in Norfolk and Suf-
folk: is most common in autumn, frequenting fields of seed-
clover, but is by no means abundant. One which we had alive
uttered a short low inward note when alarmed or angry.
2. Gr. Por-
48 Messrs. SugePAn o and Wuttear’s Catalogue
2, G. Porzana (Spotted Gallinule).
There can be no doubt that the Spotted Gallinule breeds in
the marshes of Norfolk. We have seen a considerable number
of its eggs at Yarmouth, which, as well as its young, were found
in the neighbourhood of that place. And we are also in pos-
session of an egg taken from a female of this species which was
killed in the marshes below Norwich.
3. G. Baillonii (Baillon’s Gallinule).
We have met with a specimen of this bird in the collection of
Mr. Crickmore of Beccles, which was shot near that town. The
throat, neck and belly are ash-colour; the sides and under tail-
coverts barred and spotted with black and white. The back
is like that of the Spotted Gallinule; but this bird is con-
siderably smaller than that species. An extremely small Galli-
nule, probably of the above kind, was shot at Nacton in
Suffolk many years since, and was in the possession of the late
John Vernon, Esq.
4. G. Chloropus (Common Gallinule).
The Common Gallinule frequently roosts on trees. "Two young
birds of this species, which were hatched by Mr. Youell under
a hen, used to take their food from the bill of their foster-mother ;
and it was not till they were several weeks old that they would
pick their food from the ground. We have notwithstanding
observed this bird in its natural state, when it had only been
hatched a few days, running about upon the tops of the weeds
and picking insects from them.
Genus D VIL Fer:
1. F. atra (Coot).
The Coot breeds on those large pieces of water in the marshes
called
of the Norfolk and Suffolk Birds. 49
called ** Broads” in Norfolk, and on some of them in conside-
rable numbers. In autumn and winter these birds make their
appearance on the rivers in vast flocks ; and upon an appointed
day all the boats and guns are put in requisition, and a general
attack is made upon them. On the banks of the Stour the fow-
lers approach them, while sitting upon the ooze, by concealing
themselves behind a skreen made of bushes, which is placed
upon a sledge and driven before them. ‘There is a difficulty
in plucking these birds clean, it being almost impossible to get
the down off by that process. The method therefore used is, to
pluck off the feathers as clean as possible, then to dredge pow-
dered resin over the bird, and to plunge it into hot water ; after
which the down will come off quite clean, and the bird appear
perfectly white and nice.—On crossing the Stour in the month
of January 1819, in a dead calm, we observed the Coots floating
upon the water in a semicircle. On our approach within about
200 yards, the whole body, amounting at the least calculation to
several thousands, partly rose and flapped along the surface of
the water, making a tremendous rushing noise. Had there been
any wind, they would have risen into the air without difficulty ;
but there being none, they could scarcely disentangle their feet.
We killed two wounded birds: one of them afforded excellent
sport, not suffering the boat to approach it without diving,
and coming up oftentimes a hundred yards off: it had the action
and alertness of a Dobchick. Foxes frequent the banks of the
Stour very early in the morning to catch the wounded birds,
which generally make to land, and of which there are sometimes
great numbers. ‘The larger kinds of Gulls often attack and
devour Coots. We have observed the latter, on the approach
of their enemy, rush together from all quarters, and form a close,
round, compact body, appearing like bees in the act of swarm-
ing. ‘The Gull kept hovering over their heads, and frequently
VOL. XV. H dashed
50 Messrs. Surpearp and Wuirear’s Catalogue
dashed within a yard or two of them. Whenever he flew to a
distance the Coots dispersed, and again at his return tlocked
together. ‘This scene continued as long as we stood upon the
shore, which was more than half an hour. White, in his History
of Selborne, vol. ii. p. 52, says, ** Dobchicks, Moorhens, and
Coots fly erect with their legs hanging down, and hardly make
any dispatch." Had he seen the Coots fly on the Stour, he
would not have included them in the number ; for they not only
fly with great celerity, but also stretch out their legs backwards
like the Heron. ‘The Coot is soon reconciled to confinement,
and becomes domestic. A bird of this species, having its whole
plumage white except the head and tail, was seen on the Stour
last December.
Genus LVIII. PuaraAnoPvus.
1. P. Platyrhinchus (Gray Phalarope).
Genus LIX. | Poprcrrs.
1. P. cristatus (Crested Grebe).
The Crested Grebe breeds on Fritton Decoy, and also on many
of the Broads of Norfolk. It is said that the young when alarmed
will get under the wings of the female, which immediately dives
with them.
9. P. rubricollis (Red-necked Grebe).
We have seen a specimen of this bird in the collection of
Mr. Hunt of Norwich, who informs us that he has had three others
of the same kind killed in Norfolk. Mr. Wigg of Yarmouth
has also had one shot in the neighbourhood of that place.
5. P. auritus (Eared Grebe).
We received a specimen of this bird from Yarmouth in the
autumn
of the Norfolk and Suffolk Birds. 51
autumn of 1817. It was caught alive, and was remarkably tame,
pluming itself with ereat composure soon after it was taken.
Mr. Sabine has likewise a bird of this species, which was also
sent to him from the same place.
4. P. minor (Little Grebe).
Genus LX. STERNA.
1. S. Cantiaca (Sandwich Tern).
The Sandwich Tern has been killed at Yarmouth. On the
5th of May 1820, we shot two of these birds at Walton in Essex.
They had made their appearance only two days previous. "The
foreheads of these birds were black, and the extent of their
wings 3 feet 12 inches. That described by Bewick, being less
in breadth and having a white forehead, was probably a young
bird. The legs of the Sandwich Tern are very strong ; the claws
crooked and strong. It has a very flapping kind of flight, and
often sits on the sands at the edge of the water. It may be
distinguished from the other kinds by its note, which is stronger
than that of the common species. On the 24th of April last
we saw two of these birds swimming in the Stour, one of which
we shot.
The Common, Black, and Lesser Terns all breed on the coasts
and in the marshes of Norfolk, and are plentiful in some parts.
Towards the end of summer Terns congregate, and appear in
large flocks upon the ooze of Breydon Water.
2. S. Hirundo (Common Tern).
3. S. nigra (Black Tern).
4. S. minuta (Lesser Tern).
H 2 Genus
52 Messrs. Sureearp and Wuitear’s Catalogue
Genus LXI. Larus.
1. L. marinus (Great Black-backed Gull).
9. L. argentatus (Herring Gull).
3. L. fuscus (Less Black-backed Gull).
4. L. canus (Common Gull, Sea Pie, Sea Cob).
5. L. tridactylus (Kittiwake).
6. L. ridibundus (Brown-headed Gull, Puit).
Near the centre of the county of Norfolk, at the distance of
about twenty-five miles from the sea, and two from Hingham, is
a large piece of water called Scoulton Mere. In the middle of
this mere there is a boggy island of seventy acres extent covered
with reeds, and on which there are some birch- and willow-trees.
There is no river communicating between the mere and the sea.
This mere has from time immemorial been a favourite breeding
spot of the Brown-headed Gull. These birds begin to make
their appearance at Scoulton about the middle of February ;
and by the end of the first week in March the great body of
them have always arrived. ‘They spread themselves over the
neighbouring country to the distance of several miles in search
of food, following the plough as regularly as Rooks; and from
the great quantity of worms and grubs which they devour, they
render essential service to the farmer. If the spring is mild, the
Gulls begin to lay about the middle of April ; but the month of
May is the time at which the eggs are found in the greatest
abundance. At this season a man and three boys find constant
employment in collecting them, and they have sometimes ga-
thered upwards of a thousand in a day. ‘These eges are sold on
the
of the Norfolk and Suffolk Birds. 58
the spot at the rate of fourpence a score, and are regularly sent
in considerable quantities to the markets at Norwich and Lynn.
They are eaten cold, like Lapwing's eggs, and also used for
culinary purposes; but they are rather of an inferior quality,
and somewhat like Duck's eggs in flavour. The person who
sells these eggs gives fifteen pounds a year for the privilege of
collecting them.
This species of Gull never lays more than three eggs the first
time; but if these are taken, it will lay again. We found many
of the old birds sitting in the middle of June ; most of these had
only one egg in the nest, but a few of them had two. "Their
nests are made of the tops of reeds and sedge, and are very flat
at the top. ‘The eggs vary so much in size, shape, and colour,
that a person not well acquainted with them would suppose some
of them to belong to a different species of bird. Some are
thickly covered with dusky spots, and others are of a light-blue
colour without any spots atall. 'l'he young birds leave the nest
as soon as hatched, and take to the water. When they can fly
well the old ones depart with them, and disperse themselves on
the sea-coast, where they are found during the autumn and win-
ter. Dy the middle of July they all leave Scoulton, and are
not seen there again till the following spring. We were a little
surprised at seeing some of these Gulls alight and sit upon some
low bushy willows which grow on the island. No other than
the Brown-headed Gull breeds at the above mere. A few of
that kind also breed in many of the marshes contiguous to the
sea-coast of Norfolk. |
Genus LXII. Lesrris.
1. L. pomarinus (Pomarine Gull).
A specimen of this Gull killed near Ipswich is in the collec-
tion of Mr. Seaman.
2. L. pa-
54 Messrs. SugePAnD and WnurrEAnR's Catalogue
2. L. parasiticus (Arctic Gull).
We are informed by Joseph Sabine, Esq. that he procured a
young Arctic Gull, killed on a rabbit-warren near Brandon the
beginning of October 1819. In the same month another bird of
this species was shot at Yarmouth.
Genus LXIII. PROCELLARIA.
1. P. pelagica (Stormy Petrel).
This kind of Petrel sometimes makes its appearance on the
coasts, and has been shot from the beach at Yarmouth. The
oil issued from the nostrils of one which we killed on the Stour.
May 29th, 1820. The forepart of the head of this bird is cu-
riously peaked, which does not seem to be noticed by any author.
It is extremely buoyant when floating on the water.
Genus LXIV. Axas.
1. Anser ferus (Gray-lag Goose).
2. A. Segetum (Bean Goose).
The Bean Goose is occasionally met with in this part of the
island, particularly about Yarmouth. It is said to be more
common than the Gray-lag Goose.
3. A. albifrons (White-fronted Goose).
4. A. leucopsis (Bernacle Goose).
5. A. Bernicla (Brent Goose).
During the winter the Brent Goose is not uncommon. The
cry of a flock of these birds very much resembles the noise of a
pack
of the Norfolk and Suffolk Birds. 55
pack of hounds, and we have twice been deceived by it. It is
among the birds observed by Captain Parry within the arctic
circle.
6. A. ruficollis (Red-breasted Goose).
Mr. Wigg had a specimen of this rare bird, which was killed
at Halvergate in Norfolk in the year 1805. He says its flesh
was well flavoured.
7. A. Cygnus (Whistling Swan).
In severe winters these birds are not unfrequently to be met
with at Yarmouth and the adjacent parts. Many of them were
killed in the hard weather of 1819.
8. A. Olor (Tame Swan).
9. A. Tadorna (Shieldrake).
The Shieldrake breeds in the rabbit-burrows formed in the
sand-hills upon the coast of Norfolk. Its nest is discovered by
the print of its feet on the sand, and therefore most easily found
in calm weather; for in windy weather the driving sand soon
obliterates the impression. ‘The old bird is sometimes taken by
a snare set at the mouth of the burrow. The eggs are often
hatched under domestic hens, and the birds kept as an ornament
in ponds.
10. A. Boschas (Wild Duck).
The Common Wild Duck constantly breeds in our marshes.
It is very difficult for those who live on the borders of the
marshes to prevent their tame Ducks from assuming the habits
of the wild ones by mixing with them, and eventually leaving
the
56 Messrs. SugePAnD and WurTrAn's Catalogue
e
the premises on which they were bred. "This circumstance ac-
counts for their being frequently taken in the decoys, or shot as
wild-fowl.
11. A. strepera (Gadwall, Heart-Duck, Summer Duck).
Tn this part of the kingdom the Gadwall is not common. We
have seen a few which were killed in Norfolk.
12. À. acuta (Pintail Duck).
This kind of Duck is not uncommon, and it is esteemed for
the table.
13. A. Penelope (Widgeon, Smee, Easterling).
14. A. clypeata (Shoveler, Spoon-bill, Bach).
The Shoveler remains all the year in Norfolk. Mr. Youell
has already stated to the Society the fact of its breeding in that
county. We have twice met with its nest in Winterton marshes.
It was placed in a tuft of grass, where the ground was quite dry,
and made of fine grass. After the female begins to sit, she
covers her eggs with down plucked from her body. The eggs
are of a cream-colour, and their usual number eight or nine. In
one instance as many as thirteen were discovered in a nest. In
the spring of 1818 the warrener at Winterton found several nests
belonging to this species, containing in the whole fifty-six eggs.
The weight of the egg is one ounce two scruples.
15. A. Querquedula (Garganey, Crick).
It seems probable that the Garganey sometimes breeds in
Norfolk, as the Rev. Henry Tilney of Hockwold had a pair
brought to him on the 6th of May 1817, in the female of which
was
of the Norfolk and Suffolk Birds. 57
was a perfect egg. And Mr. Youell has received a specimen of
this Duck killed near Yarmouth on the ?nd of June 1820.
16. A. Crecca (Teal).
A few 'lCeal breed in Norfolk. In the summer of 1817
Mr. Youell purchased three live young ones of a person who
took them from a nest near Reedham, and reared them by a
common Duck. Very small young ones have also been observed
in company with their parents upon Ranworth Broad by Mr. ker-
rison of that place ; and they also breed on Scoulton Mere.
17. A. mollissima (Eider Duck).
An old male Eider Duck in full plumage was shot at Wells
in the month of January 1820. There were two others in com-
pany with it at the time. In the stomach of this bird there was
a considerable quantity of Echini and Crabs’ claws; in another
was found a Buccinum reticulatum nearly an inch in length. A
female of the same species was killed in the river Orwell the first
week in November 1818.
18. A. fusca (Velvet Duck).
This is a rare species, but it has been sometimes killed both
in Norfolk and Suftolk.
19. A. nigra (Scoter).
20. A. glacialis (Long-tailed Duck).
In severe winters these Ducks visit our shores and rivers ; and
they have been taken in the decoy at Herringfleet. In the win-
ter of 1819-20 they were unusually numerous, particularly at
Yarmouth, and many of them were killed. Some of these had
VOL. XV. I the
58 Messrs. SHEPPARD and WurrEAn's Catalogue
the two middle feathers of the tail elongated, but in most of
them these two feathers did not exceed the others in length.
21. A. Marila (Scaup Duck, Gray-back).
22. A. ferina (Pochard).
This species and also the Shoveler breed at Scoulton Mere.
23. A. Clangula (Golden-eye Duck, Rattle-wing, Rattler).
Wilson, in his American Ornithology, remarks, that the Canvass-
back Ducks, “even when feeding and diving in small parties, do
not all go down at one time, but some are still left above on the
look-out.” We have observed that the practice of the Golden-
eye Duck is exactly similar to that of the Canvass-back Duck in
this respect.
24. A. Fuligula (Tufted Duck).
25. A. leucophthalmos (Castaneous Duck).
Mr. Wige has had two specimens of the Castaneous Duck,
both killed at different times in the neighbourhood of Yarmouth.
One of them was preserved by Mr. Youell; the flavour of the
other was said to have been excellent. We have also been in-
formed that the Rev. George Glover had a bird of this species,
which was shot in Norfolk a few years since.
Genus LXV. Mercus.
1. M. Merganser (Goosander, Sawyer).
We saw a very beautiful specimen of the male Goosander, the
under parts of which were of a fine buff-colour, at Mr. Crick-
more's of Beccles. It was killed near Lowestoffe. The young
male of this species has been killed in Norfolk: it was in the
plumage
of the Norfolk and Suffolk Birds. 59
plumage of the female; and Mr. Hunt found that the windpipe
of this bird exactly resembled that of the Goosander.
2. M. Serrator (Red-breasted Merganser).
Dr. Hooker purchased a bird of this kind in the market at
Norwich. It is not uncommon on the Essex coast.
3. M. albellus (Smew).
It is not uncommon to meet with Smews on the Suffolk coast
in cold weather; and they were plentiful at Yarmouth in the
winter of 1819-20.
Genus LXVI. Cargo.
1. C. Cormoranus (Cormorant).
2. C. Graculus (Shag).
In an expedition on the Stour, Sept. 30, 1820, we perceived
a bird at a distance swimming prodigiously fast. By great
exertion we got near it, when it dived and came up two or three
hundred yards in our rear. The force and velocity of this bird
in the water were shown by its leaving behind it a white foam-
ing line like the wake of a ship, and which was distinguishable
at the distance of several hundred yards.
Genus LXVII. Sura.
1. S. alba (Gannet).
Dr. Hooker informs us that a young Gannet was taken alive
some years since in the winter season at Pulham, and exhibited
at Norwich: it was very fierce. ‘This bird has also been met
with both at Lynn and Yarmouth.
r2 Genus
60 Messrs. Surpparp and Wuirear’s Catalogue
Genus LXVIII. Corvwunvs.
1. C. glacialis (Northern Diver).
In the beginning of last winter two young birds of this species
were killed on the river at Yarmouth. One of them is now in
Mr. Sabine's collection.
2. C. arcticus (Black-throated Diver).
3. C. septentrionalis (Red-throated Diver).
We have seen specimens of the Red-throated Diver in Nor-
folk, both in its full plumage and also in its speckled state: and
Mr. Hunt says that it is not uncommon at Yarmouth during the
winter.—The position of the feet of Divers at the extremity of
the body, and their horizontal motion, enable them to make
rapid turns under water in pursuit of their sippery prey.
Genus LXIX. Unia.
1. U. Troile (Foolish Guillemot).
t9
. U. Grylle (Black Guillemot).
9
3. U. Alle (Little Auk).
Some years since a Little Auk was taken alive in the stack-
yard of the late Mr. Webb of Pulham, which place is more than
twenty miles distant from the sea. Mr. Leathes has had two
specimens of this bird, one of which was taken alive on the
turnpike-road at Gunton near Lowestofte ; and Miss Lloyd of
Hintlesham has one now in her possession which was taken out
of the belly of a Codfish.
Genus
of the Norfolk and Suffolk Birds. 61
Genus LXX. Mormon.
1. M. Fratercula (Puffin).
Genus L XXI. Arca.
1. A. Torda (Razor-bill Auk).
2. A. impennis (Great Auk).
We are assured by Dr. Hooker that a bird of this species was
some years since killed near Southwold.
A Table
oy Avy
Froudy
CTAIT
grady
orudy
órady
gpady
6 1dy
I5 1dy
6r'idy
6'1idy
grudy
opady
OLÁe[
9ridy
Toudy
*ssau
"qi
FIN LIAN| — |[SrAEN| — nl =a = p — |erfen sedeny
nyudy gpudy| cres LS he dui po car MUN es
6L&e]y | cLAe] coudv| e fem {stéen| — | — forme) — | — osé — Mefew| erfen | 55
6 Avg | gaudy goidy | 6 kepy| okey | — |roudv|eréeg |eoudv | o dep] ren) — | 2r2dy| 9 dem zoridy
6rady | 81dy | ozady | 271dy | epady | rr dy | grady | ready | ooudy |óridy | 6rady} + Seq | orady | oody | te‘ady | og-ady
rrady| o7udy |oridy | cudy 'ogady| 6 dy} erady|oosdy] — |iridv| — | ody} — |eruv| s-ady} rudy
oo1dy | ody | gady | 6 dy | ppady | 6dy | prady] 97ly |grady | orady | radv|orudv| — — joradv | trady| orady
orxdy| raly | gudy | cady | oidy | 8idy |orady | eradv | erady | edv grddv || — | — | — | —
oj'dy poudy 4pxv| — Jouy] — | stem) — 58m) — | — | = | —
Poudy | study | gridy | er1idv |opady | rrady|orady| ¢ &ejy | ¢ ex |orady| soudy | — EC = a M
aude | eade otio adv nte ipady| — Ludy| gaudy |erady}arady| — — |zguepW | ready} cad) s'idy
9rady | 2rady | epidy | pr-ady | gpady [goady | ready | o24dy | + Fej | eoady | 23 dy | gpady | ooidy | ooidy | 297ady | void
rrady| edv |2rady |rpady | 6-adyjorady| — jerady| she} — | — |—|—]|—|—| —
Lr dey ES vof] — jerfew| — [een] — | fem) — |erfem|vr&em | vem
orady | 2pudy orady | cudy [|acaeg | oU dy | prady | epady | oz2dy |grady | orady | p dy | orady | óopidy | orady
ocudy | orady | opady loc dy [ozidy | joady eo dv 6 Seq] 6 ep |eridy |orady | okey] — |ocidv| o Aem | ood
DIEN 9 SIN okey] — |efew| — Jorfen| — |orfen| — | stdeq | ordeyy) erem
Jum Boo ae Ded dun Dp Eos “TOO nr ‘uoyO ESI "uoo ed “HORO | uou | 010
‘OUST "S181 "LIST *"OT8T "TT "PESE | ‘sigt | ‘OTST
© ‘ 93A0([-)?pun
uniepy purg
ss
ULI], osno]T
"o7 ©? MO[[EAS
* deo-xov[gq
"ot t qreyspayy
© U9IM AO[[2A
JO[GIE AA 95p9S
J2014}-2JIU MA
sdeyokyag 12SS9T
* + o[eaunuarNr
* ACT PEU
ioqojeoA[q panodg
JoauÂI M
' ooyong
axuug Payoeq-pay
DST un SSUGDAA pup “ypofing ur uojf]() ‘yo fon ut uojsojan]g qp asvssng fo SpA 4outung fo uonpacipir ay? Jo 21qnp V
IT. On the Structure of the Tarsus in the Tetramerous and Tri-
merous Coleoptera of the French Entomologists. By IV. S. Mac-
Leay, Esq. A.M. F.L.S. Communicated by the Zoological Club
of the Linnean Society.
Read February 1, 1825.
Eacn succeeding day proves more and more the importance to
Natural History of the utmost particularity of detail. This science
is one in which correct general views can only be constructed
on a minuteness of scrutiny which may be tiresome, nay, to some
minds, even disgusting, but can never be unprofitable. The
collector who consults books merely that he may be enabled to
attach a label to some object in his museum, is as much interested
in our observations being minute, as the naturalist whose study it
is to ascertain the affinities and analogies which connect together
all organized beings. It is only, indeed, upon minute observa-
tion that accurate descriptions can ever be founded ; and it is
therefore impossible for such persons as will not deign to de-
scend into details to attain even mediocrity as naturalists. The
entomologist then may say, on behalf of the minute objects which
he studies and the minuteness with which he describes them, that
unless a similar minuteness of observation be carried into the
study of Mammalia and Birds, even in these important classes of
the creation nothing that is certain as to affinities, nothing that
is definite in nomenclature, can ever be attained. Yet even in
Entomology, a science of which strict scrutiny is as it were the
charac-
64 Mr. W. S. Macteay on the Structure of the Tarsus
characteristic, we may daily perceive that accurate observation
remains still a desideratum, merely because we are too apt to
despise minutiæ, and too ready to adopt the recorded obser-
vations of others as true, for no other reason than because they
are so recorded. A curious instance of this facility in trusting
to the observations of others I shall proceed to explain; not
merely because it has led myself as well as all other modern ento-
mologists into very inaccurate descriptions, but because a system
of arrangement, and that system the very one which is most pre-
'alent on the Continent at the present day, has been founded
among coleopterous insects upon such false descriptions.
Geoffroy appears to have been the first to observe that the
joints of the tarsi varied in number among Coleoptera, and also
to have been the first to make use of this variation in forming a
system of arrangement for the order*. In alluding to this system
of Geoflroy, M. Latreille says, ** L'ouvrage de ce celébre natu-
raliste est peut-être celui qui a le plus contribué aux progrès de
l'Entomologie, du moins en France. On lui doit la découverte
du caractere important, pris du nombre des articles des tarses.
caractère qui a par sa constance une plus grande valeur que celui
que fournissent les antennes." (Lat. Hist. Nat. des Crust.et Ins. ii.
500. M. Dumeril improved upon Geoffroy’s sketch ; while
M. Latreille and the other French naturalists fancied that they
had found a key to a natural arrangement, the honour of which
would indisputably belong to France. In the Genera Insectorum
of M. Latreille, a work which has occasioned the tarsal system
to be generally adopted not merely in France but throughout
Europe, we find that the great order of Coleoptera is divided into
five
* De Geer, Mém. pour I Hist. des Ins. vol. iv. p. 7.
+ Until the publication of the first number of the Annulosa Javanica, no English
entomologist had so far broken through the trammels of this system as to arrange insects
in opposition to it, except Dr. Leach, who in the 3rd volume of the Zoological Miscel-
lany
in the Tetramerous and Trimerous Coleoptera. 65
five sections: the first consisting of Pentamera, or insects having
five articulations to each of the tarsi of their six feet; the second,
of Heteromera, or insects having five articulations to the tarsi of
the four anterior feet, and only four to those of the two last :
the third consisting of Tetramera, or insects having four articula-
tions to each of the tarsi of the six feet; the fourth, of Trimera, or
insects having each of the tarsi with only three articulations ; and
the fifth, of Dimera, or insects possessing only two articulations
to each of the tarsi of the six feet. In the Règne Animal we have
a sixth section added to these, called Monomera, the insects of
which are said to have only one joint to the tarsus.
It is unfortunate for this system, that if it be considered as
an artificial one, in which all coleopterous insects are to find a
place, very little examination is sufficient to prove that multitudes
of Coleoptera exist which are neither pentamerous nor monome-
rous, nor, in short, belonging to either of the above sections; such
as, for instance, the typical species of Onitis, the males of which
appear to have no anterior tarsus* ; the genus Cryptophagus*,
where the males and females differ in the number of joints to
their tarsi; the aquatic genus Hydroporus}, which is said to have
four joints to the tarsi of the four anterior feet, and five to the
two last, &c. &c.: all of which ought to form, by parity of
reasoning, so many new sections. It is equally unfortunate that,
if this system be considered as a natural one, M. Latreille and
others of the more scientific entomologists who have adopted it,
appear to have set it at nought whenever it interfered too glaringly
lany and in Samouelle’s Compendium has most properly placed the Pselaphide next
to the Staphylinide. In the Hore Entomologice, page 6, I attacked the system gene-
rally, showing it to be “by no means natural.”
* Onitis Sphinx and its affinities, for instance. In Onitis Apelles and its affinities
we may, however, observe the tarsus; but then these are species that go off to Onit?-
cellus. See Hore Entom. p. 56.
+ Hore Entomologice, p. 7. t Ibid. p. 7, note.
VOL. XV. K with
66 Mr. W. S. Macueay on the Structure of the Tarsus
with their notions of affinity ; the consequence being, that al-
though proposed as a natural system, they proved it to be arti-
ficial ;—as, for instance, in the case of the genus Heterocerus,
which is acknowledged by them to be tetramerous*, and is never-
theless placed among the Pentamera. It was therefore with some
shadow of reason that other entomologists, who regarded all simi-
lar systems only as they were convenient dictionaries, complained
at being called upon to see more than really existed in nature,
and to account such an insect to be pentamerous merely because
the French system would have it so.
'l'he leading objections, however, which I have made to this
system in the Hore Entomologice are, in the first place, that it
fails de facto in its object of superseding the Linnean and Fa-
brician systems ; inasmuch as, instead of giving us a natural
series, it has only added to the number of artificial systems
already invented; and secondly, that it fails de jure; that, in
brief, it could not have done otherwise than fail, inasmuch as
it has, like most other principles of arrangement, been erro-
neously applied to divide Coleoptera, when the grand requisite
must always be the natural method of uniting them. It is indeed,
as I have elsewhere attempted to show *, a great error to confound
the Creator's distribution of his works with our own method of
dividing a subject into heads for the sake of perspicuity. "Phat
system, in short, which depends on the division of organs or pro-
perties must necessarily be artificial, while that which depends
on their izethod of variation must be the natural one.
But I have now to propose a third objection to the tarsal
system ; an objection which will, I suspect, not a little sur-
prise those entomologists who have been in the habit of adopt-
ing it as a convenient mode of arranging the contents of their
cabinets. It is, that the very basis of this system is erroneous,
* Gen. Insectorum, vol. ii. p. 52. + Hore Entomologice, p. 454.
since
in the Tetramerous and Trimerous Coleoptera. 67
since the number of joints in the tarsi of Coleoptera does not
vary so much as has been supposed. ‘This, it is true, is not an
objection that will much affect the series of the Genera In-
sectorum, so far as that work may relate to affinities, because it
matters little whether insects are to be held together by being
all pentamerous or all tetramerous ; but it most seriously affects
the nomenclature of the tarsal system,—since, if I place a natural
group with five joints to each of the tarsi among Tetramera, and
another with four joints among the Trimera, I clearly give them
a false description as well as an erroneous name.
It requires little observation to perceive that Aristotle’s group
of Ptilota is typically pentamerous, or, in other words, that it
has in its most normal forms five joints to the tarsus. Aberrant
exceptions there are, however, to all rules of this kind; and, as
we have seen above, the arrangement of Coleoptera given by the
French school of naturalists is grounded on such exceptions.
Observations universally adopted as accurate, and judged of suf-
ficient importance to form the basis of a system, are not likely
to be viewed with suspicion by young naturalists. While,
therefore, on entering upon the science, I perceived that the
tarsal system was at utter variance with natural affinities, I
made no doubt of the statements upon which it was founded
being in the main correct. It was certainly evident, as shown
above, that this system, as propounded by the French entomolo-
gists, would not contain all Coleoptera; and, on the other hand,
that Illiger and Reichenbach had even exploded the section of
Dimera; but no one carried his scepticism so far as to express
doubts of a Linnean Cerambya and Curculio being different from
a Carabus in being tetramerous, or of a Coccinella being properly
separated from a Chrysomela in being trimerous. ‘The study of
natural affinities, however, is of that admirable nature, that,
while founded on observation, like a well-proportioned build-
K 2 ing
68 Mr. W. S. Mac eay on the Structure of the Tarsus
ing it gives superior strength and solidity to that foundation
upon which it, is constructed: in fact, it seems always to give
rise to observations even more beautiful than those from which
it has resulted. ‘Thus it was, that in attempting a natural ar-
rangement of the insects collected in Java by Dr. Horsfield, I
discovered that the more deeply I penetrated into the science of
affinities, the more broken up was the tarsal system. Still, with
that respect which we naturally indulge for notions generally
adopted, I have confined myself in the first number of the
Annulosa Javanica to my individual observations*, without ven-
turing to suppose that the French school of entomologists and
their followers could be essentially wrong in the very ground-
work of their favourite system. Although my confidence in the
observations of these naturalists was far from being so implicit
as it had been, the reader of the first sixty pages of the above-
mentioned work will perceive that, instead of attacking the divi-
sions of Dimera, Trimera, &c. generally, I contented myself
with proving my affinities as it were in spite of them; as, for
instance, where I admit the Erotyli, generally speaking, to be
tetramerous, while proving their immediate affinities to be pen-
tamerous. I had scarcely, however, corrected the press of the
first number of that work, when Captain P. P. King, R. N. one
of those enterprising and accomplished navigators who at the
present moment confer so much honour on our country, requested
me to examine the insects which he had collected during his late
expedition to survey the coasts of New Holland. Among the
new forms of Coleoptera in this collection I found a pentamerous
insect, which I have since named Megamerus Kingiit, and
* See Ann. Jav. p. 40.
+ For the characters of this genus and of Carpophagus, see Narrative of a Survey
of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia, by Capt. P. P. King, R. N.
Appendix, p. 447, 448. tab. B. fig. 1 and 2.
which
in the Tetramerous and Trimerous Coleoptera. 69
which at first puzzled me not a little as to its natural affinities.
On dissecting it, however, and comparing it with the genus Sa-
gra on one side, and on the other with a New Holland insect
allied to Bruchus, which, from the circumstance of its being
found on plants of the genus Banksia, I have called Carpophagus
Banksia, I ascertained in some degree its natural place. But the
Megamerus was pentamerous ; while Sagra, leading off to the
Linnean genera Cerambyx and Chrysomela, and while Bruchus,
leading off to Curculio, were both recorded as tetramerous. It
was, however, observable that the tarsus of my pentamerous
insect differed in no other respect from that of Sagra and
Bruchus ; that is, from the tarsus of the majority of M. Latreille’s
section of Tetramera. The three first joints of its tarsus were in
short dilated into species of cushions, of which the last was bi-
lobed, while the fourth joint was short, slender, obconical, and
forming at first sight one piece with the fifth; so that the three
first articulations formed a dilated part of the tarsus, and the two
last a filiform part. Had it not been for the presence of the
fourth joint and its remarkable size in the Megamerus Kingii, I
might indeed have described its tarsus in the very words which
in the Régne Animal are applied to this part of the foot in the
Linnean groups Curculio, Cerambyx, and Chrysomela : Le des-
sous des trois premiers articles des tarses est spongieux ou garni
des brosses avec le penultième divisé profondement en deux
lobes." But on examining carefully Sagra and Carpophagus,
these genera will be found pentamerous in the same manner as
Megamerus. May it not then be possible, we naturally ask, that
the majority of insects hitherto called tetramerous, are in reality
pentamerous insects? An accurate examination of any Lin-
nean Cerambyx, Curculio, or Chrysomela will prove it to be so,
and that, in fact, the accurate description of the tarsus in these
three
70 Mr. W. S. MacrEay on the Structure of the Tarsus
three very natural groups is, that it consists of five articulations,
of which the three first are dilated into cushions, the third being
bilobed, while the two last are filiform, the fourth being very
small. But if these insects be thus pentamerous*, our attention
will naturally be turned to the Trimera of the French school.
May not they also have erroneously been described? Latreille, in
characterizing the well-known genus Coccinella in Deterville's
Dictionnaire d' Histoire Naturelle, says, Trois articles aux tarses
dont les deux premiers en coeur et garni des brosses." Yet on
examining the Coccinella 19-maculata of Java, we clearly see
that it is at least tetramerous, the two first joints of the tarsus
being dilated, and the two last filiform. De Geer has even given
a correct magnified figure of a similar structure of the tarsus in
* Onthis paper being read before the Linnean Society, a short notice of its general
purport appeared in the Philosophical Magazine for February last; and Mr. Kirby
having seen this notice, stated in the following number that he was aware of the facts
given to the public in my paper. To this effect he quoted a passage from the forth-
coming third volume of his Introduction to Entomology. However, in a subsequent
communication inserted in the Philosophical Magazine for April, and intended to cor-
rect some mistakes of the former communication, Mr. Kirby, in speaking of the joint of
the tarsus in Coccinella figured by De Geer, but certainly not understood by that great
naturalist, says, * He (i.e. De Geer) regarded this joint not as a primary but as a secon-
dary joint, or the joint of a joint, as | am disposed to do myself, and therefore, in the
Introduction to Entomology, and upon other occasions, I speak of the CArysomelide, &c.
as tetramerous, and the Coccinellide as trimerous.” As Mr. Kirby thus continues to
consider the Chrysomelida, &c. as tetramerous, and the Coccinellide as trimerous, and
has thus abandoned all claim to that generalization upon which the whole use and
merit of this discovery, as I conceive, hinges, I have only to say, that I have not been
able to discover with him that Cassida has the same kind of tarsus as Cerambyx or
Chrysomela. In the above-mentioned passage, cited from the forthcoming volume of
the Introduction to Entomology, Mr. Kirby says, that in the Linnean genera Curculio,
Cerambyx, Chrysomela, Cassida, &c. * the claw-joint consists of two articulations."
Judging from the affinity of Cassida to Chrysomela, I thought so myself at first, but I
certainly have not been able to confirm this reasoning by observation —May 1825.
his
in the Tetramerous and Trimerous Coleoptera. un
his ** Coccinelle à 15 points noirs," although he considered the
genus as trimerous*. And the fact is, that this truly tetra-
merous structure prevails, as far as I have observed, throughout
all the insects hitherto called trimerous : for instance, in Eumor-
phus immarginatus, a Sumatran insect, which I more particularly
specify, for the same reason as the Javanese Coccinella, because
they are both large species in a group of which the insects are
generally small, and because the tetramerous structure of their
tarsus is therefore visible to the naked eye.
These very remarkable facts destroy even the very nomencla-
ture of M. Latreille’s system, and throw doubt on the description
of almost every genus that is not recorded as pentamerous in
the Genera Insectorum. In this stage of the investigation, there-
fore, two important questions arise, which require much more
development than I am able to give them in the present crude
sketch. These are, first, What coleopterous genera possess only
four joints to each of their tarsi? and, secondly, Considering such
tetramerous tarsi as typically pentamerous, what articulation is it
that is evanescent in these genera? Such are questions intimately
connected with the doctrine of natural affinities, as it relates to
Coleoptera ; and I therefore beg leave to conclude this paper
with a few remarks, which may be interesting to those who may
be inclined to take up the subject.
Heteromerous insects are, as before said,so called by MM.Du-
meril and Latreille because they have five articulations to each of
the four first tarsi, and only four to each of the two last. ‘This, as
* [n his first letter to the editors of the Philosophical Magazine, Mr. Kirby states,
on the authority of Mr. Spence, that Müller had discovered the third jointin the tarsus
of Coccinella ; but as Mr. Kirby has not been able to refer me to the work in which
Müller published this discovery respecting the Trimera of the French system, [ can
only mention the fact, contenting myself, in consequence, with having been the first to
make known to the public the true construction of the tarsus in the insects called
Tetramera by the French entomologists.— May 1825.
far
72 Mr. W. S. Macreay on the Structure of the Tarsus
far as I have been able to observe, isa very accurate description
of all those sand insects which are allied to Pimelia and Tenebrio.
The manner, however, in which a Helops is heteromerous may
perhaps be explained by examining the posterior pentamerous
tarsus of Erotylus; in which case we should say that it is the
penultimate joint of the tarsus that is evanescent in the Helo-
pide. In the heteromerous Cistelene of M. Latreille we have a
genus Mycterus, evidently allied to the Curculionide ; and a very
careful dissection has made it appear to me that it is in reality
pentamerous, only the third and fourth joints of the posterior tarsi
are nearly confluent. Hence, in heteromerous insects generally,
we may perhaps suppose that it is the fourth joint of the tarsus
which vanishes. lIsay generally, because there may be many ex-
ceptions to the rule ; perhaps, for instance, Me/oe and the insects
allied to it. These are true Heteromera ; but on looking at their
posterior feet we find an obconical process, which seems to re-
present the lost articulation, and occasions one almost to fancy,
although not perhaps very philosophically, that it is the second
joint of the tarsus which articulates with the tibia. The Linnean
genus Cassida and Alurnus appear to have only four joints to their
tarsus, which differs moreover from that of the CArysomelide, in-
asmuch as all these four articulations are dilated. The affinity of
Cassida to Chrysomela shows us here also which joint is evanes-
cent; and we find, in fact, that the last joint, although dilated at
the extremity, puts on the appearance of the piece formed by the
two last articulations of the tarsus in Chrysomela. ‘This circum-
stance may serve to throw light on the structure of the foot in
Eumorphus, and the other insects commonly but erroneously
called trimerous. I have shown them to be at least tetramerous ;
and I conceive, from analogy, that it is the penultimate joint
that is here also evanescent. But however this may be, enough
has been said to prove the worthlessness of the tarsal system,
| even
in the Tetramerous and Trimerous Coleoptera. 13
even when we consider it in no other light than as affording
means of description. As a medium for expressing natural afti-
nities, it had already been sufliciently characterized by the
learned entomologist who has been the principal source of its
celebrity, when he said, ** Articulorum tarsorum progressio nu-
merica decrescens in methodo naturali non admittenda." This as-
sertion I have repeatedly proved to be true, notwithstanding
its having been tacitly retracted by M. Latreille, when he
brought forward this system in the Règne Animal distribué
après son Organization. ‘To overturn, therefore, this arrangement
of Coleoptera altogether, and to demonstrate that it does not
even possess the merit of being an accurate artificial one, it only
remained to show that this numerical progression of tarsal joints
does not really exist in nature, and that we have been hitherto
giving those very groups of Coleoptera, which perhaps are most
familiar to our eyes, names that in point of fact are quite
erroneous.
VOU. XV. rf JII. No-
pu 9
III. Notice on a peculiar Property of a Species of Echinus.
By E. T. Bennett, Esq. F.L.S. Communicated by the Zoo-
logical Club of the Linnean Society.
Read June 21, 1825.
Tux property of forming for themselves habitations or cells in
stone or other hard substances, with which Nature has endowed
certain of the less perfect animals, has repeatedly excited the
investigation of zoologists, who are yet divided in opinion as to
the means by which it is effected. While some are disposed to
regard these cavities as the result chiefly of chemical action,
others consider them to be produced by mechanical powers
alone. Into this extensive question it is by no means my inten-
tion to enter: I merely propose to put on record, for future and
more able inquirers, a fact which has recently come to my
knowledge, and which is new to those scientific friends whom I
have consulted respecting it.
On the surface of a fragment of rock from the coast of the
county of Clare, for which I am indebted to the kindness of Mr.
J. D. Humphreys of Cork, there exist numerous depressions or
cavities, occupied by a species of Echinus, and evidently formed
by it, as they severally correspond in size with the stage of
growth of their respective inhabitants. ‘The fragment, which is
about eight inches in length by six in breadth, contains in less
than one half of its surface six of these cavities,——each of which
is circular, —agreeing in form with that of the Echinus which
occupies
Mr. Bennett on a peculiar Property of a Species of Echinus. 75
occupies it, and so deep as to embrace more than two-thirds
of the bulk of its animal inhabitant. ‘They are large enough
to admit of the animal rising in them a little, but not of its
coming out easily ; and their depth is in several considerably
increased by the deposition, around their upper circumference,
of a species of coralline several lines in thickness, and by a
thin layer of which they are frequently lined throughout. In
common with all the other species, the Echin? inhabiting these
cells have their mouths invariably downwards ; and they adhere
by their numerous suckers so firmly to the lodgements they have
formed, as to be forced, with extreme difficulty, from them
when alive.
‘ The coast of the county of Clare," Mr. Humphreys informs
me, ‘ at Milltown Malbay, and indeed from the mouth of the
Shannon northward to the isles of Arran, is without a harbour,
and, except a few bays of fine sand, presents to the eye the most
majestic cliffs. Wherever the rocks project into the sea, so as
to form ledges accessible at low water, protected in front by
higher rocks, and which are never left entirely dry, these ledges
are perforated by the Echini; and I have seen thousands of
them lying in these cavities side by side. The largest which I
saw thus imbedded were about three inches in diameter ; and
the few that I perceived out of their nidi were dead. All that I
thus observed were of the same species. ‘The fishermen some-
times take the common Echinus in their lobster-pots, but these
are never lodged in the rock. I have been lately informed that
they lodge in a similar manner in the rocks about Berehaven
and Bantry in the west of our county (Cork), and I shall endea-
vour to obtain further information respecting their habits from
thence.”
The animal whose interesting habits have formed the subject of
L 2 the
76 Mr. Bennett on a peculiar Property
the present notice appears to be the Echinus saxatilis of Linnæus ;
but the character assigned to this species by that distinguished
naturalist is so indefinite as to preclude the possibility of cer-
tainty on this point. It however coincides precisely with the
description given by Leske of his Cidaris rupestris, and with
Lamarck’s specific character of his Echinus lividus; both of
these authors (the latter with a mark of doubt) referring to this
species of Linnæus as synonymous with theirs respectively. ‘The
appositeness of the trivial names both of Linnæus and of Leske
to the habitat of the animal in question, might lead to the
suspicion that they were acquainted with the property noticed
above: but there is no reference in either of them to any au-
thor by whom it has been mentioned. Rumphius, indeed, de-
scribes the Echinus saxatilis as inhabiting ‘the holes and cavi-
ties of corals, in which they sometimes grow to such a size that
it is impossible to pull them out." But these words evidently
imply his opinion that it sought holes previously formed, in
which it increased in bulk ; and do not even hint at the con-
clusion, that itself formed and enlarged the cells in which it
dwelt.
Whether the species of Echinus described and figured by
Rumphius, and referred to by Linnæus as synonymous with his
E. saxatilis, be identical with the one which inhabits the western
coasts of Ireland, may probably, on account of their geographi-
cal distribution, be regarded as doubtful, the former having
been discovered in the Indian Seas. The species of this genus
are, however, so difficult to determine, and so little understood,
that I will not at present venture to decide upon this question.
If not identical, they are at least analogous ; and I may mention
as a fact bearing upon this point, that I have lately seen a spe-
cimen of Echinus, brought by Captain King, F.L.S., from New
Holland,
of a Species of Echinus. 77
Holland, to which it would be extremely difficult, if not impos-
sible, to assign characters capable of distinguishing it from our
common E. esculentus.
It may be proper to add, that the species which perforates
the rocks of the western coasts of Ireland has not hitherto been
described as an inhabitant of the British isles.
IV. A Com-
IV. A Commentary on the Third Part of the Hortus Malabaricus.
By Francis Hamilton, M.D. F.R.S. and L.S.
Read December 7, 1824; and June 21, 1825.
Coppa Panna, p. 1. tab. 1—12.
Ix mountainous stony places of Malabar I observed the Codda
Panna of the natives very common ; but I never observed it either
in flower or fruit, nor did I ever see its leaves so large as Rheede
describes them. The leaves which I saw were about the size of
those of the Borassus flabelliformis ; that 1s, five or six feet in dia-
meter: and it must be observed, that Rheede states that it is only
when the tree is young (** antequam ullos emisit ramulos") that its
leaf is fourteen feet broad and eighteen long: **folia tamen cum
arbor ramos (stipites nempe) undique emittit, altiusque excres-
cat, sensim minora proferuntur." It is in this state alone that I
remember to have seen it. In my Journey to Mysore (n. 488.)
I have given an account of the uses to which it is applied ; and
I must further observe that, notwithstanding its size and woody
texture, this plant, like our annuals of Europe, produces fruc-
tification only once, and then dies; whereas many herbaceous
plants, as well as trees, continue to bud and flower every year
for ages.
The generic name Panna is not peculiar to Palms, as the
author supposed; but even in the Hortus Malabaricus is given
to several Ferns. (Hort. Mal. xii. 31, 35, 61, 65, 67.) It is
much
Dr. Francis Hamiutron’s Commentary, $c. 79
much to be regretted that in the indexes to the Hortus Mala-
baricus, not only in the work itself, but in the Flora Zeylanica of
Linnæus, and Thesaurus Zeylanicus of Burman, the plants have
been arranged according to their specific, and not according to
their generic names ; for in the dialects of India, as well as in
English, the specific name usually precedes the generic. There
are some exceptions :—the Malabar words Maram signifying a
tree, Kodi a sarmentose plant, Valli a climber, Pullu a grass,
and Maravara a parasitical plant, are usually placed after the
generic term, being properly denominations of classes or orders.
In the same manner Ghas Gaya or Gaha (herba, planta) in the
dialect of Ceylon is to be considered not as denoting a genus,
but a class or order. Keeping this in mind, the classification
of the natives may be readily discovered, and in general will be
found to show a considerable accuracy of observation.
The name Karetela, said to be given to this palm by the
Brahmans of Malabar, I cannot explain; unless we suppose it
composed of two words, Kare and Tela, the former signifying
wild; and the latter may be the same with Tala or Tali, the
Ceylonese name. ‘This is obviously the same with Ta/, the
name given in the north of India to the Borassus flabelliformis,
to which the Codda Panna has a very great resemblance. The
term Ghas Gaya or Gaha, annexed by the Ceylonese, I have
already explained; but the word Pot added to Tali is the same
with Pata or leaf, annexed because the leaf of this palm is the
part most commonly used.
Commeline, in the note annexed, seems to have an unneces-
sary doubt in referring to the Codda Panna C. Bauhin’s Arbor
foliis sex brachiorum longis, cujus folio extenso tres quatuorve viri
in itinere operiuntur, ut pluvias non metuant. Except in coining
a new name, Ray, as usual with Indian plants, gives us no
knowledge but what is derived from Rheede ; and the same is
the
80 Dr. Francis HaurzToN's Commentary
the case in this instance with Plukenet (Alm. 277.), who adopts
the name given by Ray, Palma montana folio plicatile flabelliformi
maximo, semel tantum frugifera: nor does he quote any syno-
nyma except the Hortus Malabaricus.
The elder Burman (Thes. Zeyl. 181.) borrowed from Hermann
the name Palma zeylanica, folio longissimo et latissimo, by no
means so characteristic as that of Ray; for, as I have said, in
its full growth the leaves are not remarkably larger than those
of the Borassus.
Rumphius (Herb. Amb. 1.44.) compared the leaves of the Codda
Panna with those of his Saribus, but says ** verum tantum differt
ut diversa sit habenda species.” (See my Commentary on the
Herbarium Amboinense.) Notwithstanding what Rumphius had
properly observed, Linnæus in the Flora Zeylanica (394.) joined
the Saribus with the Codda Panna to form his Corypha: but it
was probably the latter that he meant to describe, as we have no
reason to believe that the Saribus is found in Ceylon. In the
Species Plantarum and Burman’s Flora Indica (240.) no change
took place, except giving to the Corypha the specific name um-
braculifera, and without any good reason omitting some of the
synonyma. Gærtner continued the error ; nor do I know which
of the fruits he described.
After this long continuance of error, the difference between
the Saribus and Codda Panna was pointed out by M. Lamarck
(Enc. Meth. i1. 130.), who considered the latter as the Corypha
umbraculifera, and in this has been followed by Willdenow. (Sp.
PI. ii. 201.)
Nitr Panna, p. 7.
There is no figure of this plant, and the description is so im-
perfect that little dependence can be placed on such conjectures
as I can offer. It is probably a palm growing in or close by the
rivers of Malabar; and as the description says, **folia Palmæ
foliis,
on the Hortus Malabaricus, Part IIT. 81
foliis, plane similia sunt,” we may infer that its leaves have a
strong resemblance to those of the Cocos nucifera, which by way
of eminence Rheede calls Palma indica. On these grounds I
think it probable that it may be the Nipa fruticans (Willd. Sp.
Pl. iv. 597.). I did not indeed observe this in Malabar ; but it
is common near the mouths of the Ganges, and on the banks
of estuaries in the countries and islands south and east from
thence.
Toppa Panna, p. 9. tab. 13—21.
The plant here described is perfectly known to me, although
in Malabar the natives call it Indu (Journey to Mysore, i. 469.) ;
nor did I there hear of the names Todda, Mouta, or Andexa
Motha Panna, which Rheede had received at Cochin. He fell
into a great error in considering this as the Soteetsou of the Ja-
panese, that is, as the tree which produces sago, as is very pro-
perly pointed out by Commeline in his note (p. 14.). Notwith-
standing this, Plukenet (Adm. 276.) joins the Todda Panna with
the Palma farinifera Japonica of Breynius, or Soteetsou of the
Japanese, an error followed by Linneus (F/. Zeyl. 593.), when
he established a new genus called Cycas. Concerning these
errors, however, I have said every thing necessary in my Com-
mentary on the first part of the Herbarium Amboinense, and I
need here only insert the real synonyma of the Todda Panna.
Palma indica caudice in annulos protuberante distincto. Raz
Hist. 1360.
Cycas frondibus pinnatis, foliis lineari-lanceolatis, stipitibus spi-
nosis. Linn. Fl. Zeyl. 393. (exclusis nisi Rai? synonymis
omnibus).
Olus calaphoides e Celebe vel ex insulis Ulasseriensibus. Herb.
Amer 97:90. 1.99. 98.
Cycas circinalis. Burm. Fl. Ind. 240. (exclusis synonymis
VOL. XV. M Breynii
82 Dr. Francis Hamitton’s Commentary
Breynii, Sebe, et Kampferi. Enc. Meth. ii. 231. (excluso
Sebe synonymo Sup. ii. 425. in observatione.) Willd. Sp.
Pl.iv. 844. Brown Nov. Holl. i. 347. in observatione. Hort.
Kew. v. 409. i
I have only further to add, that in the figures the rings on the
stems are represented more regular and deep than I have ever
observed on the growing plant, which has probably prevented
Dr. Roxburgh (Hort. Beng. 71.) from quoting them.
Katou InpDEL, p. 15. tab. 929—295.
In India this is the most common Palm. The names Katou
Indel, Tamara do Muto, and Wild Dandel Boom imply its being a
kind of Date; and the resemblance between it and the Date-
palm brought from Arabia is so great, that, except by the fruit, I
could not distinguish the one from the other: but I did not see
the flower of the Arabian plant. "The fruits are very different in
quality, but not more so than those of the Crab-apple and Pippin;
yet the flower of the Katou Indel differs so much from that of
the Phenix dactylifera, at least as this is described by Linnæus,
that he considered it as belonging to a different genus; for its
flower has six stamina and three germina, while Linnzus be-
lieved that the Date had three stamina and one germen ; and it
is still thus described in the Hortus Kewensis and by Willdenow:
but M. Lamarck (Enc. Meth. ii. 261.) observes that the Phenix
dactylifera has six stamina. He indeed describes it as having
only one germen ; but he has perhaps been led to do this from
no more than one coming to maturity, as is the case also in the
Katou Indel.
Neither Commeline in his note, nor Plukenet (Alm. 276.),
seems to have been aware of the strong resemblance between
the proper Date-tree and the Katou Indel, which they call Palma
sylvestris
on the Hortus Malabaricus, Part ITT. 83
sylvestris Malabarica, folio acuto, fructu Pruni facie. The spe-
cific name Katou implies sylvestris ; and Indel is evidently the
same name with Indi, which, according to Plukenet (Alm. 277.),
the natives of Ceylon give to the Date-palm. Palma sylvestris
is therefore a translation of Katou Indel. The Phenix dactyli-
fera, which was the Palma first known to the learned of Europe,
according to Plukenet is distinguished by the Ceylonese specific
name Maha (great) prefixed to Indi; while he mentions another
kind, called by the Ceylonese Hin Indi, which he describes as
Palma dactylifera minor humilis, sylvestris, fructu minore. (Alm.
277.) This he considers as different from the Katou Indel ; but
the elder Burman (Thes. Zey/. 183.) considered them as the same.
I should have no doubt that Burman was in the right, were there
not another species of thesa me genus (Phenix farinifera, Hort.
Beng. 73.) to which the term humilis is more applicable : for the
Katou Indel is fully as large as the Phenix dactylifera. Neither
Plukenet nor Burman, however, says any thing specific concern-
ing the size of the Hin Indi; only the term humilis applied to it,
is used also by Plukenet for the dwarf Palm of Spain (Chame-
rops humilis), which is of a similar size with the Phenix farinifera,
and does not approach near in magnitude to the Katou Indel.
I therefore refer the Hin Indi to the Phenia farinifera, which is
a very common plant on all the hilly country between the Ganges
and Cape Comorin. I have, however, great doubts of the MaAa
Indi of Ceylon being the proper Date of Arabia, or of its being
different from the Katou Indel, which I know is very common in
Ceylon; but I never heard of proper Dates being produced
either there or in any part of India. It is true that in the
gardens of the curious I have seen a few trees imported from
Arabia; but I never saw these produce fruit. It is also true
that I consider the Katou Inde! as merely the wild plant of the
same species with that which is cultivated in Arabia and Africa :
M 2 but
84 Dr. Francis HaurrTON's Commentary
but this culture has wonderfully improved the fruit ; so that from
being useless, as in the Katou Indel, it has become one of the
most valuable vegetable productions.
Linneus ( F7. Zeyl. 390.) however entirely adopted the opinion
of Burman, and supposed the /ndi Palm to be the same with
that which produces dates, and to be so common in India that
it had communicated its name to the country. ‘This opinion,
however, could only be adopted on the supposition that the Katou
Indel is the Indi: but the whole hypothesis seems groundless :
for in the dialects of the North of India the Katou Indel is called
Khajur in the vulgar, and Kharjuri in the sacred dialect ( Ka-
souri of the Brahmans of Malabar); and it was no doubt from
some circumstance attending the North of India that the West-
ern nations gave this name to the country. The Katou Indel,
however, was considered by Linnæus as quite distinct from the
Date-palm (Phenix dactylifera), and in the Flora Zeylanica, 397.
was called l'aga ; but when he published the Species Plantarum,
he changed this name to Elate sylvestris (Burm. Fl. Ind. 241.),
considering it, on very slight and insufficient grounds, as the
Elate arbor of the Romans, which was a tree used in preparing
ointments, as Pliny mentions (Nat. Hist. l. xii. c. 28.), ** quam
alii Elatam vocant, nos Abietem, alii Palmam, alii Spathen.
Laudatur Hammoniaca maxime, mox /Egyptia, dein Syriaca,
duntaxatin locis sitientibus odorata, pingui lachryma, que in un-
guenta additur ad domandum oleum." The reason, probably,
why Pliny calls it Abies is, that Exar7 was the Greek name for the
Latin Abies: but there is no reason to suppose that this grows
either in Egypt or in the Oasis of Ammon. — Linnzus was there-
fore no doubt justifiable in rejecting this supposition of Pliny :
but when he adopted the term Palma, used also as synonymous
with Elate in Pliny, he should have considered that this was a
generic term; and before he confounded the Elate with the
Katou
on the Hortus Malabaricus, Part III. 85
Katou Indel, he should have inquired whether the latter pro-
duces a gum or resin (/achryma), such as was used by the Roman
perfumers. ‘This being by no means the case, the name Elate
is improperly applied to the Katou Indel.
Willdenow however (Sp. Pl. iv. 403.), and the Hortus Kew-
ensis, v. 280, continue to describe the Katou Indel as the Elate,
a genus distinct from the PAeniv, and place it in Monacia hex-
andria, probably because Rheede figures and describes only
the female tree, the tria albicantia lanuginosa staminula, which
he mentions, being the three pistilla. M. Lamarck (Enc.
Meth. ii. 244.), although he continues to describe it as the
Elate sylvestris, observes, ** C'est un Palmier qui nous paroit
extremement voisin du Dattier (Phenix dactylifera) par ces
rapports, et dont méme il est peut-être une espèce.” The only
doubt I have is, whether or not it is to be considered as any
thing else than merely the uncultivated variety of the Pheniv
dactylifera. Dr. Roxburgh indeed, an excellent authority, men-
tions (Hort. Deng. 75.) both a Phenix dactylifera and a P. syl-
vestris ; which last I know to be the Katou Indel, although he
does not quote it, deterred by the authority of so many great
botanists: but then in this catalogue he inserts, under distinct
names, plants which he admits to be mere varieties ; as for
example, the Musa sapientum and M. paradisiaca, p. 19: and I
must say, that looking with the utmost care at the common plant
of India, and that known to have been brought from Arabia, like
those in the garden of the late 'Tippoo Sultaun, when in a simi-
lar state of growth,—that is, when the stems were only a foot or
two in height, and before they began to flower, —I have not been
able to see the smallest difference between them, except that the
plant of Arabia was rather the largest and more vigorous.
With such an extraordinary similarity, | should be very much
indeed surprised to find that the proper Date of Arabia had
only one pistillum : but if this be the case, we must admi the
species
86 Dr. Francis Hamiztton’s Commentary
species to be distinct. In the mean time I shall describe the
Katou Indel, so that those who have an opportunity may com-
pare the description with the Phaniv dactylifera. For an ac-
count of the uses to which the Katou Indel is applied, | may
refer to my Journey to Mysore (i. 54, 56, 393 ; iii. 320.).
Caudex arboreus, diametro pedali, 10—20 pedes altus, teres,
rudimentis stipitum imbricatis undique exasperatus, indi-
visus. Frondes plures terminales, confertæ, patentes, pin-
nate. Pinne sparse, 6—8 hinc inde approximatis squar-
rosæ, decurrentes, lanceolate, integerrime, acute, glabræ,
nervis pluribus longitudinalibus striate, rigidæ, ima parte
complicata in rachim insertæ ; inferiorum nonnullæ sub-
trigonæ, canaliculate, mucronato-pungentes. Stipites ad
foliola brevissimi, basi dilatato amplexicaules. Rachis tri-
gonus, latere inferiori convexo ; superioribus, quibus pinnæ
adnascuntur, planis. Stipule intrafoliaceæ, fibris decus-
santibus intertextæ.
Flores dioici.
Masculine arboris :
Spadix axillaris, solitarius, erectus, palmaris, planus, levis, trun-
catus, ultra medium extra tectus spicis plurimis in capitu-
lum hemisphæricum magnitudine capitis humani congestis.
Pedunculi glabri, angulati, flexuosi. — Flores glabri, nitidi,
albidi, sparsi, magni.
Calyx concavus, tridentatus. Petala tria, ovata, acuta, rigida,
patentia, angulata, calyce multo longiora. — l'ilamenta sex,
brevissima, receptaculo carnoso parvo inserta. Anthere
filiformes, spirales, petalis breviores.
Fœmininæ arboris :
Spadiv tectus spicis plurimis, longissimis, erectis, simplicissi-
mis, glabris, flexuosis, angulatis. Flores plures, sparsi, ses-
siles.
Calyx
on the Hortus Malabaricus, Part III. 87
Calyx monophyllus, ore tridentato cyathiformis. Petala tria,
subrotunda, in globum ore patulo convoluta. Germina tria,
oblonga. Styli subulati. Stigmata acuta.
Drupa, vel potius forte bacca (germinum duobus abortivis), so-
litaria, ovata, Dactylo Arabico dimidio minor, flava, mollis,
carnosa, calyce persistente infra cincta. Cortev membra-
naceus, tenuissimus. Caro crassiuscula, dulcedine quadam
austera.
I may here observe that, besides the Katou Indel, I have seen
in India three other species of the same genus; one of them a
small tree, and the other two without stems. Of these last, one,
which | have already mentioned, is common in all the hills of
India south from the Ganges, and is what Dr. Roxburgh ( Hort.
Beng. 73.) calls Phenix farinifera; and I think that this is
probably the Hin Indi of the Ceylonese, and the Palma dacty-
lifera minor humilis sylvestris fructu minore of Parkinson, Pluke-
net, and Burman. Inthe North of India this is called Palawat :
and its leaves, which are not so rigid as those of the other spe-
cies, are bruised and twisted into ropes. Its fruit is supported
on a stem almost as long as the leaves ( frondes).
The other dwarf Phenix is found in the more elevated plains
on the north side of the Ganges, where the soil contains much
clay, and in the dialect of Bengal is called Janggali Khajur ;
and it is, I presume, what Dr. Roxburgh ( Hort. Beng. 13.) calls
Phenix acaulis. Either the Pheniv acaulis or P. farinifera, there
can be little doubt, is the same with the P. pusilla of Gzrtner
(De Sem.i. 24. t. 9.). The plant found on the north side of the
Ganges is the smallest, and therefore the most suitable for the
name pusilla; but then Gærtner procured the seeds from Cey-
lon, where it is probable that the plant of Southern India is
alone known. He describes, however, only the fruit; and from
that
88 Dr. Francis HAMILTON’s Commentary
that only the species, I suspect, cannot be fully determined ;
which probably induced Dr. Roxburgh to give new names to both
plants, although it is probable that his P. farinifera is the P. pu-
silla of Gærtner. I shall here give a description of the Phænix
acaulis, or Janggali Khajur of the Bengalese.
Radix fibrosa, crassa. Caudex nullus. — Stipites plures cum sti-
pulis congesti in bulbum imbricatum vix extra terram emer-
gens, rigidi, brevissimi, trigoni, subtus convexi. Frondes
pinnate, rarius ultra cubitum longe. Pinnæ hinc inde
3—5 approximatis squarrose, ima parte complicata in ra-
chim insertæ, lineares, nude, nervis longitudinalibus paral-
lelis striate, rigidæ, apice spinescentes, inferioribus bre-
vissimis. Rachis communis trigonus. Stipule gemine,
laterales, maximæ, membranaceæ, margini stipitis utrinque
longitudinaliter adnate, nervis intus reticulatie.
Flores dioici.
In masculina arbore :
Spadiv erectus, e terra exsertus, ramis simplicibus confertis an-
gulatis multifidus. Spatha membranacea, marcescens, vagi-
nans, indeterminate dehiscens. Flores duri, angulati, lutei.
Calyx minutus. Petala tria, rigida, oblonga, acuta. Filamenta
nunc tria tunc sex, brevissima. Anthere oblonga.
In foeminina arbore :
Inflorescentia ut in masculina, sed spadix vix apice e terra emer-
gens. llores virides, squama rigida parva adpressa bracteati.
Calyx monophyllus, crassus, truncatus. Corolla rigida, laciniis
ovatis obtusis adpressis trifida. Germina tria, ovata; quo-
rum duo semper abortiva, cito marcescentia. Stylus vix
ullus. Stigmata acuta.
Bacca oblonga, acuta, nigra, carnosa, mollis, dulcis, pollicem
transversum vix longa, calyce multo major. Semen ob-
longum.
on the Hortus Malabaricus, Part III. 89
longum, obtusum, basi emarginatum, hinc sulco profundo,
inde papillula pallida notatum. — /ntegumentum membra-
naceum. Albumen cartilagineum, non ruminatum. Em-
bryo dorsalis, ovatus, albus.
TsyAkA Maram seu Jaca seu Jaaca, p. 17. tab. 26—28.
For what I have to say concerning this tree I may in a great
measure refer to my Commentary on the first volume of the
Herbarium Amboinense, the Jaca being identically the same with
the Saccus arboreus major of Rumphius. With this author one
might be inclined to think that Tsjaka or Jaca are derived from
the Dutch word Zak, signifying a sack,—the fruit resembling a
bag filled with seeds ; for the tree or fruit is by no means called
Jaka in the Hindustani language, as Rumphius supposed: but
in that dialect it is called Kantal and Punas, from Panasa of
the sacred language; and this is the same word with Ponossou,
which according to Rheede is used by the Brahmans of Mala-
bar. Pilau is therefore perhaps the proper Malabar name? It
must however be observed, that the natives of Malabar have
another tree called Katou Tsjaka (Hort. Mal. iii. 29.), or the
wild Tsjaka, which has some resemblance to the Tsjaka or Arto-
carpus integrifolia ; but its fruit does not resemble a sack: and
this would seem to show that Tsjaka is a generic word not
derived from the Dutch. By the Burmas this tree is called
Pi-neh.
ATA Mara, p. 21. tab. 29.
In my Commentary on the Herbarium Amboïnense (1. 138.) I
have said what occurs to me concerning this plant. The names
Ata and Atoa, in general use over India, seem to be derived
from the Atas of the Portuguese, by whom probably this fine
fruit was introduced into India.
YOL. XV. N ANONA
90 Dr. Francis Hamriton’s Commentary
Anona Maraw, p. 23. tab. 30. 31.
In the Commentary on the Herbarium Amboinense (i. 136.),
when treating of the Anona, I have said all that occurs to me
as necessary concerning this plant. From a slight resemblance
in the fruit, this and the preceding tree have been erroneously
classed by the Brahmans of Malabar with the Artocarpus in the
genus Ponossou.
ANSJELI, p. 25. tab. 32.
In the Commentary above mentioned (i. 109.), when treating
of the Angelyquen, I have mentioned all that appears necessary
concerning this tree, which the Brahmans most properly class
with the Artocarpus or Ponossou, giving this the specific name
Pata (small), which in the plate is wrongly engraved Pala.
Katou TsJAKA, p. 29. tab. 33.
This is the plant which I mentioned in the Commentary on
page 17 as having been considered by the natives as belonging
to the same genus with the Artocarpus integrifolia ; no doubt a
very rude arrangement, as Commeline in his subjoined note
remarks.
Plukenet formed a much more accurate conjecture (Alm. 47.
& 203.) in classing it with his Arbor Americana triphylla, fructu
Platani quodammodo æmulante (Phyt. t. 77. f. 4.) ; which in
another place (Alm. 356.) he calls Scabiosa dendroides Ameri-
cana, ternis foliis circa caulem ambientibus, floribus ochroleucis,
which is the Cephalanthus occidentalis. | Linnzeus accordingly in
the Flora Zeylanica, 53, called this plant the Cephalanthus foliis
oppositis. He afterwards, however, considered that its having
five stamina was a ground sufficient for separating it from the
Cephalanthus, which has only four; and therefore in the first
edition of the Species Plantarum he called it Nauclea orientalis, in
which
on the Hortus Malabaricus, Part III. 91
which he was followed by Burman (£7. Ind. 51.), who added to
the synonyma the Bancalus of Rumphius (Herb. Amb. iii. 84.
tab. 55.). Now in this plate there are two figures ; of which the
first represents (setting aside the errors in the direction to the
plate) the Bancalus mas et parvifolia, which may perhaps be con-
sidered as the same with the Katou Tsjaka, although this is by
no means clear. Without any attention to the fact of two plants
being figured in tab. 55 by Rumphius, and laying aside his
usual accuracy, M. Lamarck quotes the Bancalus (tab. 55.) for
his Cephalanthus chinensis (Enc. Meth. i. 678.), leaving it doubt-
ful whether or not the Nauclea orientalis is different; but he
does not quote the Katou Tsjaka. Afterwards M. Poiret does
not diminish the confusion by giving us a Nauclea orientalis, for
which he quotes the Cephalanthus chinensis, the Cephalanthus of
Linnæus, and Bancalus of Rumphius with doubt, while he refers
the Katou Tsjaka to his Nauclea citrifolia (Enc. Meth. iv. 435.),
distinguishing this from his N. orientalis by its having the pe-
dunculus shorter than the flower; while in his N. orientalis this
member is much longer, as represented by M. Lamarck (1//.
Gen. t. 153. f. 1.). Still later, M. Poiret endeavours (Enc. Meth.
Sup. iv. 63.) to point out differences between his Nauclea orien-
talis and Cephalanthus chinensis, which is the Nauclea purpurea
of Roxburgh and Willdenow (Sp. P/. i. 928.). Now all this
seems wrong: for the Katou Tsjaka is the Nauclea orientalis or
Cephalanthus foliis oppositis of Linnzeus ; and the Nauclea citri-
folia, like this having a short pedunculus, is the real Nauclea
orientalis; while the N. orientalis figured by M. Lamarck must
be considered as a new species, and from the size and shape of
its leaf might be called N. citrifolia, were it not for leading into
error. Besides, before we can safely refer the N. purpurea or
Cephalanthus chinensis to the Bancalus (tab. 55.), we must know
whether the first or second figure of Rumphius is meant. Neither
N 2 can
92 Dr. Francis Hamiiron’s Commentary
can, with any certainty, be said to represent the Katou Tsjaka,
both having the pedunculus much too long, and therefore both
agreeing with M. Lamarck’s figure: yet, as the second figure in
Rumphius resembles most M. Lamarck's figure, I should quote
for his N. orientalis the Bancalus media (Herb. Amb. 11. 84. t. 55.
J. 2.)
When I returned from Ava to Calcutta (1796), I know that
Dr. Roxburgh considered the Katou Tsjaka as the Nauclea ori-
entalis, and under that name sent it to the Kew Garden, where
it still remains (Hort. Kew. 1. 366.): but Dr. Roxburgh has
since ( Hort. Beng. 14.) left out altogether the N. orientalis and
Katou Tsjaka ; and the plant which he and I considered as such,
or at least one very like it, he calls Nauclea Cadamba. — For this
he may have had different reasons. In the first place, Gærtner
(De Sem. i. 151. t. 30. f. 8.) has, I have little doubt, described
the fruit of Dr. Roxburgh’s Nauclea parvifolia (Hort. Beng. 14.)
as that of the N. orientalis. The synonyma, however, which he
quotes are totally erroneous : for his plant has sessile capitula ;
but those of both Katou Tsjaka and Bancalus are pedunculated.
In the next place, although I think it probable that the Katou
Tsjaka is called Kadam in the vulgar, and Kadamba in the
sacred dialect of Gangetic India; and although, no doubt,
Dr. Roxburgh's Cadamba is the same word, yet the same names
are given to what I take to be the Arbor noctis s. Bancalus femina
et latifolia of Rumphius (Herb. Amb. iil. 84. ¢.54.), which although
very like indeed to what I consider as the Katou Tsjaka, yet has
a fruit which can by no means be reconciled with the description
given by Rheede, who says, ** fructus globosi virides sunt, qui
dein rubicundi, tandemque nigricantes et fragiles evadunt ; et si
asperius tractentur, facile solvuntur, ac in plures oblongos virides
nitentes folliculos secedunt.” Now I think that the folliculi
nitentes imply capsules, such as described by Gærtner, although
they
on the Hortus Malabaricus, Part III. 93
they may be covered by an acid cortex (**sapor in cortice acidus, "
H. M.); but in the Kadamba, which I take to be the Arbor Noctis,
there is not a vestige of capsules, and the fruit is composed of
berries of a soft substance throughout. Unfortunately I have not
seen the fruit of the Kadamba, which I think nearest allied to
the Katou Tyaka, and therefore I cannot say whether, like the
Arbor Noctis, it is composed of berries, or whether, like the
Katou Tsjaka, it is composed of capsule corticate. There is
one circumstance, however, which induces me to suppose that
this Kadamba is not the Katou Tsjaka. "This in the figure of the
Hortus Malabaricus is represented with the stylus no longer than
the tube of the corolla; but in our Kadamba it is longer than
the laciniæ. Although it has a similar stylus, it is quite difte-
rent from the Cephalanthus chinensis (Enc. Meth. Sup. iv. 63.),
which has violet-coloured flowers, a truncated calyx, and the
stamina included within the tube of the corolla. These diffe-
rences between the Kadamba and Katou Tsjaka, however, are
minute ; nor do I know that they are constant, even in the same
individual at different periods of growth; and therefore I must
leave the matter to be finally determined by those who have
leisure to examine the plants in all their stages when culti-
vated. Should the fruit of both Kadambas be similar, I should
have no doubt that they are mere varieties ; that both should be
referred to the Nauclea Cadamba of Roxburgh, and to the same
genus with the Arbor Noctis of Rumphius, which I call Cadamba
nocturna ; and that they are both different from the Katou Tsjaka,
which is a real Nauclea or Cephalanthus, for these genera are
essentially the same. In the mean time I shall give an account
of this Kadamba, which is most like the Katou Tsjaka, premising
that I am uncertain whether it be this or the other plant of the
same name that Dr. Roxburgh called Nauclea Cadamba. | Spe-
cimens of the plant which I mean, are to be found in the collec-
tion
94 Dr. Francis Hamitton’s Commentary
tion which I presented to the library at the East India House
(No. 706).
Nauclea? orientalis. Hort. Kew.1. 366? Willd. Sp. Pl. 1. 928.
Nauclea Cadamba. Hort. Beng. 14?
Nauclea citrifolia. Enc. Meth. iv. 435?
Cephalanthus foliis oppositis. Linn. Fl. Zeyl. 53?
Bancalus mas et parvifolia. Herb. Amb. iii. 84. #. 55. f. 1?
Katou Tsjaka. Hort. Mal. ui. 29. t. 33?
Kadamba Sanscrite.
Kadum Hindice et Bengalensium.
Habitat in Indic aridioris sylvis.
Folia oblonga, utrinque acuta. Flores odore gravi flavi, pistillo
albido. Bracteæ nulle. Pedunculus mediocris, crassus.
Capitulum magnitudine Pomi minoris globosum.
Calya longitudine dimidii tubi corolle ultra medium quinque-
fidus, laciniis linearibus concavis obtusis. Filamenta longi-
tudine fere antherarum ad medium adnata. Anthere ex-
sertæ. Stylus corollæ tubo multum longior. Stigma ob-
longum, utrinque acutum.
Leaving the other Kadamba to be described in a Commentary
on the Arbor Noctis of Rumphius, I shall here give some account
of the tree which Gzrtner seems to have confounded with the
Katou Tsjaka, and of which specimens have been deposited in
the library at the India House (No. 705). Others were sent
home from Ava under the name of Nauclea odoratissima, and are
now probably in the collection of the late Sir Joseph Danks.
From Dr. Roxburgh I know that this is his Nauclea parvifolia.
Nauclea parvifolia. Hort. Beng. 14. sed nescio an Willdenovii
(Sp. Pl. 1. 929. et Enc. Meth. Sup. iv. 63.), cui calyces quin-
quedentati acuti.
Nauclea
on the Hortus Malabaricus, Part III. 95
Nauclea orientalis. Gert. de Sem. i. 151. £. 30. f. 8. (exclusis
synonymis.)
Thein Burmanorum.
Habitat ubique in Indiæ aridioris sylvis.
Arbor inter elatiores recta, cortice levi, materia firma. Ramuli
nudi, tetragoni, obtusanguli. Fo/ia opposita, basi nunc
acutiuscula, tunc sepius obtusa, vel etiam retusa, apice
obtusiuscula, juniora subpubescentia, maturitate glabra,
costis parallelis approximatis lineata, integerrima. | Petiolus
teres, canaliculatus, brevissimus, pubescens. Stipule in-
terfoliaceæ opposite, caduce, obovate, dorso carinatæ,
petiolis longiores, nude, integerrime.
Capitulum magnitudine Pruni terminale, subsessile. FVores odo-
rati, subherbacei, bracteis apice incrassato obtusissimis,
calyce longioribus interstincti.
Calyx omnino truncatus. Corolla infundibuliformis, quinque-
fida. Anthere ex apice tubi exsertæ, subsessiles. Stylus
coroll laciniis longior. Stigma capitatum, obtusum, ob-
longum.
Fructus a Geertnero bene descriptus.
PELA, p. 31. tab. 34.
MaALACKA PELA, p. 33. tab. 35.
These trees no doubt came originally from the West Indies,
although the second is supposed in Malabar to have come from
Malacca or China, probably because it came from Mexico by
the route of the Philippines. The name Pela is evidently a
corruption of Pera, the term used by the Brahmans, which
again is the same with the Peyara of the Bengalese, both no
doubt derived from the Peera of the Portuguese. I mention
this, lest the word Pe/a (so unlike Guajava, the original name
of
96 Dr. Francis Hamitton’s Commentary
of the trees) should be supposed to indicate them to be plants
indigenous to Malabar. Pera was probably corrupted into Pela,
because these trees had a considerable resemblance to that
which will be next described.
Plukenet (Alm. 181.) justly considers both the plants of Rheede
as mere varieties of one species differing in the colour and size
of the fruit, a distinction that was adopted by Dr. Roxburgh :
but Rheede and Linnzus seem rather to have founded the dis-
tinction on the shape of the fruit, and erroneously held them to
be distinct species. | may however refer to my Commentary
on the first volume of the Herbarium Amboinense (p. 140.) for
what further I have to say concerning these plants.
PEIO0; Peo ont. 302
The natives of Malabar call this also Katou Pela; and in fact
it has a considerable resemblance to the Psidium, as Rheede
and his commentator observe, although it is more nearly allied
to the 2nd division of Jussieu’s Myrti, especially to the Pirigara
or Gustavia ; for according to Gærtner (De Sem. ii. 204.) it is
not yet ascertained that the Pirigara wants the albumen. This
organ the Pelow decidedly has; and on this account it may be
doubted if it might not rather be classed with the 2nd division
of Jussieu's Guaiacane, although its petala are quite distinct.
Although one of the most common and generally diffused
trees in India, no notice, so far as I know, was taken of it by
European botanists until 1800, when I went to Mysore; and on
my return in 1801 showed it to Dr. Roxburgh, who in the fol-
lowing year procured plants from Colonel Hardwicke ( Hort.
Beng. 52.), and described it under the name of Careya arborea,
calling it after the missionary of that name, most justly entitled
to the honour by his diligence and knowledge of botany, al-
though I had previously called it Cumbia, and under this name
gave
on the Hortus Malabaricus, Part III. 97
gave specimens and a drawing to Sir J. E. Smith, to whom also
I at the same time gave specimens of a dwarf species of the
same genus, which Dr. Roxburgh calls Careya herbacea, and
specimens of the latter are also lodged in the library at the
India House.
The following is a description of the Pelou, which I do not
find mentioned in any author since the time of Rheede; nor
does Dr. Roxburgh quote it for his Careya arborea, deterred
probably by the figure having been taken from a plant with old
worm-eaten decayed leaves, in which the serratures are badly
represented: but Rheede expressly says ‘‘folia in ambitu cre-
nata;" and it must be observed, that he properly represents the
leaves on a different branch from the flowers; for in the cool
season the tree loses the greater part, or even the whole of its
leaves and flowers in spring, before the fresh leaves open ; so that
it is only a rare branch that can then be found with any leaves,
and these generally old, withered, and gnawed by insects.
Careya arborea. | Roab. Hort. Beng. 52.
Pelou. Hort. Mal. iii, 35. t. 36.
Kumb Bengalensium.
Kumbi Hindice.
Cumbia Coneanz. — Buchanan's Mysore iii. 187.
Paylay Tamulorum.
Gaula Carnatæ.
Habitat ubique in Indi: sylvis.
Arbor inter minores ligno foetido. Rami cicatricibus foliorum
exasperati. Folia alterna, apices versus ramulorum con-
gesta, decidua, obovata, minute serrata, nervo medio sub-
tus carinato-costata, venosa, nuda (Rheedius habet lanugi-
nosa). Petiolus brevissimus, trigonus, acutangulus, mar-
ginatus, non stipulaceus.
VOL. XV. o Flores
98 Dr. Francis Hamirtton’s Commentary
Flores sex seu septem, magni, albi, subsessiles, alterni prodeunt e
ramulorum apice ante folia, que postea intra flores erum-
punt; unde flores terminales, fructus laterales. Bractee ad
singulos flores ternæ, oblong:e, obtuse, calyce paulo bre-
viores, persistentes.
Calyx superus, quadripartitus, laciniis subrotundis, concavis,
ciliatis, prope fundum disco erecto integro cinctus. — Petala
quatuor, coriacea, oblonga, calyce multo longiora, ciliata,
oblique revoluta, extra discum inserta. | Filamenta plurima,
indefinita, subulata, multiplice serie disco inserta, basi co-
alita, interioribus brevissimis, et intermediis tantum anthe-
riferis inequalia. Anthere oblongæ. | Germen turbinatum,
disco concavo tetragono coronatum, quadriloculare. Sty-
lus teres, longitudine staminum, rectus. Stigma subrotun-
dum, quadrilobum.
Bacca oviformis, levis, calyce supero persistente umbilicata,
carnosa, filamentosa, septis fere evanescentibus, sed semi-
nibus quadrifariam approximatis, et carne interstinctis ob-
solete quadrilocularis. Receptaculum nullum. Semina plura,
nidulantia, compressa, glabra, hinc hylo derasa. Integu-
mentum coriaceum, crassum. Albumen album, forma semi-
is, carnosum. Embryo recta, teres, utrinque acutiuscula,
longitudine albuminis centralis.
CovALAM, p. 37. tab. 37.
In a Commentary on the Herbarium Amboinense (i. 197.) I have
said every thing that seems necessary concerning this plant.
The name Belou, given by the Brahmans of Malabar, is evidently
the same with the Bel of the Bengalese dialect, as the commen-
tator justly observes ; and Scrifole is his orthography for what I
write Sri-phul (the holy fruit).
SYALITA,
on the Hortus Malabaricus, Part III. 99
SYALITA, p. 39. tab. 38, 39.
I suspect that Rheede has here made a transposition of
names, and that the Malabars call this tree Karinbalapala,
while it is the Brahmans who call it Syalita ; for these persons
usually seem to employ Hindwi names; and Chalta, evidently
the same with Syalita, is the name used in the North of India.
Besides, Karinbalapala savours of Malabar barbarism.
Strange to say, Plukenet ( Mant. 124.) confounded this with
the Artocarpus of the islands in the Pacific Ocean, and gave an
account from Dampier very applicable to the Artocarpus, but
totally at variance with that of Rheede. We may presume,
therefore, that he knew neither plant except from the descrip-
tions of the authors quoted. Ray gave the Syalita anew name ;
but, as usual with Indian plants, borrowed all that he says from
Rheede.
Rumphius (Herb. Amb. ii. 141. ¢. 45.) described what he calls
Songium ; and Burman in the annexed observation considers
this, if not quite the same, as at least a species of the same
genus; although Rumphius himself rather considered his Son-
gius as being the same with the Syalita. In this however he
was evidently mistaken, as the Songius has several flowers on
each pedunculus. In the first edition of the Species Plantarum,
therefore, Linnæus without any doubt united the Songiwm and
Syalita, under the name of Dillenia indica (Burm. FT. Ind. 124.).
Thunberg, however, (Linn. Trans. i. 200.) considered them as
distinct species, calling the Syalita, Dillenia speciosa, and the
Songium, D. elliptica ; but the only difference, which he marks,
is, that the former has folia oblonga, rotundato-acuta, while the
latter has folia elliptico-ovata, acuta. These differences are not
well defined ; and I must confess myself unable to comprehend
what a folium rotundato-acutum means. From the notes sub-
o 2 joined
100 Dr. Francis Hamriton’s Commentary
joined it would however seem to be the same with folium ob-
tusum cum acumine ; but in looking at Rheede's figure there is
no such appearance, and the leaves of the Syalita, as figured in
the Hortus Malabaricus, are more clearly marked as elliptica,
than those of the Songium, which are nearly /anceolata. On the
whole, after comparing the descriptions of Rheede and Rum-
phius with a plant very common in India, I can see no essential
difference, and therefore adhere to the opinion of Linnzeus, in
considering the Syalita and Songium as one plant. Willdenow
however (Sp. PI. ii. 1251, 1252.) and M. Poiret (Enc. Meth.
vii. 150, 151.) adopt the opinion of 'Thunberg, but entirely on
his authority, neither of them having seen the plant.
I shall here take an opportunity of describing three Indian
Dillenias, although each may have been already described ; for
it is of advantage to have accounts from different persons, and
I have deposited specimens in the library at the India House.
1. Dillenia pentagyna. Willd. Sp. Pl. ut. 1251. Hort. Kew.
ii. 329. Hort. Beng. 43. Enc. Meth. vii. 150.
Ban’ Chalta Hindice.
Habitat in Indiæ aridioris sylvis.
Arbor mediocris. Ramuli crassi, teretes, cicatricibus lunatis
exasperati. Folia decidua, post flores Junio erumpentia,
conferta, alterna, oblonga, basi acutiuscula, apice nunc ob-
tusa, tunc acuta, supra pilis incumbentibus aspersa, subtus
nuda, costata, venis minutissime reticulata, apicibus costa-
rum prominentibus dentata. —Petiolus amplexicaulis, bre-
vissimus, margine membranaceo basin versus dilatatus,
supra concavus, non stipulaceus.
Gemme florales supra cicatrices petiolorum anni preteriti enate,
squamosæ, pubescentes, multifloræ. Pedunculi plures, con-
gesti, uniflori, teretes, glabri, longitudine floris. Bractee
nulle,
on the Hortus Malabaricus, Part III. 101
nulle, nisi gemmarum squamas volueris. Flores odorati,
magnitudine florum Mali, flavi, ante folia vere prodeuntes.
Calyx quinquepartitus, laciniis patulis, crassis, ovalibus, concavis,
obliquis, imbricatis, apice subciliatis. Petala quinque, ca-
lyce duplo longiora, obovata, undulata, tenuia, caduca.
Filamenta plura, linearia ; exteriora indefinita, brevissima,
incurva ; interiora decem, elongata, apice recurva ; anthe-
rarum loculi bini lineares, apicibus filamentorum longitu-
dinaliter adnati. Germina quinque, conica. Styli totidem
subulati, recurvi. Stigmata simplicia, acuta.
Fructus magnitudine Cerasi majoris, globosus, basi umbilicatus,
glaber, flavus, constans e calyce succulento, clauso, imbri-
cato, capsulas tegente quinque conniventes, succulentas.
Semina in singulis capsulis duo vel tria, angulata.
Like all the other species of this genus the young plants have
enormously large leaves, such as are well described by Rum-
phius in treating of the Songium. ‘The only other genus, at least
among the Dicotyledones, that is equally remarkable in this
respect, so far as I know, is the Artocarpus, in which the leaves
of the young plants are not only of an enormous size, but of quite
a different shape from those of the adult.
2. Dillenia aurea. Enc. Meth. Sup. v. 145?
Dhengr Hindice.
Habitat in Mithile sylvis ad Nepalæ limites.
Arbor magna ramis crassis cicatricosis, ramulis nudis. —Fo/ia
alterna, decidua, oblongo-ovata, basi sæpius obliqua, ner-
vorum apicibus productis denticulata, acuta, nervis paral-
lelis ultra medium simplicissimis costata, venis parallelis
reticulata: juniora utrinque pilis mollibus brevibus pu-
bescentia. Petiolus amplexicaulis, semiteres, margine acu-
tissimo membranaceo auctus, non stipulaceus.
Gemma
102 Dr. Francis Haurrrow's Commentary
Gemma terminalis, imbricata, squamis quatuor vel sex coriaceis
obtusis, quibus reflexis prodit pedunculus unus crassus nu-
dus obtusangulus uniflorus, et ex hujus latere ramulum
foliosum foliis equitantibus post florescentiam explicatis.
Flores Dilleniæ speciosæ iis paulo minores, flavi.
Calyx monophyllus, patulus, crassus, ultra medium 5—7-fidus
laciniis concavis, obtusis, margine tenuiore ciliato obliquis,
imbricatis. Petala tot quot calycis lacini: obovate, calyce
multo longiora, plicata, venosa, ungue crasso in discum
hypogynum planum inserta. I/amenta plura, indefinita,
subulata, disco inserta quorum exteriora erecta breviora,
interiora apice recurva; antherarum loculi discreti, mar-
gini utroque filamenti longitudinaliter adnati, ejusque plus-
quam dimidium occupantes, apice dehiscentes. Germina
octo vel novem, coalita in corpus ovatum glabrum, sulcis
interstincta. Scyli totidem subulati, recurvi, supra sulco
exarati. Stigmata acuta, simplicia.
Fructus magnitudine Pomi minoris, levis, odore Mangifere, fla-
vus, subrotundus, constans e capsulis baccatis tectis calyce
clauso, imbricato, carnoso, succo viscido scatente. Capsule
octo vel novem circa receptaculum commune centrale con-
fertæ, parietibus mollibus baccatz, vix dehiscentes. Semina
nonnulla angulo interiori capsularum insidentia, obovata.
I am uncertain whether or not this be the plant meant by
M. Poiret, as I have not at hand the Exotic Botany of our worthy
President, which contains a figure of the Dillenia aurea.
3. Dillenia pilosa. Hort. Beng. 43?
Daine Oksi Dengalensium.
Habitat in Camrupe montibus.
Arbor magna. Rami teretes, pubescentes, cicatricibus exaspe-
rati.
on the Hortus Malabaricus, Part IIT. 103
rati. Folia alterna, oblonga, apicem versus latiora, utrin-
que acuta, costarum apicibus productis denticulata, costis
et nervis parallelis ad angulos rectos se intercipientibus re-
ticulata, utrinque scabra, subpubescentia. Petiolus basi
dilatatus, compressus, supra planus, marginatus, brevissi-
mus, pubescens, non stipulaceus.
Pedunculi unitlori, e gemmulis anni præteriti lateralibus seepius
ternati, teretes, glabri, flore breviores, quorum unus sæpius
longior, medio foliolis oblongis obtusis duobus vel tribus
bracteatus, infra bracteas pilosus. fores Calthi magni-
tudine, flavi.
Calyx quinquepartitus, laciniis oblongis, obtusis, concavis, paten-
tissimis, apice subcilatis, duplice serie positis. Petala
hypogyna, patentissima, unguiculata, calyce duplo lon-
giora, tenuia, undulata, oblonga, obtusa, obliqua. Fila-
menta plura, quorum exteriora patentissima, decem inte-
riora erecta. Antheræ lineares, utrinque dehiscentes, ex-
teriores assurgentes, interiores stellatim patentes. Ger-
mina supera quinque. Styli totidem breves. Stigmata
antherarum interiorum situ et magnitudine similia.
Capsule quinque, tect calyce clauso cerasiformi, intus humore
crystallino scatente.
I only judge this to be the Dillenia pilosa of Dr. Roxburgh
from its having been brought from Goyalpara by Mr. R. Kyd,
who in 1810 was, on my representation, sent to examine the
forests in that vicinity, and who was especially directed to inquire
after the Daine Oksi, as specimens of its timber which I had
sent to Calcutta were found to possess valuable qualities. It is
likely, therefore, that he would send growing plants to the
Botanical Garden.
The genus Dillenia is one of the most natural and well-defined
that
104 Dr. Francis Hamiiton’s Commentary
that I know; yet in the number of parts, and even structure of
the most essential organs, such as the anther, there are great
differences existing between different species; which shows the
impropriety of founding new genera on differences of number, or
even of structure in minute parts, however essential, where there
are no corresponding differences in habit or general appear-
ance.
Brarrr, p. 43. tab. 40.
Both Rheede and his commentator considered this as a species
of Eugenia, to which it no doubt has some affinity, although this
is not very striking. No further notice, except a slight one by
Camelli published by Ray, was taken of this plant, until Rum-
phius described it under the name of Mangium caseolare (Herb.
Amb. iii. 111.), without however noticing its being the Blatt: of
Rheede. ‘This, indeed, is done in the observation annexed by
Burman, 113, who says that Rumphius noticed the identity of
the plants; but I have not discovered where he says so. Rum-
phius divides the Mangium caseolare into two kinds; album,
figured in tab. 73, and rubrum, figured in tab. 74. The only diffe-
rence, however, which he mentions is, that the former has round,
and the latter quadrangular branches: ** Ejus (M. cas. rubri)
ramuli non sunt rotundi, sed quadrati, et quasi alati, ita ut oras
gerant acutas:" and in fact the figure (74.) represents the branches
of this form, while in tab. 75 they are round. This difference, I
suspect, is not to be relied upon as sufficient; for in the plants
which I have seen, both on the banks of the Ganges and of the
Erawadi, the description of Rheede is perfectly applicable:
** Rami et surculi teneriores quadranguli— vetustiores vero alis
privati ac rotundiores," as may be observed in the specimens
from the Ganges which I have deposited in the library at the
India House. One circumstance, however, might seem to indi-
cate some difference between the plants of Rheede and Rum-
phius.
on the Hortus Malabaricus, Part III. 105
phius. In the rivers of Malabar, as well as in the Ganges and
Erawadi, it grows on slimy banks; while in the Moluccas it is
found on rocky shores.
In his unnatural genus Rhizophora, Linnæus included without
distinction both the plants of Rumphius, calling them R. caseo-
laris; but, for what reason I know not, the Blatti is not quoted
(Burm. Fl. Ind. 108.). M. Sonnerat in his Voyage to New Guinea
gave a figure of this plant, calling it Pagapate, evidently the
same with the Bagatbat, by which name it is mentioned by Ca-
melli. The younger Linnwus then became sensible that this
plant could not be continued as a Rhizophora, and called it
Sonneratia acida. M. Lamarck divides this into two varieties ;
the rubrum of Rumphius, which he considers as the Blatti, and
the album of Rumphius, which he makes a second variety : but,
as I have said, the difference probably consists merely in the
age of the branch; the young ones in flower being quadrangular,
while those in fruit are rounded. This also seems to have been
the opinion of Willdenow (Sp. PI. ii. 999.), who quotes both
the 73rd and 74th table of Rumphius, without establishing two
varieties. Gærtner, however (De Sem. i. 379. t. 78. f. 2.), for
his Aubletia caseolaris cites only the Mangium caseolare album
(tab. 13.) ; and neither quotes the Mangium caseolare rubrum of
Rumphius, nor the Blatti of Rheede. At the time, however, he
would not seem to have known the change that had been intro-
duced by the younger Linneus: and subsequent authors have
considered (Willd. ubi supr. Enc. Meth. Sup. i. 641.) Geertner’s
Aubletia as the Sonneratia acida.
In Bengal this plant is called Ourchaka, which has no resem-
blance to Ambetti, the name used by the Brahmans of Malabar,
probably from the fruit being used as an acid seasoning, like
that of the Mangifera, which they call dmbo; and this in the
FOL XV. P feminine
106 Dr. Francis Hamiiton’s Commentary
feminine would be Ambetti. On the Erawadi this tree is called
Lan-bu.
In the same places with the Sonneratia acida I found another
tree, which in habit so strongly resembles it, that, notwithstand-
ing considerable differences in fructification, I think it cannot be
separated ; and Dr. Roxburgh, to whom I showed it on my return
from Ava in 1796, was of the same opinion. I call it Sonneratia
apetala ; and Dr. Roxburgh has adopted the same name (Hort.
Beng.39.); under which name I sent home specimens and a draw-
ing, now probably in the collection of the late Sir Joseph Banks ;
and I have since given others to the library at the East India
House, where also a copy of the drawing may be seen. This tree
the Bengalese call Kheora, and the people of Pegu Kam-ba-la,
neither acknowledging it to belong to the same genus with the
Sonneratia acida. Although very common among the estuaries of
the Ganges, and very beautiful, having a general resemblance to
the Salia babylonica, it would seem to have escaped the notice
of botanists; so that until my return from Ava, Dr. Roxburgh
had not observed it, although it grows in the immediate vicinity
of the Botanical Garden, in which, however, he had not then
taken up his residence.
Sonneratia apetala. Hort. Beng. 39.
Habitat in Bengal et regni Peguensis ripis cænosis æstu inun-
datis.
Arbor mediocris. Radix cornicula plura emittit simillima corni-
culorum e Sonneratia acida prodeuntium. (Vide Herb. Amb.
ii. 112.) Rami sparsi, penduli, teretes, glabri. Ramuli
oppositi, divaricati, glabri, filiformes. Folia opposita, pe-
tiolata, ovato-lanceolata, marginum altero gibbosiore ob-
liqua, integerrima, scpiüs obtusa, enervia, avenia, plana,
carno-
on the Hortus Malabaricus, Part ITT. 107
carnosiuscula. Petiolus linearis, anceps, brevis, glaber, non
stipulaceus.
Flores magnitudine nucis moschate pedunculati, cernui, her-
bacei, glabri: laterales axillares solitarii, terminales sub-
terni. Pedunculi folio dimidio breviores, penduli, uniflori,
nudi, glabri, apicem versus incrassati, angulati, articulis
1—3 divisi.
Calyx inferus, monophyllus, coriaceus, crassus, campanulatus,
ultra medium quadrifidus laciniis ovatis patulis acutis, fundo
tectus disco crasso integro staminifero ultra calycis divi-
sionem producto. Filamenta plurima, indefinita, linearia,
longitudine calycis incurva, ad disci marginem inserta. An-
there parve, cordate. — Germen turbinatum. Stylus teres,
staminibus longior, medium versus angulo duplice flexuosus.
Stigma maximum, supra convexum, subtus concavum, pilei-
forme.
Pomum? orbiculatum, depressum, calyce patente ad basin cinc-
tum, stylo persistente mucronatum, septis tenuibus carnosis
in loculos circiter octo, putamine lignoso extra cinctos, ob-
soletè divisum. | Semina angulata, in pulpo nidulantia.
PANITSJIKA MARAM, p. 45. tab. 41.
Commeline in his annexed note considers this as the same
with the Janipaba of Piso, a plant of Brazil, which Linn:eus
called Genipa, but by Willdenow joined to the Gardenia. Whe-
ther or not this last arrangement be proper I need not here in-
quire, because the Janipaba is no doubt a plant of the order of
Rubiacee, with opposite leaves, while the leaves of the Panits-
jika are alternate. Plukenet, although not aware of Commeline’s
error, judged more soundly concerning the aftinities of the Pa-
nitsjika ; for in treating of the Pishamin of Virginia ( 4/m. 180.),
the Diospyros virginiana of Linnæus, he says (Mant. 99.), **Inqui-
P2 rendum
108 Dr. Francis Hamirtron’s Commentary
rendum propono, an Panitsjika-maram, i.e. Janipaba Pisonis
ut censet Commelinus, sit de hujus genere (Diospyros nempe)
plantarum, vel non ;" and again, treating of the Genipat of the
Antilles, misled by the authority of Commeline, he says, ** Jani-
paba Pisonis ab hac diversa est, et forte idem cum Panitsjika,
quie potius de Anonarum seu Mespilorum Sappadilliz dictorum
genere est, ut mecum existimo." Now, although he was proba-
bly wrong in considering the Janipaba different from the Genipat,
because the latter is quite different from the Panitsjika, yet he
pointed out an aflinity in the Panitsjika to the Sappadillia or
Achras, which, although one of Jussieu's Sapota, has certainly a
considerable aflinity to the Guajacanæ, to which the Panitsjika
belongs.
M. Desrousseaux (Enc. Meth. iii. 171.), although he acknow-
ledged the resemblance which this tree bears to a Diospyros,
considered its character, as given by Rheede, to point out its
being a Garcinia, and accordingly calls it Garcinia malabarica.
Gærtner (De Sem. i. 145. t. 29. f. 2.), although he did not
quote the Panitsjika, is generally supposed to have described it
under the name of Embryopteris peregrina, and to have probably
been misled by the representation of the fruit at the bottom of
the plate in the Hortus Malabaricus, which by some mistake is
drawn inverted, and by the expression in the description, Fruc-
tus in vertice umbilico prediti. Owing to these circumstances,
he imagined that the fruit was crowned by the calyx, in
place of being contained in it; and of course could not consider
it as a Diospyros. Dr. Roxburgh, unwilling to change the ge-
neric name given by so good a botanist, when he published his
Flora Coromandeliana, although perfectly aware of the situation
of the calyx, called the plant Embryopteris glutinifera,—a name
and genus continued by Willdenow (Sp. Pl. iv. 836.), although
it is by no means certain that he has not described the same
plant
on the Hortus Malabaricus, Part ITT. 109.
plant under the name of Diospyros discolor. This is the Cava-
nillea Mabolo of Lamarck (Ill. Gen. t. 454.), and the Cavanillea
Philippensis of M. Poiret (Enc. Meth. Sup. ii. 135 ; ii. 566.).
The latter seems to be of this opinion: yet, although the leaves
vary much in form, I have some doubt whether the Mabolo is
the same species with the Panitsjika; because the former has
only four or six seeds, and is hairy ; while the latter has eight
or ten, and is quite smooth. Concerning the genus there can
be no doubt. Brown (Nov. Holl.i. 595.) and Dr. Roxburgh
finally abandoned Embryopteris altogether, and called this plant
Diospyros glutinifera (Hort. Beng. 40.); while Persoon, con-
verting the generic into a specific name, calls it Dyospyros Em-
bryopteris (Enc. Meth. Sup. iii. 566.), which savours too much
of botanical Greek, and might lead one to suppose that it was a
Fern.
I have already mentioned that the Mabolo can scarcely be of
the same species with the Panitsjika, on account of its roughness
and the number of seeds in its fruit. In the woods south of
the Ganges I found a tree, which in the catalogue of specimens
presented to the library at the India House (No. 2389) I have
called Diospyros exculpta, on account of its leaves being as it
were carved on the upper side. ‘This, both in number of seeds
and pubescence resembles the Mabolo, and may be the same,
although its leaves are much blunter than represented in M. La-
marck's figure. This, however, is uncertain: and it must be
observed that I saw only the male flowers, while the description
by M. Desrousseaux (Enc. Meth. iii. 664.) refers to the herma-
phrodite, which will account for some differences. Dr. Rox-
burgh, however, received a Mabolo from the Philippines, which
he considered different from the Diospyros tomentosa of Bengal :
and this perhaps is the tree I am going to describe, although the
natives
li Dr. Francis Hamicron’s Commentari
y
natives whom he consulted gave it quite a different name (Tu-
mala) from those I employed.
Diospyros exculpta.
Diospyros discolor. Willd. Sp. Pl. iv. 1108?
Diospyros tomentosa. Hort. Beng. 40?
Diospyros Mabolo. Hort. Beng. 40?
Cavanillea philippensis. Enc. Meth. ii. 605?
Cavanillea Mabolo. Lamarck Ill. Gen. t. 454?
Kend Hindice.
Habitat in Indiæ Gangeticz australioris sylvis.
Arbor parva, cuticula crassissima longitudinaliter rimosa. — Ra-
muli tomentosi. Folia alterna, ovalia vel elliptica vel sub-
rotunda vel obovata, nunc utrinque acuta, tunc apice ob-
tusa, integerrima, costata, supra nuda et venis depressis
quasi insculpta, subtus tomentosa. Petiolus brevissimus,
teres, pilosus, non stipulaceus.
Flores dioici. In masculina arbore pedunculus longitudine pe-
tioli axillaris, vel basin versus ramuli lateralis, tomentosus,
subtriflorus ; flores parvi, albi.
Calyx tomentosus, ore 4- vel 5-lobo erecto obtuso turbinatus.
Corolla ore clauso 4- seu 5-lobo monopetala, calyce duplo
longior, oblonga, utrinque angustata, pilosa. Filamenta
15 circiter setacea, disco calycino inserta. Anthere erectæ,
mucronat:e, incluse. :
Bacca ovalis, calyce crasso sexfido tomentoso brevi insidens,
pilis rigidis rufis tecta, seminibus varie abortientibus sub-
quadrilocularis.
The fruit, when ripe, is sweet and not very bad tasted. In the
heart of some trees, but not in all, is found a black, hard, heavy
substance,
on the Hortus Malabaricus, Part IIT. 111
substance, which at Mungher is called Batti, and at Saseram
Abnus. The latter word is, I believe, of Persian origin, and the
source from which our Ebony is derived.
One of the most common trees in the dry woods of Mysore
differs so little from the preceding, that I have little doubt of its
being the same. In 1806 I gave specimens of this to Sir J. E.
Smith, under the name of Diospyros Tupru; and I shall here
describe the flower, which I found on both the male and her-
maphrodite trees ; and this will show that the difference between
the inflorescence of the Kend, as described above, and of the
Mabolo, as described by M. Desrousseaux, is not sufficient to
distinguish them as species.
Diospyros Tupru.
Tupru Carnatæ. —|DBuchanan's Mysore, 1. 183.
Habitat in Carnatæ aridioris sylvis.
Planta omnino ut in D. exculpto.
Flores diclines ; in una arbore sessiles, hermaphroditi et mas-
culini mixti ; in altera pedunculati, omnes masculini. In
priore flores sessiles, tomentosi, solitarii, squamis 3 seu 4
bracteati.
Herm.—Calyx campanulatus, crassus, sexfidus laciniis ovatis,
obtusis, margine revoluto, intus membrana connatis. Co-
rolla monopetala ore sexfido. — Fi/amenta sex brevissima,
hypogyna. Antheræ oblongo, acute, simplices. Germen
superum, ovatum. Styli tres brevissimi, crassi. Stigmata
simplicia. Bacca calyce cupuliformi infra arcte cincta, mag-
na, hirsuta, umbilicata, mucronata, quadrilocularis. Se-
mina solitaria, amygdaliformia.
Masc.—Calyx et corolla ut in hermaphrodito. Filamenta novem
brevissima. Anthere simplices, subulatæ, erect, inclusæ,
nescio
112 Dr. Francis HamiLzTron’s Commentary
nescio an non steriles? Rudimentum pistilli in fundo ca-
lycis hemisphæricum, setis undique obsitum.
In arbore masculina pedunculus axillaris, recurvus, incrassatus,
petiolo paulo longior, tomentosus, solitarius, 3- seu 4-florus.
Flores albidi, cernui, extra tomentosi, squamis geminis ova-
tis minutis bracteati.
Calyx. cyathiformis, laciniis ovatis obtusis planis quinquefidus.
Corolla campanulata, oblongo-ovata, calyce multo longior,
ore patulo, et laciniis obtusis altero marginum exteriore
obliquis quinquefida. — l'?lamenta disco calycino inserta,
circiter octodecem, brevissima, erecta, simplicia. Anthere
solitariæ, mucronate. | Germen nullum.
The differences between this description taken in Mysore and
that taken at Mungher are too trifling to establish even two
varieties of one species. From the structure of the filaments,
not only this plant, but the Mabolo should, according to the
characters laid down by Brown (Nov. Holl.1.525.), be more
nearly allied to the Paralia, and even to the Royena, than to the
Diospyros. These characters, however, seem rather insuflicient
to mark well-defined genera.
It must be observed that I have met with another tree of
nearly the same name, which has a stronger resemblance to the
Panitsjika than that above described. From its leaves being
carved as it were in a similar manner, I have in the catalogue of
specimens presented to the India Company's library (No. 2388)
called it Dyospyros insculpta; and, although I have not seen the
flower, I shall here give a description.
Diospyros insculpta.
Kendu Bengalensium.
Habitat in Camrup: orientalis montibus.
Arbor mediocris ligno albido. Ramuli teretes, glabri. Folia
alterna,
on the Hortus Malabaricus, Part III. 113
alterna, oblonga, basin versus latiora, basi acuta, apice
acuminata, integerrima, lucida, nuda, subcostata, venis mi-
nute reticulata. Petiolus brevissimus, depressus, corticosus,
non stipulaceus.
Bacca solitaria, lateralis, pedunculo brevissimo insidens, basi
calyce quadrifido tecta, magnitudine nucis Juglandis mu-
cronata, cortice crasso succulento fibroso glutinoso quadri-
locularis, loculorum uno sæpè abortiente. Semina solitaria,
magna, verticalia, oblonga, hinc convexa, inde angulata.
Funis umbilicalis ex apice fructus per seminis dorsum de-
currens, basique superatà ramosus, ramis per seminis latera
interiora reflexis. Integumentum crassum, coriaceum. A/-
bumen durissimum, album. Embryo subcentralis, rectus.
Cotyledones, altero minore, conduplicatæ. Radicula incras-
sata, supera.
The generic name Kend is also given, with a specific appella-
tion prefixed, to another tree, which I think is the Diospyros cor-
difolia of Dr. Roxburgh (Hort. Beng. 40.), a name that has been
adopted by other botanists (Willd. Sp. Pl. iv. 34311. Enc. Meth.
v. 439. Hort. Kew. v. 479.). I have presented specimens of
this tree to the library at the India House (Cat. No. 2591). In
the Hindwi dialect of Behar it is called Makar Kend; but
according to Dr. Carey, in the Bengalese dialect it is called
Bun Gab, that is, the wild Embryopteris; yet it has no very
striking resemblance either to this plant or to the others called
Kend. ‘This, besides, agrees entirely with Mr. Brown's cha-
racter of Diospyros; and as the differences between it and the
species already described may lead to a more proper discrimi-
nation of genera than at present exists among the Ebenacee, 1
shall here describe it.
VOL. XV. Q Diospyros
114 Dr. Francis Hamitron’s Commentary
Diospyros cordifolia.
Makar Kend Hindice.
Habitat in sylvis Magadhæ montosis.
Arbor ramulis annotinis rigidissimis, spina valida terminatis.
Ramuli novelli inermes, pubescentes. Folia oblonga, supe-
riora acuta, inferiora obtusa vel etiam emarginata, basi
retuso subcordata, nunc fere ovata, tunc fere linearia, in-
tegerrima, costata, subquinquenervia, venosa, supra nuda,
subtus pubescentia. Petiolus brevissimus, depressiusculus,
pubescens, non stipulaceus.
Masculine arboris pedunculi axillares, petiolo paulo longiores,
1—4-flori, apice nutantes, tenues, pubescentes. Flores ad
apicem pedunculi communis subsessiles, parvi, lutei. Brac-
tec minute.
Calyx pubescens, laciniis acutis apice patulis quadrifidus. Co-
rolla campanulata, limbo quadripartito revoluto, et laciniis
subrotundis obliquis divisa. Filamenta octo brevissima,
bifida, basi tubi insidentia, sparsa. Anthere sexdecim, acu-
minatz, incluse. —Pistillum nullum.
Hermaphroditz arboris flores non vidi. Pedunculus fructiferus
axilaris, solitarius, monocarpus, petiolo paulo longior,
ebracteatus. Bacca magnitudine Pruni mediocris globosa,
flava, glabra, calyce quadrifido parvo reflexo cincta. Cortex
crassa, e pulpo non separabilis, intus mollis, extra durius-
cula. Pulpa octolocularis, odore Genistæ foetida, amaris-
sima. Loculi monospermi. Semina sæpius quatuor, abor-
tivis totidem, arillo carnoso vestita, oblonga, compressa,
intus acutangula, apice acutiora, fasciculis striarum quatuor
notata, polita, castanea. Integumentum durum. Albumen
forma seminis corneum, sulcis integumentorum insculptum,
sub-
on the Hortus Malabaricus, Part IIT. 115
subhyalinum. Embryo centralis, rectus. Cotyledones plane,
ovales, :quales. Radicula longa, supera.
The most essential difference between this fruit and that of
the Diospyros insculpta is, that the cotyledons of the latter are
folded, while those of D. cordata are plain. Should this diffe-
rence be found general between the species with distinct fila-
ments and those with filaments united by pairs, especially if the
distinction should be accompanied by any remarkable difference
in external appearance, such as between the D. insculpta and
D. cordata, there might be room for distinguishing Diospyros
from Cavanilla.
I have presented to the same collection (Cat. No. 2387)
another kindred species, of which I have seen only the male
flowers. These have a structure very similar to that of the
D. Mabolo or D. exculpta,
Diospyros Toposia.
Toposi Bengalensium.
Colitur ad Camrupæ pagos, ob flores fragrantes dilecta.
Arbor magna ramulis teretibus glabriusculis. Folia alterna,
ovata vel ovato-oblonga, basi acutiuscula, acuminata, inte-
gerrima, vix costata, venis minutissimè reticulata, utrinque
glaberrima, supra lucida. —Petiolus brevissimus, supra con-
cavus, non stipulaceus.
In arbore masculina pedunculi plerumque ex foliorum axillis
in ramulo imorum, vel infrafoliacei, solitarii, 2- seu 3-flori,
brevissimi, teretes, vel aliquando terminales, multiflori,
subpaniculati, vix bracteati. Flores mediocres, lutei.
Calyx parvus, 2—4-fidus, obtusus, petalo arcte adherens. Co-
rolla carnosa, ore quinquefido ovata. Lacinie cordate,
altero laterum interiore oblique. Anthere plures, indefi-
nite, e basi coroll: subsessiles tetragonæ, acute, latere
Q 2 utroque
116 Dr. Francis HaurrToN's Commentary
utroque longitudinaliter dehiscentes. Germinis in corollæ
fundo rudimentum depressum.
NüRnvALA, p.49. tab. 42.
Commeline in his note mentions the resemblance between this
tree and the Tapia of Brazil described by Piso; but he only
says, * Putamus duas hasce arbores, si non easdem, saltem esse
species persimiles." Plukenet (44m. 34; Phyt. t. 137. f. 7.)
described what he called Apioscorodon, on account of its having
the smell of Garlic, and seems uncertain whether he should
refer it to the Niirvala of India or Tapia of Brazil. He had also
procured another plant from America, which he called Arbor
Americana triphylla, numerosis staminulis, purpureis apicibus præ-
ditis floris umbilicum occupantibus (Alm. AT ; Phyt. t. 147. f. O.),
which he also refers with doubt to the Nürvala ; thus probably
implying that he considered all the three as belonging to the
same genus.
In the Flora Zeylanica (211.) Linnæus mentions the Niirvala
from a drawing taken in Ceylon by Hermann, and considered it
as without doubt the same with the first plant of Plukenet, which
in the Hortus Cliffortianus he had called Crateva inermis ; but
the Nürvala has not the smell of Garlic: folia manibus confricta
suaveolentia—florum odor suavissimus et vinosus—fructus odoris
vinosi: while the leaves of the American plant, as represented by
Plukenet, are much broader in proportion to their length than
those of the Nürvala. But further, Linnwus along with the
Tapia of Brazil and the Niirvala of India, joined the second
plant of Plukenet, above mentioned, from Jamaica ; for although
he does not quote Plukenet twice, he quotes a plant described
by Sloane and Ray, which is no doubt the same with that of
Plukenet ; and this also has the smell of Garlic. The younger
Burman (F7. Ind. 109.), although Linnzus in the Species Plan-
tarum
on the Hortus Malabaricus, Part III. ld
tarum called the plant Crateva Tapia, denoting thereby that he
meant the American plant, continued to quote the Nürvala as
synonymous. Besides this error, both authors fell into one
infinitely worse, by placing the Tapia and Nürvala in the same
genus with the Covalam already mentioned ; the former belong-
ing to the order of Capparides, while the latter is one of the
Aurantie. ‘The circumstance which seems to have misled Lin-
nius was, that the Covalam was called Below by the Brahmans
of Malabar, while the Nürvala 1s their Runa Belou. When
Linneus published the second edition of the Species Plantarum,
he separated the plant of Jamaica, calling it Crateva gynandra :
and Willdenow (Sp. PI. i1. 853.) separated the Nürvala from the
Tapia of Brazil, and joined it to the Crateva religiosa of Forster
and Vahl, of which a figure is given by M. Lamarck (Ill. Gen.
t. 395.). Although he is followed in this by M. Poiret (Enc.
Meth. vii. 582.), yet I suppose that this is an erroneous opinion,
as the berry of the Cratæva religiosais described and represented
as globular, and no larger than a small plum, and the leaves as
still smaller and shorter than those figured by Plukenet.
I have already observed what an unnatural genus the Cratæva,
as left by Linnæus, must be considered; and Dr. Roxburgh
wished to abolish it altogether. He therefore not only removed
the species (Marmelos) belonging to the order of Aurantie, but
the remaining plant, that he knew, he considered as a mere
Capparis, which he called trifoliata (Hort. Beng. 41.). Who-
ever, in fact, endeavours to point out an essential character
common to all the species of Capparis, will find it a difficult
matter to exclude the Crateva. Linnæus seems to have at-
tempted it, by removing the Cratæva to the class Dodecandria
from the class Polyandria, where he at first placed it close by
the Capparis ; but this is trifling: one undoubted Capparis has
only nine stamina, and in several Cratævas the stamina are fully
as
118 Dr. Francis Haurrrox's Commentary
as numerous as in any Capparis. The appearance of the Cra-
teva is however so different from that of the Capparis, that they
cannot enter one natural genus; and I think the character
by which they may be best distinguished is, that the Capparis
has petala sessilia, and the Crateva, petala unguiculata. Linnzus
could not of course make use of this distinction, because the
petala of the Marmelos are sessile. ‘The flowers of the Crateva
also are polygamous, a large proportion being entirely male, with
only a rudiment of the pistillum. Whether or not they are all
dicecious I cannot say, but some are certainly so.
In the course of travelling, I observed that the specimens of
the Crateva, which I examined, differed considerably from each
other, so as to lead me to suspect that in India there may be
several species: but as I never afterwards was long enough
stationary in one place to observe the same tree in all its stages,
or to try the effect of different situations on the seed of the same
plant, I am by no means certain that my suspicions are well
founded. I shall however mention the circumstances by which
I was induced to suppose that there are at least four species of
Crateva in the Gangetic provinces. This will at any rate throw
light on the true generic character. Specimens of the whole
have been deposited in the library at the India House.
I shall first describe a species which I met with in Behar, and
which, I believe, is Dr. Roxburgh’s Capparis trifoliata, because
he does not quote the Nürvala as synonymous, and because he
thought it his plant when on my return from Ava I showed him
specimens. If it were not for the long point at the end of the
leaflets, their breadth would fully equal their length ; including
these points, the breadth is about half the length.
1. Crateeva odora.
Capparis trifoliata. Hort. Beng. 41?
Varuna
on the Hortus Malabaricus, Part III. 119
Varuna Hindicè.
Ka-dhek Burmanorum.
Habitat in Indiæ locis montosis.
Arbor mediocris ramulis glabris. Folia alterna, ternata. Foliola
petiolata, basi acuta, apice acuminatissima, glabra, costata,
venis minutissimè reticulata ; lateralia costis interioribus
basin versus abbreviatis semiovata ; terminale deltoideum.
Petiolus communis longus, glaber, supra planiusculus, non
stipulaceus ; partiales brevissimi, marginati.
Corymbi indivisi, nunc laterales nudi, tunc terminales, et sæpè
folis nonnullis inter flores intermixtis comosi. Pedicelli
sparsi, uniflori, incrassati, glabri. Flores magni, speciosi,
odoratissimi ; immaturi albidi; maturi flavi antheris pur-
pureis.
In arbore hermaphrodita flores masculini pauci hermaphroditis
intermixti ; meram masculinam non vidi.
In hermaphrodito flore apex pedicelli dilatatus in receptaculum
sublentiforme, concavum, e cujus margine prodeunt calycis
foliola quatuor, herbacea, elliptica, sessilia, acutiuscula.
Petala quatuor, calyce alterna, unguibus calyce longiori-
bus insidentia, receptaculo intra calycem inserta, maxima,
nervosa, ovata, obtusa, vel subrotunda. — Filamenta viginti
plura subulata, petalis longiora, basi stipitis germen suf-
fulcientis inserta, basi subunita (unde cum Morisoniá sum-
ma aflinitas). Germen oblongum utrinque acutiusculum,
stipiti filamentis longiori insidens. Séylus brevissimus.
Stigma orbiculatum.
Bacca pedicello longissimo insidens, globosa, nuda, magnitudine
pomi minoris rubra, cortice crasso molli tecta, pulpo molli
repleta. Receptacula duo carnosa, longitudinaliter parieti-
bus bacc; adnata. — Semina pulpo tecta, subspiralia, crus-
tacea.
120 Dr. Francis HamiLzrox’s Commentary
tacea. Albumen nullum. Embryo teres, spiralis cotyledo-
nibus hinc planis inde convexis.
In masculinis floribus cæteroquin simillimis stipites germinum
brevissimi, cum pistilli rudimento in apicem insidente.
In the Rungpur district I found a small tree, or bush, which
agrees so well with the figure given by M. Lamarck of the
Cratæva religiosa, that, although I have not seen the fruit, I am
inclined to think it the same. All the flowers that I saw were
male; the tree therefore is no doubt dicecious. Its leaflets are
not so much acuminated as in the species last described, and are
nearly about half as long again as they are broad.
2, Crateva religiosa. Willd. Sp. Pl. ii. 853 ; et Enc. Meth. vii.
582. (excluso synonymo Lamarckii Ill. Gen. t. 395.)
Habitat in locis Camrupæ elevatis.
Corymbus terminalis, erectus, angulatus, indivisus. Flores plures,
alterni, pedicellis longis nudis, unifloris solitariis insidentes.
Apex pedicelli dilatatus in receptaculum sublentiforme, e cujus
margine duplice serie prodeunt perianthii foliola octo colo-
rata, unguiculata, persistentia, venosa, hinc majora obovata,
inde minora dimidiato-falcata. E, medio receptaculi pro-
dit discum truncatum, lateribus staminiferum. — Filamenta
indefinita circiter sexdecim, petalis dupló longiora, foliola
perianthii versus minora declinata. Anthere parvæ. Ger-
men nullum. Styli rudimentum e disci centro subulatum.
Near villages in different parts of the Rungpur district I found
what may be another species, and which certainly, on account
of the larger size of the fruit, is different from the Cratæva reli-
giosa as delineated by M. Lamarck; and on account of the
narrowness of the leaflets this has a great affinity to the Nürvala.
'l'he
on the Hortus Malabaricus, Part III. 121
The Bengalese name is a mere corruption of Varuna, used in the
Sanscrita and Hindwi dialect for the plant last described.
3. Cratæva unilocularis.
Borun Bengalensium.
Habitat ad Camrupæ pagos.
In masculina arbore petioli apex in discum explanatus. Ca-
lycis foliola quatuor, lanceolata, sessilia. Petala quatuor,
deflexa, ovata, unguibus calyce longioribus insidentia. Flores
ante maturitatem patentes parvi, herbacei: maturi flavi.
In hermaphrodita arbore calyx et corolla masculini. Stamina
circiter sexdecim. Germen stipiti longo tereti insidens, ob-
longum. Stigma sessile, peltatum, truncatum.
Fructus omnino ferè Morisoni: ut a Gærtnero descriptus. Se-
mina pulpo tenacissime adhærente tecta, angulata, plani-
uscula, crusta tecta crassa fragili. Albumen nullum. Em-
bryo curvatus, teres. Cotyledones amygdalino-carnose, sub-
foliaceæ, varie convolutæ.
All these are small trees growing in elevated situations ; but
the Niirvala grows to a very large size on the banks of rivers,
which seems to be implied by Nii (aqua) prefixed to Vala, pro-
bably the real generic name in the Malabar dialect.
4. Cratæva Niirvala.
Cratæva Tapia. Burm. Fl. Ind. 109. (exclusis synonymis
Plukenetii, Commelini, et Sloani.)
Crateva inermis. Linn. Fl. Zeyl. 211. (exclusis synonymis
Plumieri, Margravii, Pisonis, Plukenetii, Sloani, et Ita.)
Niirvala. Hort. Mal. iii. 49. t. 42.
Varuna Hindicè.
Habitat in ripis fluviorum Indicorum depressis.
VOL. XV. R This
122 Dr. Francis HaurLToN's Commentary
This species is distinguished by the narrowness of its leaflets,
each being from 21 to 3 times longer than its breadth, by
the long form of its berries, and by its numerous stamina.
Rheede further says, ** Fructus intus carne humida quadripar-
tita;" which perhaps implies four placent», although in my
notes I have not remarked this part of the structure.
On the banks of rivers in the Gorakhpur district I found a
similar tree in flower; but its leaflets were rather shorter in pro-
portion to their breadth, its flower was not odorous, and its
stamina fewer; so that, although the natives said it had an
oblong fruit, and although they called it Varuna, I have doubts
of its being the Nürvala. It was however a male tree, with only
a few hermaphrodite flowers intermixed, while the Nürvala of
Rheede is an hermaphrodite ; which may occasion a difference.
I shall in the mean time, therefore, consider this as merely a
variety of the Crateva Nürvala.
Petiolus foliolis brevior, teres. Foliolum intermedium lanceola-
tum.
Receptaculum convexum, margine quadrilobum. | Calycis foliola
apicibus loborum insidentia, lanceolata. Petala e recepta-
culi incisuris acuta. — l'/lamenta 12—15 disci superficiei su-
periori undique inserta. | Germen sulcis quatuor exaratum.
Stigma: concavitas in apice styli insculpta, hocque non
latior.
TAMARA TONGA, p. 51. tab. 43, 44.
In a Commentary on the Herbarium Amboinense (i. 115.) I
have said all that seems necessary concerning this tree.
Bitimst, p. 55. tab. 45, 46.
In the same Commentary I have noticed nearly all that is
necessary to be said concerning this plant. In India Proper it
is
on the Hortus Malabaricus, Part III. 128
is an exotic, and not common any where that I have seen.
From the name given to it by the Brahmans of Malabar it
would appear to have come from Malacca.
Next Pour: seu BILIMBI ALTERA MINOR, p. 57. tab. 47, 48.
The Malabar generic name is Pouli ; and Neli, prefixed as a
specific appellation, implies a resemblance to the Ne/i or Phyl-
lanthus Emblica of Linnæus, a more just and striking compa-
rison than European naturalists for a long time pointed out; for
they copied the error of Rheede in considering it as of the same
genus with the Bilimbi. Pouli, as a generic name, seems also
to be used in the Carca-puli, which is mentioned in the first
part of the Hortus Malabaricus, p. 42, as belonging to what is
now called an Oxycarpus. ‘The chief resemblance here is,
that the fruits of the two trees are nearly of the same size,
colour, and taste. Rheede’s classing it with the Bilimbi is very
little if at all better. ‘The name Anwallis, which he says is used
by the Brahmans of Malabar, is probably derived from the
Arabic Ambela (for the tree is no doubt an exotic in India Pro-
per), and was probably introduced from the Eastern islands by
the Arabs of Malabar, who traded to that quarter long before
the arrival of Europeans.
Plukenet (Alm. 45.) thought that the Nedi Pouli might be his
Arbor Malabarica Fraxini ferè folio, ossiculo fructus octangulari
(Phyt. t. 209. f. 2.), which would appear to be a Bradleja, and
therefore to be at least of the same natural order; but it cer-
tainly is a different plant: and hé is the less excusable in this
error, because he had described the real Nel Pouli under the
name of Cheramei Acostæ folio Pyri (Mant. 45.), a name that had
been given to it by John Bauhin.
Rumphius (Herb. Amb. vii. 33. t. 17.) gives an excellent ac-
count of the tree under the name Cheramela, but does not class
2 2 it
124 Dr. Francis HawurrTox's Commentary
it with any other. The elder Burman by a very rude classifica-
tion calls the Neli Pouli, Malus indica fructu parvo, rotundo,
acido, striato ; and notices that the Ceylonese call it Nell, the
same name that is given to the Phyllanthus Emblica, a resem-
blance to which has been already mentioned.
Linnæus, in the Flora Zeylanica, 179, returned to the error of
Rheede and Ray in classing it with the Bilimbi, and called it
Averrhoa ramis nudis fructificantibus, pomis subrotundis: and
when he gave specific names, the Neli Pouli was called Averrhoa
acida (Burm. Fl. Ind. 106.), although it is less acid than either
of the other plants with which it was then classed. In the
Mantissa, 124, Linnæus described a plant called Cicca disticha,
which, he says, has a capsular fruit; and which therefore may
be the plant that Plukenet compared to the Ne/i Pouli, —that is,
a Bradleja; but his son, notwithstanding this great difference,
alleged (Suppl. 416.) that the Cicca disticha and Averrhoa acida
are the same: and such is now the general opinion among
botanists (Willd. Sp. Pl. iv. 332. Hort. Kew. v. 258. Lamarck
Ill. Gen. t. 757. f. 1.), although M. Lamarck (Enc. Meth. ii. 1.)
points out the difficulty which I have mentioned. Whether or
not deterred by this, or whether attracted by the resemblance to
the Phyllanthus Emblica, Dr. Roxburgh (Hort. Beng. 69.) quotes
the Neli Pouli for his Phyllanthus longifolius : but I here suspect
some mistake; for he says that its Dengalese name is Lodh,
which is a plant used in dyeing, and never, so far as I know,
applied to the Cheramela: besides, he has also a Phyllanthus
Cheramela (Hort. Beng. 104.), to which, I suspect, the quotation
from the Hortus Malabaricus should have belonged.
In the Rungpur district I have found a plant with leaves very
like the Ne/i Pouli, which I suspect belongs to the real genus
Cicca, as described by the elder Linnzeus, and to which the
Cicca congesta of Lamarck probably should be referred, but
which
on the Hortus Malabaricus, Part III. 125
which cannot with propriety be classed with the Cheramela or
Cicca disticha of the younger Linnæus and subsequent authors.
In many respects it agrees with the genus Agyneia of Linnæus ;
on which account, in the catalogue of dried plants presented to
the library of the India House (No. 2072) I have proposed it as
an Agyneia with a mark of doubt.
Agyneia? tetrandra.
Phyllanthus tetrandrus. Hort. Beng. 69?
Habitat inter saxa in Camrupæ orientalis locis montosis.
Frutex duos pedes altus ramis bifariis. Ramuli pinnæformes,
compressiusculi, pubescentes. Folia subsessilia, quasi pin-
nata bifaria, ovata, uno laterum sæpe paulo latiore obliqua,
utrinque pilosa, subtus albida, acuta, integerrima, venosa.
Stipule parve.
Flores masculini ex axillis foliorum inferiorum congesti, plurimi,
rubicundi. Pedicelli filiformes.
Calyx pubescens, patens, laciniis laceris ultra medium quadri-
fidus. Filamentum turbinatum, centrale, apice tetragonum.
Anthere quatuor subrotundæ, angulis filamenti adnate.
Flores feminei ex axillis foliorum superiorum solitarii, vel ter-
minales racemosi. Pedicelli brevissimi, setacei, incrassati.
Calyx quinquepartitus laciniis oblongis, acutis, coloratis, laceris.
Germen echinatum. Styli tres bipartiti. Stigmata sim-
plicia.
Capsula pisiformis, hirsuta, calyce erecto tecta, trilocularis, locu-
lis dispermibus.
Panga seu PANJALA, p. 59. t. 49—51.
In a Commentary on the Herbarium Amboinense (1. 195.) I have
mentioned most of what I had to say concerning this plant, with
my reasons for adopting the name affixed to it in the collection
presented
126 Dr. Francts HAMILTON’s Commentary
presented to the India House (Cat. No. 1526). I shall here
annex the synonyma which seem to me really to belong to it.
Gossampinus alba.
Bombax pentandrum. ort. Kew. iv. 190. Hort. Beng. 50.
Willd. Sp. Pi.iti.731. Enc. Meth. 1.551. Burm. Fl. Ind.
145. (exclusis synonymis forte ad plantam Americanam
pertinentibus, ut et Plukenetii.)
Ceiba pentandra. Gaertn. de Sem. ii. 244. t. 133. f. 1?
Xylon foliis digitatis caule inermi. Linn. Fl. Zeyl. 220.
Eriophorus Javana. Herb. Amb. i. 194. t. 80.
Panja seu Panjala. Hort. Mal. iii. 59. t. 49—51.
Arbor Gossampinus. Plinii Hist. Nat. l. xii. c. 10, 11.
Swet (alba) Shimul Bengalensium.
Habitat in Indie sylvis rarids.
Gertner neither mentions from whence he had the fruit, nor
the manner in which it opens, which renders it doubtful whether
he describes this or the American plant.
Mout Eravov, p. 01. tab. 52.
This is one of the most common trees in India, and is remark-
able in spring, when it has no leaves, for an immense quantity
of bright red flowers. On this account it is most probably the
Arbor lanigera, seu Gossampinus Plinii of Bontius. ‘The cathar-
tic powers which Rheede attributes to its roots and flowers are
extraordinary in this tribe of plants, chiefly remarkable for a
mild mucilage; and would seem, if well founded, to imply a
necessity of separating it from the proper Malvace«.
On account of the prickles on the stem, the fallacious nature
of which character I have noticed in commenting on the Her-
barium Amboinense, Plukenet considered it as perhaps the same
with his Gossipium seu Xylon arbor occidentale digitatis foliis per
marginem
on the Hortus Malabaricus, Part III. 127
marginem crenatis, fructu conoide quinguecapsulari, lanugine leuco-
phed referto (dlm.172. Phyt. t. 189. f. 1.); but this is evidently
an error, the leaflets of the American plant being toothed on the
edges, while in the Indian plant they are quite entire. Rum-
phius and his commentator Burman, as I have said, seem
strangely to have considered the Pania and Moui Elavou as the
same plant, but evidently described only the former. Linneus
( FI. Zeyl. 221.) united a plant of America with the Mou! Elavou ;
but he does not quote Plukenet ; and therefore his plant, which
was then common in the gardens of Europe, might have the
edges of the leaflets entire. This plant of Linnæus in the first
edition of the Species Plantarum became Bombav Ceiba (Burm.
Fl. Ind. 145.). In the second edition, however, the Moul Ela-
vou having been found different from the American Ceiba de-
scribed by Bauhin and Sloane, it was called Bombaa heptaphyl-
lum, and new synonyma were given. Among these was still an
American plant described by Jacquin; and the Gossypium s.
Xylon arbor orientale digitatis foliis levibus, fructu quinquecapsu-
lari, alba et nitente lanugine farcto (Pluk. Alm. 172. t. 188. f. 4.),
which, although said to be an Asiatic plant, cannot well, on
account of its stamina, be considered as representing the Moul
Elavou. I suspect, however, that Plukenet was mistaken con-
cerning the country from which he obtained his plant, for I have
seen none such in India ; and his figure is quoted by all for the tree
of the West Indies. Besides, as Cavanilles observes (Enc. Meth.
ii. 553.), Linnæus describes the plant as having a monopetalous
corolla, while that of the Mou! Elavou has five petals ; and it is
therefore probable that the plants are different. Willdenow,
although he quotes the Hortus Malabaricus, probably meant
some other plant, as he calls it an American: and in the figure
of Plukenet, which he also quotes, there is no appearance of
prickles in even the branch. Further, as in the Hortus Kew-
ensis
128 Dr. Francis Hamrizron’s Commentary
ensis (iv. 196.) this figure of Plukenet is the only authority quoted,
we may fairly infer that the proper Bombax heptaphyllum of
European botanists is an American plant, and not the Moul
Elavou, although it was probably the flowers of the latter which
M. Cavanilles saw, and although it no doubt is the Bombax
heptaphyllum of Dr. Roxburgh. It is certainly also one of the
plants which must be referred to the Gossampinus of Pliny. 1
shall therefore call it
Gossampinus rubra.
Bombax heptaphyllum. Hort. Beng. 50.
Bombax Ceiba. Burm. Fl. Ind. 145. (exclusis synonymis ad
plantam Americanam spectantibus.)
Xylon foliis digitatis, caule aculeato. Linn. Fl. Zeyl. 221.
(exclusis synonymis omnibus nisi Rheedi et Rai.)
Moul Elavou. Hort. Mal. iii. 61. 7. 52.
Arbor Lanigera sive Gossampinus Plinii. Bontius, 1.6. c. 14.
Hort. Mal. iii. 60.
Rukta (rubra) Shimul Dengalensium.
Habitat in India ubique vulgatissime.
BELuTTA TsJAMPAKAM, p. 63. tab. 53.
The comparison of this by the Dutch inhabitants of Malabar
and naturalists to the Chestnut is an attempt at classification no
better than that of the Hindus, who class it with the Wichelia
Vatica, Ochna, &c. &c. ; for the word here written Tsjampakam
seems to be the same with what is also called Champaka, Cham-
paca, Champacam, Changpa, and even Champa, although this last
is applied to several of the Monocotyledones: so that the plants
to which it is given seem to have no other general character
than that of producing showy and odorous flowers. The name
Naga Tampo, said to be given to this tree by the Brahmans of
Malabar,
on the Hortus Malabaricus, Part III. 129
Malabar, I suspect should have been written Naga Champo, the
latter word being the same with the Tsjampakam of the vulgar
dialect, while the specific term Naga implies that the tree is con-
nected with the divine serpent, although it must be confessed, as
we shall see, that another derivation is given.
Plukenet (Alm. 90.), adhering to the opinion of Commeline,
called this tree Castanea rosea Indica. Linnzus (Fl. Zeyl. 203.)
quoted it for the second variety of his Mesua foliis lanceolatis, his
first variety being the Arbor Naghas sive ferrea of Burman (Thes.
Zeyl. 25.). This author says, that in the Ceylonese dialect Naghas
or Naghaha implies Arbor ferrea. Ghas or Ghaha no doubt
signifies a tree or plant; but Na is quite different from any
Indian name of iron that I know of ; and I suspect that the name
should have been written Nag’ Ghas or Nag’ Ghaha, the serpent's
tree. I observe nothing in the account of Burman that should
lead to a suspicion of his plant being in any respect different
from that of Rheede. Willdenow has however joined it with
the Nagassarium of Rumphius (Herb. Amb. vii. 3. t. 2.), which,
if not a different species, is at least a very remarkable variety ;
as it is a small tree (truncus non ultra sex pedes extensus), with
leaves less than those of the Willow, and like those of the Olive ;
nor has its fruit the four remarkable ribs so conspicuous on
that of the Belutta Tsjampakam. So great indeed is the diffe-
rence between the two plants, that the younger Burman consi-
dered them as belonging to two distinct genera (F1. Ind. 121.),
the plant of Rumphius being his Calophyllum Nagassarium, and
that of Rheede his Mesua ferrea, as it is that of Linnæus. This
supposition of the two plants belonging to different genera I
have no doubt is an error; and the plant of Rumphius, which is
pretty common in the North-east of Bengal and in Ava, is no
doubt a Mesua, but I am inclined to think of a different species
from the tree described by Rheede, which however I have not
VOL. XV. : seen.
130 Dr. Francis Hamirton’s Commentary
seen. M. Poiret (Enc. Meth. iv. 416; Sup. iv. 56 ) it must be
allowed makes no distinction. The plant of Dr. Roxburgh
(Hort. Beng. 41.) is that of Rumphius. Whether or not he
ever saw that of Rheede I know not, but he does not quote the
Hortus Malabaricus.
Kappa Mava, p. 65. tab. 54.
In my Commentary on the great work of Rumphius (Herb.
Amb. 1. 177.) I have said all that seems necessary on this sub-
qeet
Irr1 Are Arov, p.69. t. 55.
Commeline justly considered this as a Ficus. The Malabar
name implies that the tree is an Are Alou (Ficus religiosa, Lin.
Trans. xiii. 487.), having a resemblance to the /t£i or Itty Alou
(Ibid. 486.), which is perhaps the Ficus Benjamina of M. La-
marck (Enc. Meth. ii. 493.). The generic name Goli, given to
this tree as well as to the [¢#i Alou by the Brahmans of Malabar,
is probably the same with the Gular of the Hindwi dialect, given
to several lici. The word Douadeke prefixed seems to imply
that its branches abound with milky juice.
Rumphius at first (Herb. Amb. iii. 140.) confounded the Itty
Alou with his Varinga parvifolia; but, as I have mentioned in
treating of that plant, this was an error; the Itty Alow bearing its
figs on stalks, while those of the Varinga parvifolia are sessile ;
and, in fact, Rumphius was afterwards (Append. iii. 142.) sen-
sible that he should have quoted the I/t? Are Alou. On this
account I should have considered Burman correct in quoting
the Itti Are Alou (by the Latin name of Commeline) for the
Varinga parvifolia (Herb. Amb. iii. 142. in tabule explanatione),
were it not that Rumphius says, “fructus formam Grossulorum
referentes, inferius nempe angustati, superius rotundi," which in
the Linnzan language would be fructus obovati ; while Rheede
| describes
on the Hortus Malabaricus, Part III. 131
describes the fruit of his plant as plano-rotundi, which in Lin-
næan language is depresso-globosi ; and both Willdenow and the
authors of the Encyclopédie agree in considering the plants dif-
ferent.
M. Lamarck (Enc. Meth. ii. 495.) suspected, although with
some doubt, that the Itt Are Alou might be his Ficus punctata ;
but Thunberg, properly rejecting this, calls it his Ficus nitida,
in which he is followed by M. Poiret (Enc. Meth. Sup. ii. 653.)
and Willdenow (Sp. Pl. iv. 1145.). I think that I have seen the
tree on rocky hills both in the South of India and in the pro-
vince of Behar. Specimens of the former, with a drawing, I
gave to Sir J. E. Smith under the name of Ficus Condaravia,
from Konda (montana) and Ravi, a generic name in the Telinga
language ; and I have given to the library at the India House
specimens from Behar, where it is called Khota Pipar. I shall
here annex a description taken in the latter country.
Arbor mediocris, lacte valdé scatens, ramulis obtusangulis gla-
bris. Folia alterna, subovata, basin versus aliquando sub-
cuneata, apicem versus sepius acumine brevissimo obtuso
angustata, integerrima, glabra, supra nitida, venis remotius-
culis etiam ultra submarginalem reticulata, nervis apice
incurvis prope marginem cingentibus subcostata. —Petio-
lus depressiusculus, supra canaliculatus, glaber, brevissi-
mus. Stipule spathaceæ, caduca.
Fici geminæ, axillares, sessiles, pisiformes, nud, involucro
brevi trilobo crasso insidentes.
In India gangetica radicantem non vidi; sed in India australi,
ubi lætius crescebat, ramos habebat radicantes.
Uu
Ve)
19 TsJEROU
132 Dr. Francis Hamiiton’s Commentary
Tsszrou Merr Aitou seu ÁLov, p.71. tab. 50.
Rheede describes two species called Meer Alou; this, and the
Atte Meer Alou mentioned in page75: and the two plants are very
nearly allied, both belonging to the natural division of the genus
Ficus, which has pedunculated fruit; a circumstance generally
connected with scabrous or very rigid leaves, having their sides
either unequal or lobed or indented, while the species with sessile
fruit have soft, entire, and equal-sided leaves. The resemblance
between the two Meer Alous is striking not only to the vulgar of
Malabar, but to the Brahmans, who give them both the generic
appellation of Parai. The Tsjerou Meer Alou is the prototype of
the genus Parai, having no specific name prefixed. It is quoted
with doubt in Willdenow (Sp. P/.iv.1145.) for the Ficus terebrata ;
but as this has sessile fruit, we may safely reject the quotation,
this circumstance, as I have said, being of the most essential
importance in distinguishing the species of this genus. I at
one time thought that it might be the plant of Rumphius figured
in the 85th plate of the third volume, which in the explanation
of the plate is called Varinga rubra; and this led me to suppose
that it was the Supa or Varinga rubens: but I observe that this
is an error, and that Rumphius describes no plant called Varinga
rubra, while the 86th plate represents the Supa, a large tree.
But plate 85 therefore represents no doubt the Varinga repens,
a climber, which consequently cannot be the Tsjerou Meer Alou.
i think it probable that the same erroneous explanation of the
85th plate led M. Lamarck (Enc. Meth. ii. 497.) to quote it,
although with doubt, for his Ficus pyrifolia (not that of Burman,
Fl. Ind. 226.), which therefore may be very nearly allied to the
Tsjerou Meer Alou, although M. Poiret quotes this, in imitation
of Willdenow, for Ficus terebrata (Enc. Meth. Sup. ii. 645.). I
shall
on the Hortus Malabaricus, Part LIT. 155
shall now describe a plant whieh may perhaps be the Tsjerou
Meer Alou, and of which I have given specimens to the library
at the India House (Cat. 2416).
Ficus undulata.
Tsjerou Meer Alou. Hort. Mal. in. 71. t. 56?
Rakhalpani Bengalensium.
Habitat in Camrup:e orientalis locis montosis.
Arbor magna, lactescens, ramulis nudis fuscis. Folia alterna,
oblonga, basi acutiuscula, apice acuminata, integerrima,
rigida, glabra, undulata, subtrinervia, subcostata, venis
minute reticulata. Petiolus semiteres, brevissimus, fuscus.
Stipule caduce.
Racemus axillaris, rigidus, simplex longitudine petioli apice
gemmiferus, fructu foliis e gemma prodeuntibus laterali.
Pedicelli gemini, uniflori, ancipites, glabri, receptaculo flo-
rum longiores. Bracteæ ad basin pedicellorum minutæ, tri-
phylle. Flos obovatus, glaber magnitudine Pisi majoris.
I did not see this tree sending roots from its branches; but
even the Per Alou does not do this when planted in confined
situations and excluded from a free circulation of air. It remains,
however, yet to be determined whether the Tsjerou Meer Alou is
my Ficus undulata or the Ficus pyrifolia of M. Lamarck, if it be
either.
KaTOUSALOU. Dp. (9.1.51.
Commeline supposed this to be the Picus Indica of Clusius,
and the Ficus Indica foliis Mali Cotonei similibus, fructu ficubus
simili of Caspar Bauhin, that is, the Picus Indica of the Greeks
and Romans; and he supposed that it might be the same with
an American plant described by Rochefort. In my Commentary
on the Peralu (Linn. Trans. xin. 488.) I have mentioned that
these
134 Dr. Francis Hamitton’s Commentary
these suppositions are liable to great objections, as was indeed
noticed by Plukenet (Adm. 144.), although in writing that Com-
mentary I did not attend sufliciently to what he said, and con-
founded together two of his plants, which, being placed next
each other, I took for one,—an error which I beg leave now to
correct. Plukenet mentions an affinity between the Katou Alou
and his Ficus arbor Americana, Arbuti foliis non serrata, fructu
Pisi magnitudine, funiculis e ramis ad terram demissis prolifera
(Phyt. t. 178. f. 4.), now called Ficus pedunculata (Willd. Sp. Pl.
iv. 1138.); but he says expressly, that Commeline erred in con-
sidering the Katou Alou as the Ficus Indica; and that the Katou
Alou could not be the American plant which he described, because
its fruit is much larger and its leaves hairy beneath; while the
fruit of the American species being like Pease, and its leaves
being smooth, it has a greater affinity to the Tyyakela of Rheede.
In fact, this American tree is the Ficus laurifolia of M. Lamarck
(Enc. Meth. ii. 495.), and perhaps the Ficus venosa of Willdenow
(Sp. Pl. iv. 1136.) ; while the Tsjakela is the Ficus venosa of the
Hortus Kewensis (first edition, iii. 451.), now called F?cus infec-
toria. The Peralu, indeed, which I agree with Dr. Roxburgh in
thinking to be the true Ficus Indica, Plukenet referred, but with
doubt, to another American plant, his [cus Americana, latiori
folio venoso ev Curacoa (Alm. 144; Phyt. t. 18. f. V.), which was
then cultivated in the Royal Garden at Hampton-Court ; and
this in all probability is the tree which Linnzus, omitting the
cautious doubt of Plukenet, called the Ficus Benghalensis, the
barbarous name of which I complained. "The figure of Plukenet
(Phyt. t. 178. f. 1.) has no doubt a considerable resemblance to
the Peralu ; but the difference of the countries where they grow
is so great, that much reliance cannot be placed on figures that
represent neither flower nor fruit. The figure, besides, of Plu-
kenet resembles fully as much the Katou Alou as the Peralu;
but
on the Hortus Malabaricus, Part III. 135
but as it has smooth leaves, it can be neither one nor the other.
The proper synonyma of the Peralu, which Commeline referred
to the Katou Alou, Plukenet (Jim. 144.) refers to his Meus In-
dica Tilia folio, subtus albo et villoso, polyrhizos, seu filamentis e
summis ramis ad terram missis radicosa, which he procured from
the sea-shore of Barbadoes, and of which a figure is given
(¢. 178. f. 3.) ; and with this also he confounds the Pipal of the
Bengalese, although in f. 2. he gives a representation of this
plant which cannot be mistaken. ‘The plant of Barbadoes by
M. Lamarck (Enc. Meth. iii. 352.) is referred to the Hibiscus
tiliaceus, not without strong grounds; yet it is difficult to sup-
pose such an error in Plukenet, especially as he no doubt
represents the Hibiscus tiliaceus in another place (Amalth. vi.
t. 355. f. 5.). lam therefore inclined to follow Willdenow in
thinking the plant of Barbadoes to be at least a Ficus (Sp. Pl.
iv. 1133.), although I doubt much of its being the Sycomorus of
Egypt, as he supposes. ‘The figure no doubt resembles a good
deal that of the Sycomorus Mathioli in John Bauhin (Hist. Plant.
1.124. f. 1.) ;—but who ever heard of the Sycamore growing in
Barbadoes as a Mangrove? This opinion originated probably
with Burman (Il. Ind. 925.) ; and I doubt as much of the fact
of the Sycamorus being found in the East, as in the West, Indies.
The plant that Burman mistook for it is probably what I take to be
the Ficus Caricoides of Dr. Roxburgh (Hort. Beng. 65.), of which
I have deposited specimens in the library at the India House.
Having thus endeavoured to correct the error into which I
fell when treating of the Peralu and Ficus Indica, and to show
that neither it nor the Katou Alou was known to Plukenet, I
return to Durman, who, following the first edition of the Species
Plantarum, gives us (Fl. Ind. 225.) the Katou Alou as the true
Ficus Indica of the ancients, but without quoting any American
plant as synonymous. He however adds as a variety the Tsjela,
to
136 Dr. FRANCIS HauirTON's Commentary
which we shall soon have occasion to return. When, however,
Linneus published the second edition of his Species Plantarum,
he added many other synonyma, and among these an American
plant described by Catesby ; from which alone, as M. Lamarck
justly observes (Enc. Meth. ii. 495.), he seems to have drawn his
specific character, this probably having been the only one of the
plants quoted that he had actually seen.
M. Lamarck, therefore, returns to the first supposition of Lin-
neeus, and gives the Katou Alou as the true [cus Indica, refer-
ring to it all the synonyma of old botanists, who meant to describe
the tree of Pliny and Theophrastus ;—but what probability is
there that a tree growing neglected in the obscure parts of the
South, should be that noticed by the Greeks and Romans in
the North of India, while in every part the Peralu is cultivated
with a religious veneration? The very Malabar names show
the difference: Alu or Alou being the generic name, Per signi-
fies Tree, as if we should say Arbor Alou dicta by way of excel-
lence ; while Katou implies this species of Alou to be the sylves-
tris, to use the language of the older botanists. In the same
manner the Peralu by the Brahmans of Malabar is called Vad-
hou (from Vata of the Sanscrit) by way of excellence ; while the
Katou Alou is distinguished by a specific term (Doulo) prefixed,
to mark its not being the true prototype of the genus. I approve
therefore entirely of the change made by Willdenow, who,
although he knew nothing of the Katou Alou except from the
Hortus Malabaricus, calls it Ficus citrifolia (Sp. Pl. iv. 1137.).
Dr. Roxburgh, so far as we can judge from the Hortus Ben-
galensis, would not seem to have seen any tree which he referred
to the Meus citrifolia or Katow Alou: but in the South of India
I found a tree which I should have had no doubt was the same,
had I ever seen roots descending from its branches; but this I
never did, and the natives assured me that it does not possess
. this
on the Hortus Malabaricus, Part IIT. 197
this quality. I am inclined, however, to doubt the accuracy of
their information; and the tree in other respects so nearly
resembles the Peralu as to justify its being considered as the
wild plant of the same species. In 1806 I gave specimens and
a drawing to Sir J. E. Smith under the name of Ficus Gonia,
and shall here give a description.
Ficus citrifolia. Willd. Sp. Pl. iv. 1137?
Ficus indica, Enc. Meth. ii. 495 ? (exclusis synonymorum plu-
ribus.)
Arbor Supa dicta. Herb. Amb. ni. 135. t. 86?
Katou Alou. Hort. Mal. ii. 13. t. 57?
Goni Carnatæ Tamulorum et 'Telingorum.
Habitat ad pagos et vias Carnatæ rarius.
Arbor facie omnino [ici Indice (Peralu), sed radicantem nun-
quam vidi. Ramuli juniores tomentosi. Folia alterna sinu
minuto subcordata, ovata, acumine brevi terminata, supra
pilis fuscis, subtus villo denso vestita, costata, venis reticu-
lata. Petiolus brevis, depressus. Glandula in dorso nervi
medii paulo supra folii basin plana, glabra. Stipule gem-
mace:e, hirsutie.
Fructus geminus, sessilis, bractea triphylla cinctus, levis, magni-
tudine Nucis moschatæ oblongus, aurantiacus, luteo punc-
tatus.
The plant of Rumphius, mentioned with doubt among the
synonyma, is very like indeed to what I consider as the Picus
citrifolia ; and the strong resemblance which this has both to
the Supa and Peralu, both certainly emitting roots from their
branches, induces me to doubt the information on this point
which I received from the natives. I have however seen a tree
which I consider as not improbably the Supa; and, as it has
SOT Xy. T smooth
138 : Dr. Francis HaurrroN's Commentary
smooth leaves, I think it probably different from what I have
above described; but this is not certain, as Rumphius does not
say whether the leaves of the Supa are smooth or hairy. The
proper place, however, for discussing this is in the Commentary
on the Herbarium Amboinense.
Nearly allied to these plants | have met with two others still
more hairy than the Katou Alou ; and I shall here take an oppor-
tunity of describing them, as they do not seem to be mentioned
by either Rheede or Rumphius.
Of the first I have given specimens to the library at the India
House under the name of Ficus asinina, as it is called Gadha Bar
in the Hindwi dialect, Gadha signifying an Ass, and Bar being
a vulgar corruption of Vata, the Sanscrita name of the Ficus
Indica (Peralu). It grows on the hills of Behar, and has a very
strong affinity to the Katou Alou in every thing but the fruit.
Arbor magna, e ramis radicantem non vidi. Ramul teretes,
annulati, maturi glabri, juniores tomentosi, lactescentes.
Folia alterna, oblonga, apices prope latiora, basi cordata,
acumine brevi obtusa, costata, venis minute reticulata,
rigida, margine reflexo integerrima, supra nuda, subtus to-
mentosa. Petiolus brevissimus, teretiusculus, tomentosus,
non lactescens. | Glandula in nervi medii dorso prope folii
basin plana, elabra. — Stipule caducæ.
Receptacula florifera pisiformia, gemina, axillaria, sessilia, ore
clauso glabro tomentosa. Bractea cyathiformis, recepta-
culo brevior, 5—7-fida, irregularis.
Fici mature virides, molles, magnitudine Grossulariæ minoris
globos, tomento albo denso indutæ, involucro multo ma-
jores.
The other plant I found growing from the crevices of rocks in
the Mysore country, where it is called Kalu Atti or Kalu Bas-
seri,
on the Hortus Malabaricus, Part TIT. 139
seri, Kalu or Kul implying rock. On this account I called it
Ficus rupestris, and under this name gave a drawing and speci-
mens to Sir J. E. Smith.
Arbor ramis radicantibus fomentosis parva. Folia basi cordata,
sed apicem versus sæpè dilatata, in humidis locis subangu-
lata, in siccis integerrima, utrinque pilosissima, sed mollia,
acumine minimo subobtusa. — Petiolus teres, tomentosus.
Fructus pisiformes, gemini, sessiles, axillares, tomentosi, foliolis
tribus bracteati.
One or other of these plants, but which I cannot say, is pro-
bably the Ficus tomentosa of Willdenow (Sp. PI. iv. 1130.),
which, he says, he had from Dr. Roxburgh, who mentions it in
the Hortus Bengalensis, 105, without reference to any figure.
I should certainly have considered my Ficus rupestris as the
F. mollis of Vahl, had he not described the fruit as solitary ; yet
Willdenow quotes Vahl’s plant as being the same with his,
which he describes to have the fruit growing in pairs. Perhaps
he had learned that Vahl was mistaken; for M. Poiret (Enc.
Meth. Sup. ii. 653.) follows Willdenow without remark. As
Willdenow's plant has the upper side of the leaves smooth, it is
perhaps my Ficus asinina ?
Arti Merr Árovu, p. 75.1.59.
I have already mentioned the affinity of this tree with the
Tsjerou Meer Alou (t. 50.), from which it differs in having the
leaves more unequal sided and more scabrous, and the figs
larger. It has a still stronger affinity with the Teregam (t. 60.),
which with leaves shaped like the T'sjerou Meer Alou, and a fruit
like the Atti Meer Alou, is a great deal rougher than either.
The two plants are however so much alike, that the description
by M. Lamarck (Enc. Meth. ii. 496.) of the Ficus Ampelos, for
T 2 which
140 Dr. Francis Hamizron’s Commentary
which the Teregam is quoted, applies very well in every thing
but the fruit to the plant which I take to be the Ait? Meer Alou;
but this again is quoted by M. Poiret (Enc. Meth. Sup. ii. 654.)
and by Dr. Roxburgh (Hort. Beng. 66.) for the Picus excelsa.
No species under this name is mentioned in Willdenow ; yet it
is possible, as the specific character agrees entirely with the
plant, that this is what he calls Ficus septica (Sp. Pl. iv. 1142.).
As for this he quotes neither the authorities adopted by Burman
(Fl. Ind. 226.), his plant is probably different from Burman’s.
Specimens of the plant that J have seen are deposited in the
library at the India House (Cat. No. 2413).
Hanpir seu Hanpur Azou, p. 77. t. 59.
This plant Burman ( F/. Ind. 226.) joined with the Ficus septica
of Rumphius (Herb. Amb. ii. 153. f. 96.), which name he adopted ;
and the same is done by M. Lamarck (Enc. Meth. ii. 490.), both
no doubt following the authority of the elder Burman in the ex-
planation of the plates in the Herbarium Amboinense. This autho-
rity is none of the best ; and the form both of the leaves and fruit
in the figures given by the two authors is so different, that I
suspect they meant different plants. Willdenow was probably
of the same opinion, as he quotes neither for his Picus septica,
which he took from Forster, and which, as I have said, is per-
haps the 444 Meer Alou. Y have not seen any plant which 1
could refer to the Handir Alou; but it seems to have a very
considerable affinity to the Icus oppositifolia of Dr. Roxburgh,
and some of its leaves are represented in the figure as having
nearly a similar position.
TEREGAN, p. 19. t. 60.
In treating of the Atti Meer Alou I have already mentioned
somewhat concerning this plant, which Rumphius properly
judged
on the Hortus Malabaricus, Part IIT. 141
judged to be his Folium politorium (Herb. Amb. iv. 128. t. 63.).
These Burman also considered (F7. Ind. 226.) as the same spe-
cies, which from the Javanese name he called Ficus Ampelos.
M. Lamarck, treating of the PF. Ampelos (Enc. Meth. ii. 496.),
quotes Rumphius with doubt; on what grounds he does not say,
but his plant has the mouth of the receptaculum so open as to
render it an intermediate link between Ficus and Ambora; from
which we may safely conclude that it is neither the Folium poli-
torium nor Teregam. On this account probably Willdenow has
altogether omitted the Picus Ampelos; and on the authority of
Loureiro has referred the Folium politorium to a species which
he calls Ficus politoria (Sp. Pl. iv. 1144.), a name which he
should not have used, because M. Lamarck had previously given
it to a very different species (Enc. Meth. ii. 500.). Besides, as
Loureiro describes the fruit to be disposed in spikes, he probably
meant a plant different from that of Rumphius and Rheede,
although it may have leaves fitted to polish wood ;—for such a
quality is found in several species of this genus, and is there-
fore no proof of identity. In this opinion I am confirmed by
Dr. Roxburgh, who neglects Loureiro's quotation, and calls the
Folium politorium, Ficus evasperata (Hort. Beng 66.), thinking it
different from the Ficus Ampelos of Koenig (Hort. Beng. 103.).
Whatever may be the case with these modern innovations, I
have little or no doubt of the Teregam and Folium politorium
being the same plant, and of their being the [cus Ampelos of
Burman.
The name Cara-vatti, applied to this tree by the Brahmans of
Malabar, contains both a specific and generic appellation. Cara,
the specific name, signifies **wild;" and Patti is a corruption of
Vata, the Sanscrita name of the Ficus indica, a word perhaps
derived from the same root with the Vates of the Latin, as
under the shade of this tree the Gymnosophists of old delivered
their
142 Dr. Francis Hamriron’s Commentary
their laws. This generic term is therefore applied to some spe-
cies that do not send roots from their branches; but perhaps
such are never called Vata or Vatti or Batti without the term
Cara prefixed.
Perim TerecaM, p. 81. ¢. 61.
This is another tree, which the Brahmans called Carabatti,
using the compound word for the generic term, and prefixing
the specific name Meri, which would seem to countenance the
idea above mentioned. No notice was taken of the Perim Te-
regam by any subsequent author, except the compiler Ray,
until M. Lamarck quoted it, with doubt however, for his Ficus
symphytifolia \ Ene. Meth. it. 498.). On the contrary, Willdenow
(Sp. Pl. iv. 1151.) quotes it, but with doubt also, for the Ficus
oppositifolia, to which indeed it has a considerable affinity ; but
there is nothing in either the figure or description to induce us
to think that its leaves are opposite. In this point, however,
Rheede and his painters were often negligent : and I must con-
fess that I at one time thought with Willdenow, that the Perim
Teregam was a variety of the Ficus oppositifolia, of which I gave
specimens (Cat. No. 2424) to the library at the India House :
but on more mature deliberation, I think, that these specimens
can scarcely be the Perim Teregam, which has the edges of its
leaves quite entire, while in my plant they are indented. On
the whole I doubt much of the Perim Teregam having been
noticed by modern botanists.
VALLI TEREGAM, p. 83. t. 62.
Here is a third species, which the Brahmans of Malabar call
Caravatti; but it is distinguished by having annexed the specific
name Valh (scandens), which, contrary to the usual custom, is
placed after instead of before the generic name.
Plukenet very strangely imagined that this was the same with
© Ius
on the Hortus Malabaricus, Part III. 143
his Uvifera arbor Americana convolvulacea, fructu aromatico punc-
tato (Alm. 394; Phyt. t. 237. f. 4.), which would seem to be a
Michelia or Magnolia.
The younger Burman (IV. Ind. 227.) established a new species
of Ficus, which he called Grossularioides. his consisted of two
varieties ; and the first was a plant described by Garcin, which
having poisonous fruit, as well as many external differences,
would appear to be a distinct species from the second variety,
which is the Valli Teregam. The younger Linneus (Sup. 442.)
would seem to have seen this latter plant, and called it Ficus
heterophylla. |. M. Lamarck (Enc. Meth. ii. 499.) procured from
M. Sonnerat specimens of a plant, which notwithstanding some
differences, he considered as the F. heterophylla ; and, although
he quotes the Hortus Malabaricus with doubt, he uses the descrip-
tion contained in this work to make up a full account, joining
what he saw in his specimens to what he found in Rheede, a
practice that cannot fail to lead into mistakes. There is indeed
great reason to think, on account of the hairiness, that his spe-
cimens were like those which Dr. Roxburgh sent to Willdenow,
and which he published under the name of Ficus repens (Sp. Pl.
iv. 1149.). Of this, M. Poiret (Enc. Meth. Sup. ii. 648.) has
become sensible, and he considers the Ficus heterophylla of
M. Lamarck as the Ficus rufescens of Vahl. On my return to
Calcutta from Ava (1796) specimens and a drawing of this, under
the name of Ficus repens, were sent to the late Sir Joseph Banks,
and a copy of this drawing is to be found in the library at the
India House. I have since also lodged in the same collection
specimens from India Proper, under the name of Ficus rufescens.
These differ a little from the plant found in Ava; but not so
much as to warrant their being considered as forming a distinct
species, as will appear from the following account.
Ficus
144 Dr. Francis HamiLron’s Commentary
Ficus repens «.
Kha aun Burmanorum.
Habitat in ripis Ave fertilibus.
Caulis fruticulosus, tres pedes longus, ramosus, glaber, repens.
Folia alterna, cordata, obtusa, supra nitida, punctata, ru-
gosa, pilis brevissimis scabra, costata, venis reticulata, mar-
gine repando sed integerrimo quasi denticulata, nunc inte-
gra, tunc triloba, vel sæpius repanda, sinubus lobisque
obtusis. Petiolus teres, annulo ramum cingens, mediocris,
hispidus. St/pule gemini, laterales, brevissimæ, caduce.
Inter pilos densos brevissimos, qui in petiolum et foliorum
nervos insidunt, pauci sunt longiores apice hamati.
Receptacula axillaria, lactescentia, erecta, solitaria, pedunculata,
ovata, obtusa, angulata, pubescentia, elevato-punctata, apice
sexdentato umbilicata. Pedunculus erectus, longitudine fere
petiolorum compressus, apicem versus squamula una vel
altera obtusa bracteatus.
Ficus repens f.
Habitat in Camrupæ sylvis.
Caulis hirtus. — Folia revert dentata, supra scabra, et pilis stella-
tis hispida, subtus hirta, cæteroquin vix diversa.
The leaves of this plant are used in Ava for polishing timber,
as is also the case with those of the Ficus denticulata of Will-
denow (Sp. Pl. iv. 1132.), which, although placed by him at a
great distance from the Ficus repens, is not a very distinct spe-
cies, differing chiefly in its stem being scandent instead of repent ;
but this may be owing to its being found in places that are at
times inundated, which may occasion the plants growing there
to raise themselves, while those in dry places creep on the sur-
face. ‘The leaves of the creeping kind are just as often lobed, as
those
on the Hortus Malabaricus, Part III. 145
those of the kind which grows erect. Specimens of this last were
sent from Ava to the late Sir Joseph Banks, under the name of
Ficus scandens ; and others from India have been placed in the
library at the India House, under the name of Ficus denticulata
(Cat. No. 2438), a name not known when I first saw the plant,
and which seems to have escaped Dr. Roxburgh, as he called
the same plant Picus quercifolia ; at least the plant which was
shown to me in the Botanical Garden by that name was the
Ficus denticulata. 1 am however aware that much reliance
cannot be placed on the accuracy of gardeners. The plants of
this species also from the two countries differ in a few points,
but such as do not warrant a separation.
Ficus denticulata a.
Re-sa-dut Burmanorum.
Habitat in Irabatis ripis inundatis.
Caulis fruticosus, scandens, teres, ad petiolos annulo dimidiato
cinctus, glaber, ramosus. Ramuli scabri. Folia alterna,
petiolata, oblonga, nunc sæpius integra, tunc triloba, vel
sinuata, basi integra, serrata, acuta, subtrinervia, venis
reticulata, utrinque scabra. —Petiolus brevis, compressus,
canaliculatus. Stipule gemine, laterales, caducæ.
Receptacula axillaria, sæpius solitaria, aliquando gemina, viri-
dia, magnitudine Amygdali oblonga, umbilico subrotundo
subsexdentato obsolete hexagona, scabriuscula. Bractea
brevis, integra. Pedunculus longitudine fere receptaculi
teres, pilis setaceis apice glandulosis pubescens.
Ficus denticulata f.
Bola Dumor Bengalensium.
Habitat in Brahmaputris ripis inundatis.
Folia ad nervum medium utrinque in pagina inferiore, ubi nervi
VOL. XV. U laterales
146 Dr. Francis HawuirTow's Commentary
laterales inseruntur, elandulam habent parvam planam,
quam in Ava non innotui. Fructus maturus magnitudine
Grossulariæ ovatus, flavus, ore seepius quinquedentato.
This last plant, on account of the erectness of the stem, comes
nearest the Valli Teregam, from which it differs chiefly in being
rougher and in having smaller fruit; but I must confess that
these appear to me slight circumstances for establishing distinct
species.
Willdenow, wishing perhaps to avoid the ambiguity of two
plants having been named [cus heterophylla, abandoned this
name altogether: and for the plant so named by the younger
Linneus, that is, the Valli Teregam, adopts Keenig’s specific
name -aquatica (Sp. Pl. iv. 1133.), which leads me rather to
suspect that his specimens belonged to the plant which I have
called Ficus denticulata ; for this grows in places which are
occasionally inundated: but Rheede says that the Valli Tere-
gam grows in woods. It must be also observed, that Willdenow
did not see the figs of his plant, on the form of which the diffe-
rence between the Ficus denticulata and the Valli Teregam chiefly
depends. M. Poiret however (Enc. Meth. Sup. 11. 648.), and
Dr. Roxburgh (Hort. Beng. 05.) retain the name heterophylla
for the Valli Teregam, the Ficus heterophylla of M. Lamarck
being by M. Poiret called Ficus rufescens.
On the whole, the Ficus denticulata, F. repens, and F. aquatica
are distinguished by circumstances of no great consequence ;
and perhaps the F. truncata of Willdenow (Sp. Pl. iv. 1132.) is
not very materially different ; and all are nearly connected with
the PF. Grossularioides of Burman, now almost forgotten (Enc.
Meth. Sup. ii. 057.), although it was the species first introduced
into the modern system of botany.
TSJELA,
on the Hortus Malabaricus, Part IIT. 147
LSIELA, p.68): £, 03.
The natives of Malabar seem to consider this Ficus as the
prototype of a genus, giving it no specific name. What Tsjela
means, I do not know; but Asowatow (the name used by the
Brahmans) is the same with Aswattha, a name given by the
Bengalese to the Ficus religiosa. Both indeed are very nearly
allied ; for they have sessile figs growing in pairs, and neither
sends roots from the branches. Further, both are usually para-
sitical plants, and at first take root either on other trees or on
walls, which they soon destroy, leaving a congeries of roots
above-ground in place of a stem. Both however, if planted in
the ground, thrive well, and produce stately and ornamental
stems. ‘There are, however, several other Fici which grow in a
similar parasitical manner ; and among these, some of the kinds
called Varinga by Rumphius, and 4/ou by Rheede, although
these send roots from their branches.
Plukenet after Ray calls this plant Ficus Malabarica, fructu
Ribesii forma et magnitudine, Tsiela dicta (Alm. 145.), and com-
pares it to the Arbor Sycophora Caryophylli aromatici foliis et
facie Jamaicensis (Alm. 42.), of which a figure is given in the
Phytographia (t. 260. f. 1.). Plukenet, however, merely com-
pares the plants, and by no means says that they are the same.
He adds in a concluding sentence, that from its branches it
sends down fibres, which take root: but it is not perfectly clear
whether he means this to apply to the Tsiela or to the plant of
Jamaica. lf he meant the former, he was misinformed, as
Rheede does not say a word of such a circumstance; and all
persons whom I consulted agreed in denying its taking place.
Plukenet himself seems to have been sensible of some error
here; for in the Mantissa, 75, he considers the Tsje/a as pro-
bably being the Ficus Indica Mali Limoniæ folio, subtus canes-
v 2 cente,
148 Dr. Francis Hamirtron’s Commentary
cente, fructu exiguo cortici adnato, Sunutperai Malabarorum,
which he places immediately after the Ficus religiosa, a species
that does not send these fibres from its branches. It seems,
however, to be on the first supposition of Plukenet alone that
LinnϾus and the younger Burman (F1. Ind. 226.) joined the
Tsjela to the Ficus indica, placing it in the same variety with the
Varinga latifolia of Rumphius (Herb. Amb. iii. 197. t. 84.), which
cannot possibly be admitted (see my Commentary, Linn. Trans.
xili. 487.). It seems indeed difficult to suppose how Burman
could imagine the Tsjela, with leaves nearly lanceolate, to belong
to the same species with the Katou Alou, which has ovate or
cordate leaves. I indeed think it probable that this quotation
arose from an error in the person who engraved the 64th plate
in this volume of the Hortus Malabaricus, and who instead of
Tsjakela has placed over it Tsjela ; so that Burman seeing this,
considered it as the plate representing the Tsjela.
I have already mentioned, when treating of the Katou Alou,
that M. Lamarck selected it for his Ficus Indica ; but rejected
the Tsjela, as not sending roots from its branches ; and neither
he nor M. Poiret attempted to introduce it into the system.
Willdenow, on the contrary, rejecting the Katou Alou, adopts
the Tsjela for his Ficus Indica, leaving out from his specific cha-
racter the essential words ramis radicantibus, used by Linneus.
Willdenow had seen specimens of his Ficus Indica; but whether
they belonged to the Tsje/a or to the Varinga latifolia it is impos-
sible to say, as he quotes both. Dr. Roxburgh, who most pro-
perly restored the name [cus Indica to the Peralu, or Banyan-
tree, and who was perfectly acquainted with the Tsjela, calls it
Ficus Tsjela (Hort. Beng. 60.).
Besides the Tsjel, I have found in Gangetic India three other
species so very nearly allied, that the names Nakur, Pakur, and
Naksa are applied to them in a different manner by different
persons.
on the Hortus Malabaricus, Part ILI. 149
persons. I shall here, therefore, give an account of them all ;
especially as the T'sje/a is the only one of which a figure has been
published.
1. Ficus Tsjela. Hort. Beng. 66.
Ficus Indica. Hort. Kew. v. 485. Willd. Sp. Pl. iv. 1146.
(exclusis synonymis nisi Rheedii omnibus.)
Ficus indica Mali Limoniz folio subtus canescente, fructu
exiguo cortici adnato. Pluk. Mant. 75.
qu sjela. Hort. Mal. iii. 85. t. 68. perperam a Henn (F1.
Ind. 220.) cum Varinga latifolia ramis radicantibus con-
juncta.
Naxa Bengalensium.
Pakur Hindice.
Habitat ad Indiæ pagos.
Caudex omnino ut in F. religiosa. Folia ad basin sæpe acutius-
cula, semper cuneato-angustata, nunquam exquisite ovata,
parum undulata, nervis vix exactè oppositis subtrinervosa,
costata, venosissima, utrinque glabra, multo quam in I’. re-
ligiosa minora. — Petiolus ad apicem posterids vix glandu-
losus, canaliculatus, tenuis, latitudinem folii longitudine
superans.
Fici geminæ, axillares, pisiformes, glabra, sessiles, bractea brevi
triphylla cinctæ ; mature folio caduco nudato.
Flores foliis pullulantibus se manifestant, annoque integro con-
sumpto maturescunt.
. Ficus scandens mihi, sed non Lamarckii, que Ficus stipulata
Willdenovii.
Lot (scandens) Pakur Bengalensium.
Habitat ad Matsiæ pagos.
Arbor magna. Rami horizontales, quibus sæpe insidentia se-
mina
150 Dr. Francis HAurLTON's Commentary
mina ibi pullulant, radices longas ad terram demittentia ;
sed radices nulli e ramis ipsis prodeunt. Folia glabra,
acuminata, trinervia, integerrima, nunc sæpius ovalia, tunc
subcordata, vel etiam basi aliquando cuneata. Petiolus
brevis, canaliculatus.
Fruciificationem non vidi.
3. Ficus Lacor.
Ficus Ind. Orient. Obe vulgo junioris folio, flore albo tubu-
loso, sericea lanugine obsito, fructu orbiculari, Pancer
Maram Malabarorum. Pluk. Mant. 15.
Lakor seu Nakor Hindicé et Bengalensium.
Habitat ad Indiæ Gangetic pagos rarius.
Caudex omnino ut in F. religiosa. Folia oblonga, cordata, gla-
bra, acuminata, integerrima, subtrinervia, costata, venosis-
sima, plana. Petioli ad apicem vix glandulosi, canalicu-
lati, latitudine foliorum breviores.
Fici gemini, sessiles, pisiformes, pilis albis rectis densis tomen-
tose. — Bractec triphylle, obtuse, ficis multo breviores.
Ts3AKELA, p.87. ¢.64, where it is erroneously called Tsz Era.
The error above mentioned has been already noticed in treat-
ing of the T'sje/a ; as has also the error into which I fell in stating
Plukenet to have considered the Tsjakela as the same with what
he figured in the Phytographia, t. 178. f. 1. On the contrary,
he considered it as the same with his Ficus arbor Americana,
Arbuti foliis non serrata, fructu Pisi magnitudine, funiculis e ramis
ad terram demissis prolifera (Alm. 144; Phyt. t. 178. f. 4.). This
opinion, however, is not tenable, as the T'sjakela has no roots of
the kind, and is a link connecting the T'sjela and its kindred
species with the Arbor Conciliorum of Rumphius, and with the
Ficus religiosa. ‘The Brahmans of Malabar indeed class it with
the
on the Hortus Malabaricus, Part IIT. 151
the Peralu, giving it the generic name l'odou, no doubt derived
from the Sanscrita Vata ; but in this they have been guided by
the form of the leaves. |
The younger Burman (77. Ind. 227.) took up this plant by the
name Tsjakela, joining to it the Ficus Surattensis et Malabarica,
Mori folio of Garcin: but after this the plant seems to have
been unnoticed until Mr. Aiton published the first edition of
the Hortus Kewensis, when he called it Ficus venosa. Willdenow
afterwards, in the Berlin Transactions, published an account of a
tree which he took to be that of the Hortus Kewensis; but when
he published the Species Plantarum (iv. 1136.), he discovered
that he had been mistaken. In place, however, of leaving the
name venosa with the plant, which had been originally so called
by Aiton, he transferred it to his new plant, and the Tsjakela he
called Picus infectoria, a word probably of his own coining, but
meant perhaps to imply its being a dye. This name, however,
has been adopted in the second edition of the Hortus Kewensis
(v. 485.), and by Dr. Roxburgh (Hort. Beng. 60.) ; but rejected
by M. Poiret (Enc. Meth. Sup. ii. 657.), who calls the Ficus
venosa of Willdenow the F./eucantatoma,—rather a hard name.
Specimens of the T'sjakela, under the name given by Willdenow,
have been presented to the library at the India House; but I
must observe that the specific character of the Ficus infectoria,
given by Willdenow and copied by Aiton, is not applicable to
the plant which I mean ; and that I judge it only to be the same,
from the T'sjakela being quoted as synonymous. I shall there-
fore describe it.
Ficus venosa. Enc. Meth. Sup. ii. 657.
Ficus infectoria. Hort. Beng. 06. Hort. Kew. v. 485. Willd.
Sp. Pl. iv. 1157, quod ad synonymon, sed non quod ad
characterem.
Ficus
152
Dr. Francis HAMILTON’s Commentary.
Ficus Tsjakela. Burm. Il. Ind. 227.
Tsjakela. Hort. Mal. iii. 87. t. 64.
Karu Basseri Carnatæ.
Achin Bengalensium.
Habitat ad Indiæ pagos.
Arbor vasta, lacte plurimo scatens, sæpe parasitica. Ramuli
Ici
teretes, annulati, glabri, non radicantes. Folia alterna,
approximata, oblongo-ovata, basi obtusissima vel retusa
subcordata, acuminata, integerrima, glabra, trinervia, cos-
tata, venosissima, decidua. Petiolus glaber, brevissimus,
depressiusculus, canaliculatus, ad apicem subtus glandula
plana sepe instructus. Séipulæ gemine, gemmaceæ, an-
nulo ramum cingenti insidentes, folio novello longiores,
oblongæ, obtusæ, integerrimæ, rubræ, deciduæ.
geminæ, sessiles, axillares (sed post foliorum casum sæ-
pius maturescunt), pisiformes, exalbido-rubellæ, umbilico
clauso sæpius acuminate, punctate, involucro emarcido
3—5-phyllo cinctæ.
V. Obser-
V. Observations on the Crepitaculum and the Foramina in the
anterior Tibiæ of some Orthopterous Insects. By the Rev. Lans-
down Guilding, B.A. F.L.S.
Read June 7, 1825.
Or the organs possessed by the insect tribes, none merit dili-
gent examination more than those which are connected with the
production of sound. ‘The structure of most of them is well
known at the present day, and has been elucidated by accurate
figures. Some, however, require further explanation. I shall
briefly notice one insect, and describe its crepitaculum, and the
tibial foramina of two orthopterous genera *.
The subdiaphanous horny apparatus at the base of the wings
of the male Locustæ and Achetæ has long since been observed to
be the znstrumentum stridoris by which the mute female is invited
by the male to celebrate their nuptials; but the peculiar and
admirable structure of the part has not been shown in a satis-
factory manner by the engraver. In different species it varies
greatly, but in the one I shall notice it is exceedingly complete.
On the horny base of the left hemelytron, beneath, a strong ridge
projects, which is furnished with hard and regular teeth : on the
right one, a bony process is placed, so as to act on the serrated
* Drawings of the several parts, by the author, are deposited in the collection of
the Society.
VOLS XV. x projection
154 The Rev. Lanspown Guirpixo on the Crepitaculum
projection of the hemelytron which lies above it; and it is by
rubbing the one over the other that the loud or shrill sound of
most orthopterous insects is produced.
One species, Locusta camellifolia, whose call (resembling the
words shock—shock slowly and loudly repeated) may be heard
in the stillness of the night at the distance of a mile, has often
astonished the inhabitant of Europe on his arrival in the tropical
regions. It is hardly possible to contemplate a more extraor-
dinary scene than one of our valleys by the light of the moon,
decorated with the shining foliage of waving palms, and lighted
up by thousands of luminous Coleoptera, which flit in every
direction before our eyes; while the grasshoppers, in company
with the Hyle and Tettigonie, perform their deafening concert.
In this most interesting species the wing-cases are admirably
adapted to increase the sound, being deeply concave in the
male, even the wings are closely pressed by the arched pteri-
gostia against the walls of the hemelytra, leaving a considerable
space vacant above the abdomen.
The other organ to which I wish to call the attention of
entomologists, (and which was first noticed, I believe, by De
Geer,) is situated on the anterior tibiæ of both sexes in such of
the orthopterous insects as possess the crepitaculum or tym-
panum at the base of the wing-cases. In the Fabrician Locuste
it consists of two approximate suboval open foramina, gibbous
at the sides: in his Achete, of two opposite oval flattened
openings, closed by a delicate membrane. In the true Grylli,
whose organ of sound (noticed by Kirby in his Introduction to
Entomology, vol. 1i.) is very different in its structure and posi-
tion, these openings are wanting.
I have no means in this distant country of examining the genus
Pneumora of Thunberg, the species of which are remarkable for
the
and Foramina of some Orthopterous Insects. 155
the sounds they produce; but they probably present a similar
conformation of the anterior tibiæ *.
It may not, perhaps, be improper in this place to mention a
curious apparatus (penicillus) in the anterior tibiz of nocturnal
Lepidoptera, especially of the Sphingide, though given for a
very different purpose. It varies much in shape and size, but
is generally an elongate velvet pad, and is used to brush and
clean the large eyes of the animals of this order.
St. Vincent, Jan. 5, 1894.
* On examining several species of Prewmora in the Society's collection, the foramina
alluded to by Mr. Guilding cannot be detected. In this genus the organ of sound is not
situated at the base of the elytra, but on the sides of the abdomen, as pointed out in
the 3rd edition of the Introduction to Entomology.—[Note by the Secretary.]
x2 VI. De-
( 156 )
VI. Description of the Plectrophanes Lapponica; a Species
lately discovered in the British Islands. By Prideaux John
Selby, Esq. F.L.S. Communicated by the Zoological Club of
the Linnean Society.
Read February 7, 1826.
Tux following description and figure (Tas. I.) of the Lapland
Bunting (the Fringilla lapponica of Linneeus, the Emberiza cal-
carata of l'emminck), is taken from a specimen in the valuable
cabinet of my friend N. A. Vigors, Esq. This individual, which
from its plumage appears to be a young bird, was found in
Leadenhall-market among some Larks, which had been sent up
to London from Cambridgeshire, and was preserved by a respec-
table naturalist*, from whose collection it afterwards passed
into that of Mr. Vigors. As a species hitherto unnoticed in
Britain, I have great pleasure in adding it to the list of our
Fauna, which within the last few years has become enriched by
several new and rare species.
* Mr. George Weighton, of the City-Road; whose services to science as a col-
lector have already been recorded in these Transactions. See vol. xiv. p. 561.
A second individual of this species, taken alive in the neighbourhood of Brighton,
and kept caged for some months, as a variety of Lark, is now in the possession of
Mr. Yarrell of Ryder-street. It differs from the specimen described in being gene-
rally of a darker colour, the spots upon the breast and neck are also more distinct,
but the disposition of the markings the same. ‘This difference probably arises from
age or sex, or it may be the result of confinement. To the last-mentioned cause may
Ordo.
also be attributed the slight elongation and rough exterior of the bill.
Jj
LI fem tnn
E
— t6
Q APPLE PIS
Mr. Sevsy’s Description of the Plectrophanes Lapponica. 157
Ordo. IxsEessores. Figorsin Linn. Trans.
Trib. CONIROSTRES. Cuv.
Fam. FrINGILrIDÆ. Vig.
Genus. PLECTROPHANES. Meyer.
Rostrum breve, conicum ; culmine rotundato, apice subcoarc-
tata, basi inter plumas frontis extendente; naribus ovali-
bus, plumosis, partim membrana tectis. Mandibularum
"marginibus introrsüm inclinantibus, a se deorsum paulu-
lum dissidentibus, superiore angustiore intùs medio sub-
gibbo.
Ale acuminate, ad medium caudæ extendentes, remigum prima
et secunda ferè æqualibus longissimis; secundæ et tertiæ
pogoniis externis subemarginatis.
Cauda mediocris, subforficata.
Pedes subgraciles ; ungue postico producto plus minusve recto.
Lapponica. P. capite nigro, superciliis albis, corpore testaceo
nigroque vario, collo suprà ferrugineo, duabus
rectricibus externis macula albá cuneiformi no-
tatis, ungue postico subrecto digitoque longiore.
Fringilla lapponica. Linn. Syst.i. p. 317. 1. Lath.
Ind. Orn. v.i. p.440. Gmel. i. p. 900.
Fringilla montana. Briss. tom. iii. p. 160.
—-—-— calcarata. Pall. It. p. 110. 20.
Le Grand Montain. Buff. Ois. v. iv. p. 134.
. Lapland Finch. Arct. Zool. ii. no. 259. Lath.
Syn. iii. p. 263.
Emberiza calcarata. Temm. Man. d'Ornith. v. i.
p. 324.
JUVEN.
158 Mr. SezBy's Description
Juven. Rostrum fusco-brunneum ad basin luteum. ‘Totum
corpus supra luteo-cinereum fusco maculatum. Supercilia
lutea, gene lute: fusco mixte ; gula lateraque colli sordide
alba fuscis duabus striis. Jugudum pectusque sordide alba
fusco-maculata. Abdomen albidum, lateribus fusco-striatis.
Tectrices alarum remigesque secundariæ fuscæ, marginibus
ferrugineis. Remiges rectricesque albido marginatæ, his
duabus extimis macula albidà cuneiformi notatis. — Pedes
brunneo-fusci ; ungue hallucis ferè recto, digito longiore.
In Mus. Dom. Vigors.
Descr. Bill yellowish-brown, palest towards the base of the
under mandible. Head and all the upper parts of the body
pale wood-brown tinged with yellowish-gray, the shafts
of the feathers blackish-brown. Greater wing-coverts and
secondary quills blackish-brown deeply margined with
chestnut- or orange-brown, the tips white. Quills dusky-
brown, paler at the edge. Above the eyes a broad streak of
pale wood-brown. Cheeks and ear-coverts wood-brown, the
latter mixed with black. From the corners of the under
mandible on each side of the throat a streak of black-
ish-brown. Throat yellowish-white. Lower part of neck
and breast dirty-white with numerous dusky spots. Belly
and vent white. Flanks with oblong dusky streaks. Tail
dusky, the outer feather with the exterior web, and half of
the interior, dirty-white ; the second with a small wedge-
shaped white spot near the tip. Legs and toes brown ; claws
not much hooked, the posterior nearly straight, and longer
than the toe.
By Dr. Latham and several other writers, this bird is placed
in the genus Fringilla of Linnæus, probably on account of the
form of its bill, which is comparatively shorter and thicker than
that
of the Plectrophanes Lapponica. 159
that of the more typical species of Emberiza. It possesses, how-
ever, the palatial protuberance or knob, a characteristic feature
of the latter group; and its bill is in all respects similar in con-
formation to that of the Snow Bunting (Emberiza nivalis Auct.),
which by Dr. Latham is placed at the head of his genus Em-
beriza. By M. TVemminck it is arranged with the Buntings,
forming with Emberiza nivalis his second section of that genus,
under the denomination of ** Bruants éperonniers.”
The comprehensive and enlightened views adopted by our
most eminent naturalists of the present day, in the classification
and arrangement of zoological objects, and which, in the de-
partment of ornithological science, have been so ably developed
by Mr. Vigors, have induced me to separate this species and
Fringilla nivalis from the true Buntings, and to assign them a
station in accordance with their natural affinities. In doing this,
I follow the example of two eminent continental ornithologists,
MM. Meyer and Vieillot, both of whom have already separated
these two species from Emberiza, the one under the generic title
of Plectrophanes, the other under that of Passerina. The appro-
priate station then, of this genus, I conceive to be intermediate
between Alauda and Emberiza, and forming as it were the me-
dium of connexion or passage from one genus to the other. In
Alauda it is met by that section of the genus which, in the
increasing thickness and form of the bill, shows a deviation
from the more typical species, and a nearer approach to the
thick-billed Fringillide ; to this section Alauda calandra, and
brachydactyla belong. Its affinity to the Larks is also shown
in the form of the feet and production of the hinder claw:
this in P. Lapponica is nearly straight, and longer than the toe,
resembling in every respect that of many of the true Larks.
The habits and manners of the two known species also bear a
much greater resemblance to those of the Larks than the Bun-
tings.
160 Mr. Srrnv's Description of the Plectrophanes Lapponica.
tings. Like the members of the first genus, they live entirely
upon the ground, and never perch: their mode of progression
is also the same, being by successive steps, and not the hopping
motion used by all the true Emberiza. A power of flight supe-
rior to that possessed by the true Buntings is also indicated by
the greater length of the wings and form of the quill-feathers.
In Plectrophanes, the first and second quills are nearly equal in
length, and the longest in the wing: in Emberiza, on the contrary,
the second and third are equal, and longer than the first. ‘The
affinity of our genus to Emberiza is shown in the form of the bill,
which, with the exception of being shorter and more rounded
on the back, possesses the characteristic distinctions of that
genus.
VIT. De
CG
VII. Description of a new Genus of the Class Mammalia, from
the Himalaya Chain of Hills between Nepaul and the Snowy
Mountains. By Major-General Hardwicke, F.R.S., and F.L.S.
Read November 6, 1821.
Quan. Gex. Dentes primores utrinque sex, in eadem serie
VOL.
collocati, superiorum laterales majores, basi gradu inte-
riore obliquo aucti, inferiorum laterales incrassati, apice
latiores, externe oblique truncati, intermedii duo paululum
breviores. Laniarii primoribus multo longiores, superiores
conici recti, inferiores subarcuati, oblique patentes, utrin-
que pagina exteriore sulcis duobus longitudinalibus exarati.
Molares utrinque quinque, serie recta collocati, gradatim
ampliores ad quartum usque: suprà primus intervallo brevi
ab laniariis remotus, majusculus, acie conoideá procerá
postice gradu abbreviato prædità, latere interiore ad basin
marginatus ; secundus subincrassatus, cuspidibus tribus la-
teralibus, medià elatiore, duabus intermediis brevioribus,
uná interiore simplici minimá, omnibus acutis, conicis aut
compressis ; fertius multicuspidatus, cuspidibus exteriori-
bus suberectis, serie eádem dispositis, intermedia majore
elatiore, interioribus duabus anticis conicis, basi tumidis,
posticà minore, cuspidibus lateralibus adpressa, omnibus
subobliqué truncatis, apicibus marginatis, circularibus aut
undulatis concavis, tuberculo interiore minimo abbreviato
margini basilari apposito ; quartus maximus multicuspida-
tus, cuspidibus duabus exterioribus, anticá tripartita ela-
Vi: Y tiore,
162
Major-General Harpwicke’s Description
tiore, intermediis duabus maximis, his omnibus truncatis,
margine subprominente circulari aut undulato cinctis, tu-
berculis tribus interioribus abbreviatis, simplicibus, acutis,
in marginem interiorem coadunatis ; quintus paululum an-
gustatus multicuspidatus, quarto structurá ac divisione si-
milis. Dentes maaille inferioris angustiores : primus secto-
rius compressus, acie procera gradu postico basilare præ-
dità ; secundus ampliatus, cuspide intermedia latere exte-
riore truncata, gradibus accessoriis duobus, antico brevi
compresso, postico latiore truncato tritorio ; fertius multi-
cuspidatus, cuspide anteriore oblique truncata, intermedia
maxima, sulco profundo sejuncta, basi conica irregulari,
latere exteriore truncato, interiore dorso obliquo emargi-
nato excurrens, cuspide postica lata, abbreviata, truncata,
tuberculo minimo interiore; quartus cuspidibus pluribus
inæqualibus, aliis apicibus truncatis, marginatis, subpro-
minentibus, aliis acutis, mamillaribus, abbreviatis ; quintus
longissimus multicuspidatus, cuspidibus interioribus trun-
catis, exterioribus acutis.
Caput subglobosum, magnum ; facies subrotunda; gene tumi-
de; frons plana, elongata, lata. Lingua scabriuscula.
Rostrum breve, conicum, latissimum. | Rictus mediocris.
Rhinarium obtusum ; nares terminales. Auriculæ breves,
acute, posteriores, distantes, villosee. Oculi rhinario ap-
proximati, antice positi. Maala intumescens. Mandi-
bula subrecondita. — l'ibrisse mastacales nonnulli, albæ.
Collum breve.
Corpus magnum, cylindricum, obesum, codario villosissimo et
pilis longis, æqualibus, molliusculis, basi lanuginosis, ves-
titum.
Cauda longitudine corporis, basi amplissima, cylindrica, versus
apicem subattenuata, villis longissimis patentibus vestita.
Pedes
of a new Genus of the Class Mammalia. 163
Pedes plantigradi, pentadactyli. Plante lanugine mollissima
dense vestite. Ungues falcule, compresse, arcuato, acu-
tissimæ (retractiles).
The body above is of a beautiful fulvous brown colour, which
on the back becomes lighter, and assumes a golden hue. The
brown colour extends with a somewhat deeper shade to the
neck, the sides of the head and the ears posteriorly ; and a band
of the same colour arises from the eyes and unites to the back
of the neck. ‘The face, snout, and the ears are white; a few
fulvous and yellowish hairs are mixed with the white covering
of the forehead.
The abdomen and extremities are black, and separated by a
defined line from the colour of the upper parts. ‘The tail is
banded alternately fulvous-brown and yellow, and tipt with
black. The woolly covering of the soles of the feet is of a gray
or blackish colour. ‘The dimensions of this animal are,
ihengthi ofsthe: head S: io: coc. «finches:
from the occiput to the root
onthe tesis e$: or dives delude.
of theytanl: 929. ze. 015. 4:00:
Total length . . . . . . . 42 inches, or 3 ft. 6 in.
The peculiarities of our animal, on which its rank as a genus
depends, are striking and prominent; but its disposition in a
natural series is still obscure, as it resembles in several charac-
ters the individuals of that subdivision of digitigrade carnas-
siers, from which it differs essentially both in its teeth and in its
plantigrade walk. Among the peculiarities of our animal are
to be noticed the great breadth of the rostrum and the singular
structure of the teeth : but the most remarkable character, and
that on which its distinction principally depends, is the form of
Y 2 the
164 Major-General Harpwicke’s Description
the projecting points of the posterior grinders. This character,
as far as our observation extends, is peculiar; it does not exist,
except in a small degree, in any other genus of carnivorous
quadrupeds. The truncation, carefully described in the generic
character, is owing, in our opinion, to original structure, and is
not produced by the wearing down of the points. We observe
it both in the skull of a young animal and in that of the adult
specimen, from which the annexed drawing was made ; and our
description is confirmed by a careful comparison of the relative
elevation of the points of the two anterior grinders, in which,
although they are equally exposed to attrition, this truncation is
not observed. The margins bounding the truncated points, as
is shown in the drawing, are circumscribed and perfect, exhibit-
ing no signs of being worn down by attrition. In the disposi-
tion and even in the form of the teeth, our animal bears some
resemblance to the genera Nasua and Procyon; but these differ
essentially in the lengthened form of the head, and in the ex-
tended rostrum, which is terminated by a flexible rhinarium ;
they also differ in the number, character, and distribution of the
grinders. Nasua and Procyon have in both jaws six grinders, of
which the three anterior are false grinders ; and of those which
follow, none of the points, even in the adult state, exhibit the
truncation above described in the generic character. Our ani-
mal has only one false grinder, with a compound crown, and the
four posterior grinders are large and highly complicated: the
first of these in the upper jaw corresponds with the fourth
grinder in Nasua and Procyon, and the points are attenuated
and acute ; but the posterior grinders are quite peculiar and
characteristic in their structure.
Its haunts are about rivers and mountain-torrents. It lives
much in trees, and feeds on birds and the smaller quadru-
peds. It is frequently discovered by its loud cry or call, resem-
bling
e
ii A»
TN
/)
hy
QUA T)
"
hu
TN li
] NN i
1
of a new Genus of the Class Mammalia. 165
bling the word Wha, often repeating the same: hence is derived
one of the local names by which it is known. It is also called
Chitwa*.
REFERENCES TO TAB. II.
A. Lateral view of the teeth in the upper jaw, as they are seen
within.
B. The same, as they are seen without.
C. Lateral view of the teeth in the lower jaw, as they appear
within.
D. The same, as they appear without.
E. Front teeth: (a.) upper, (b.) lower jaw.
F. Anterior foot ; left side.
G. Posterior foot ; right side.
H. Sole of one of the posterior feet, to show its hairy covering.
* The publication of the foregoing paper has been delayed by the circumstance oí
waiting for the author's return to England, when he brought with him a second skull
from India of the same species. It is only since this Part of the Society’s Transactions
has been printing, that he has found time to look into the subject; and on doing so, it
is found that a description and figure of this interesting animal has been recently pub-
lished in the 50th Number of the “Histoire des Mammifères,” by M. Frederic Cuvier,
under the name of Ailurus fulgens. The passage which imposed a different name has
therefore, with the consent of the author, been suppressed ; but the remainder of the
information is too important to be omitted.—[ Note by the Secretary.]
r VIII. De-
( 166 )
VIII. Description of two new Birds from Nepaul. By Major-
General Hardwicke, F.R.S., and F.L.S.
Read March 21, 1826.
Genus. Lophophorus. Temm. Phasianus. Linn.
Wiarrrcnuir. L.capite cristato nigrescente, regione periopthal-
micá nudd coccineä ; collo pectoreque griseis
nigro-fasciatis ; dorso ferrugineo-aureo nigro-
variegato ; alis abdomine rectricibusque pallide
ferrugineo-brunneis, his nigro. ferrugineoque
fasciatis, illis nigro-variegatis.
The local name of this bird is Cheer. It is a native of the
Almorah Hills, on the north-eastern boundary of Hindostan,
and is about the size of the Impeyan Pheasant of Latham. It
is remarkably bold, and fights with great vigour on the least
irritation, at the same time raising its feathers and prating with
a noise which resembles the word Tuckraa, Tuckraa, several
times repeated.
The bill in size and shape very much resembles that of the
Impeyan Pheasant; but is in length something less than two
inches, much hooked at the end, and covering the apex of the
lower mandible.
The eyes are large, surrounded with a broad naked space of
an irrregular lozenge shape, broader beneath the eye than
above, and pointed before and behind, of a crimson-red colour,
and
Major-Gen. HARDWICKE on two new Birds from Nepaul. 167
and its surface covered with fine granulated papillæ. The base
of the bill is covered with a cere, but not coloured; the pupil
of the eye round and black, the irides brown, surrounded exter-
nally with a narrow ring of black.
The legs are gray, rather short for the size of the bird, and
armed with one awl-shaped spur upon each.
The plumage is a handsome mixture of gray, light-brown, and
black ; the first being limited to the head, the breast, and part
of the abdomen. ‘lhe brown prevails on all the upper parts
(except the head), and the feathers are margined with lunate-
shaped bars of black, extending to the superior coverts of the
tail. This last is cuneiform, consisting of twelve or fourteen
unequal feathers, lying in two inclined planes, the two middle-
most greatly longer than the others, and all handsomely crossed
with straight bars of black on a light-brown ground.
The colour of the head is darker, inclining to black ; and from
the crown of the head to the occiput rise a few long slender
feathers with broader tips, forming a crest inclined backward.
This bird bears the Bengal climate very well, and with little
care and trouble might be brought alive to England. The hen
differs but little from the male,—wanting the crest and spurs,—
and the females yet seen wanted the two long feathers of the
tail.
Genus. Puastanus. Auct.
GARDNERI. JP.supra brunneus, ferrugineo undulatim sparsus ;
capite, collo anteriori, abdomineque rufescenti-
bus, hujus plumis in medio pallidè ferrugineo-
lineato.
This singular bird is a native of the Snowy Mountains north
of the valley of Nepaul, and was procured through the zealous
exertions of my friend Dr. Nathaniel Wallich, aided by the
influence
168 Major-General Han pwickzx's Description
influence of the English resident at Katmandoo (the Honour-
able Edward Gardner), without which no single article, of
however little value, is obtainable by strangers from that jealous
people the Nepaulese. lt is the only subject of its kind ob-
tained during. Dr. Wallich's sojourning at Katmandoo ; and as
it appears to be an hitherto undescribed bird, it may also, from
its scarcity at that place, be deemed a rare one in the country.
In size this bird comes near to Phasianus cruentus, and mea-
sures from the apex of the bill to the end of the tail 144 inches.
The bill is black, short, robust, and the mandibles of nearly equal
length (2ths of an inch), the upper one gently arched, the cul-
men rounded ; the lower mandible straight, scoop-shaped, and
obtuse at the apex ; the base of the upper mandible is covered
with a carmine-coloured cere, in which the nasal apertures are
seated. "Phe eyes are surrounded with a narrow naked space of
similar colour, the irides brown bordered by a narrow ring of
black; the pupil black. "l'he legs are of a rufous brown: on
the left is a single conical spur, with the rudiment or tubercle of
another beneath it; but on the right leg neither of these appen-
dages is evident.
The prevailing colour of the plumage is a rust-coloured brown
blended with extremely narrow undulated lines of black, which
are most numerous on the back, wings, and tail, and producing
there a darker shade. ‘The breast, neck, and cheeks, are of a
lighter rust-colour. About the head the feathers are a little
larger; those on the crown gray, and longer, with divided webs,
rising into a moderate-sized crest, which bend gently back-
wards. ‘The wings are short, reaching to about the roots of the
tail-feathers ; the coverts almost obscured by the softness and
uniformity of the feathers. The tail, which consists of sub-
equal rounded feathers, is slightly tapered at the end, and is in
length about five inches.
The
of two new Birds from Nepaul. 169
The subject from which this description is taken, is in the
Museum of the Society.
This bird, together with the Phasianus cruentus, forms a small
group which deviates from the typical characters of the true
Phasianus by the bill being short, greatly rounded, and blunt at
the aper; by the tail being shorter and rounded ; and by the
scales of the tarsi being more numerous and closer to each
other.
VOL. XV. Z IX. A De-
IX. A Description of the Australian Birds in the Collection of
the Linnean Society ; with an Attempt at arranging them ac-
cording to their natural Affinities. By N. A. Vigors, Esq.,
M.A., F.R.S., F.L.S., and F.G.S.; and Thomas Horsfeld,
M.D., F.L.S., and F.G.S. Communicated by the Zoological
Club of the Linnean Society.
Read June 21, 1825; and January 17, 1820.
Ix submitting to the Linnean Society the following observations
on the Ornithology of New Holland, which have been founded
upon an examination of the birds contained in their valuable
collection, we presume that little explanation, much less apology,
is necessary for the mode in which our researches have been
conducted. The mode, we need scarcely premise, accords with
those principles which have been introduced into zoology by
one of the most distinguished naturalists of this Society, and is
founded upon the aflinities and analogies of the groups of the
animal world, with the view of ascertaining their station in
nature.
In regulating our researches according to these principles, we
have found it necessary to make some partial alterations in the
nomenclature which has been generally adopted in this country,
until lately, for the groups of ornithology. And in introducing
this modification of the scientific terms of Linnzus, we feel some
apprehensions that we may be supposed to deviate from those
principles of our great master, which the naturalists of this coun-
try
Mr.Vicors and Dr. HonsriErp on Australian Birds. 171
try have so long and so justly followed. But nothing can be more
unfounded than such a supposition. Devoted as our leading zoo-
logists have hitherto been to Linnzus, they have not evinced a
more sincere attachment to his precepts than the authors of the
following Catalogue. In point of fact, the apparent deviation
from the ** Systema Nature,” in our attempt to arrange the
ornithology of New Holland, and in similar undertakings of the
present day, will be found, when strictly investigated, to be
more in word than in reality. It would be superfluous to call
to the recollection of the Society how important has been the
increase of knowledge in every branch of natural history since
the days of Linnzus. That increase, in the particular depart-
ment upon which we have entered, rendering the subjects even
now above five times more extensive than when that pre-eminent
naturalist undertook to arrange them, has raised his subordinate
groups into groups of a considerably higher value than they
originally possessed. ‘Those divisions which he instituted as the
next superior groups to species, and which he denominated
genera, have swelled out by the vast accumulation of species
and the endless variety of new forms comprised in them, into
what are now considered families, or into assemblages of even
still more extensive signification. In such a change of materials,
a corresponding change in their denominations appears essen-
tially necessary: the groups, which were once termed genera,
require a more comprehensive title; and the before-unnoticed
modifications of form that spring up and constitute subordinate
groups among them take the place which they have left, and,
assuming the rank, demand the name, of genera. Such, in fact,
is the natural course of our science ; and such will ever be its
progress, while information continues to increase.
On our turning to the examination, however, of the original
groups of Linnzeus, limited as they confessedly were in his days
z à as
172 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HorsrieLzD's Description of the
as to the number of species, still we must observe that they
appear to us, when judiciously modified and faithfuily inter-
preted, not merely to embrace all the later acquisitions of sci-
ence, and to include them within the bounds prescribed by their
natural affinities, but to evince an almost intuitive insight on the
part of that great master into the laws of nature. We have been
accustomed, indeed, to contemplate with astonishment the ex-
pansiveness of those views with which he anticipated the modi-
fications of form which have been brought to light by succeeding
researches, and provided a station for them in his system suited
to their place in nature. In but few instances have we seen
cause to object to those leading views; and a slight modification
will stamp even these few instances as of equal value with the
rest. On the other hand, we are free to confess that among the
various systems of ornithology which have arisen professedly to
supersede his principles of arrangement, we see everywhere
what appears to us to be an unfaithful representation of nature.
When we adhere, then, to the principles of Linnæus, and to
those grand and leading divisions which he has portioned out
for our instruction, although with a modification of the terms of
his nomenclature,—a modification which the fleeting nature of
nomenclature itself renders necessary, and to which the scien-
tific language of our own days must submit in its turn,—we
conceive that we pay the most genuine homage to his genius
and reputation. Were we, on the other hand, to adhere strictly
to his nomenclature, and endeavour to square it to the gigantic
mass of materials that is progressively increasing upon us, we
consider that we should endanger his reputation by exposing the
inadequacy of his system to any practical purposes, and thus
prove ourselves by ill-judged adulation to be the mere lip-
worshippers of his name.
It is thus, by adhering to the general views of Linnæus, but
partially
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 175
partially remodelling the terms of his nomenclature, that we
conceive ourselves strictly to derive our principles from him.
We are willing to go even so much further as to assert that
those naturalists, who in the present advanced state of sci-
ence would have us bind ourselves exclusively to his nomen-
clature, virtually run counter to the spirit of his precepts. Had
he left us only what he called his ** System," this fact might
not appear so evident. But he has left us what is even of more
value, if possible,—his opinion of that system, and of its insuf-
ficiency for any purpose but to meet the limited knowledge of
his age. He pointed out* to us how far it was a mere outline
of the material world, to be filled up as increasing information
would furnish the details,—how far it was a mere substitute for
that more ample view of nature, of which succeeding ages might
hope to obtain a glimpse. He saw, in fact, the promised land
* We allude to those sketches of the vegetable kingdom, which, with the modesty
always attendant on true genius and information, Linnæus styled ** Fragments of a
Natural Method." [n these the first glimpse is given of that improved mode of sym-
bolical representation by which we may hope, as knowledge increases, to communi-
cate with some degree of accuracy our ideas respecting the groups of nature. The
deficiency perceptible in these “ Fragments" is expressly stated to have originated
in the deficiency of materials, which more extensive knowledge would serve to sup-
ply ;—“ defectus nondum delectorum in causa fuit quod methodus naturalis deficiat,
quam pluriuin cognitio perficiet; natura enim non facit saltus." (Phil. Bot.) We
cannot give a more just description of the genuine merits of Linnaeus with respect to
his views of arrangement, than by transcribing the words of the author of the “ Hora
Entomologice,” who, after stating that * he honours the memory of that great man,” not
on account of “his precision of description,” nor of “his learning in synonyms,” nor of
“his having been a happy inventor of words," asserts, * that his glory is built on much
more stable foundations: for the man who first pointed out the distinction between the
natural method and an artificial system ; who first perceived the impossibility of giving
either accurate definitions or characters to natural groups ; and who first remarked the
existence of intermediate genera between natural orders, must always be considered as
one of the principal founders of our knowledge with respect to the natural system, when-
soever this shall appear."— Hore Ent. Pref. p. xx.
before
-
174 Mr.Vicons's and Dr. Honsrirrp's Description of the
before him ; and he equally saw, that the limits allotted to the
life and the labours of man did not permit himself to enter it.
Dut he lived sufliciently long to conduct the followers of nature
to the Pisgah of science, and to show them, in his prophetic
admonitions, the abundance of the territory which lay within
their reach, and the paths through which they might hope to
occupy that land of promise. It is not, we conceive, too pre-
sumptuous to affirm*, that he would himself have followed the
same paths which we are now all pursuing in conformity with his
instructions, had he lived to accompany and regulate our move-
ments. :
Were there to exist, however, a case in which it would be
allowable for a disciple of Linnæus to depart not only from his
mode of nomenclature, but even from his general principles, that
case is now before us. ‘The subjects which we have attempted
to arrange come from a country scarcely more than the name of
which was known in the days of Linneus. And it is to be
recollected, that in the variety and novelty of the forms of its
animal productions, that country presents an almost totally in-
sulated character. Among the number of birds which are now
in the Society s museum, and which are daily increasing our
Australian collections, not much above ten, certainly not twenty,
species could have come under the inspection of Linnzeus; and
these are species merely which are common to the islands of the
* In hazarding the above assertion, we shelter ourselves under the following obser-
vations of one of the most acute and scientific naturalists of our age :—“ Jam hujus loci
non est, magnum numerum novorum generum contra illos defendere, qui omnes spe-
cies, quamvis alienissimas, ad genera Linnæana revocari jubent. Mihi certe sententia
stat, Linnewm, ubi omnes species hodie notas vidisset, primum ipsum in novis generibus
condendis fuisse; ut vera erga virum immortalem veneratio nobis injungat, ea que ali-
orum erroribus inductus male disposuerat, aut que cum generibus ejus non bene con-
gruunt, rectius distinguere et apte collocare; quod illius jussu fecisse videbimur."—
Illiger, Prod. Mamm. et Av. p. xiii.
Indian
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 175
Indian ocean, or which, according to the varied laws that regu-
late the geographical distribution of the groups of ornithology,
are scattered almost indiscriminately over the globe. Beyond
these few instances, not only every species is new, but almost
every form is distinct from those which were familiar to Euro-
peans half a century ago. For such productions consequently
no generic names or minuter characters are to be found in the
works of Linnæus. And when we consider the totally new and
apparently anomalous peculiarities of these productions, it would
not be altogether unreasonable to suppose that no place could
be found, even in the greater divisions of his general system,
where they might be assembled according to their natural affi-
nities. But this is far from being the case. His mode of in-
terpreting the general laws of nature was so penetrating, and at
the same time so comprehensive, that provision is made in his
primary and leading divisions even for these novelties and
apparent anomalies. In including them, therefore, within the
pale of his system, merely by partially modifying and liberally
interpreting it, —and interpreting it solely according to his own
instructions,—instead of making the arrangement which includes
these productions a large and unsightly excrescence of that
system, or a distinct, nay, a contradictory appendix to it, we
consider that we not merely do justice to the comprehensiveness
of his views, but confine ourselves within the strict principles of
the school which looks up to him as its founder.
We feel much gratification in being able to state, that since
we commenced our examination of the birds in the Society's
collection, we have had the good fortune to obtain some valuable
information respecting the habits and internal structure of many
of the species ; and we may add, that we have a few important
facts in natural history to communicate, and several extensive
and strongly characterized groups to exhibit for the first time
with
176 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. Honsrrgrp's Description of the
with their distinguishing peculiarities, which we conceive will
prove of interest to the Society. We are indebted for much of this
valuable information to Mr. Caley, who collected the greater part
of the New Holland birds belonging to the Society ; and who
kindly allowed us to make use of his original notes on these
birds, written during his residence in the colony. We have also
to express a similar acknowledgement to Mr. Drown, who, in his
general zeal for science, did not neglect the interests of zoology
while devoting himself to the advancement of his favourite
study. ‘lo his liberality the Society is indebted for many of
its choicest treasures; and the kindness with which he has
communicated his information respecting them enhances their
value.
Still we have to regret that we are but imperfectly acquainted
with a considerable number of the more important forms in the
collection, either as to their manners or their internal anatomy ;
and that many of our observations on them must necessarily be
founded on conjecture. Great imperfection may consequently
be expected in our details. A favourable prospect, however,
opens to us of having our deficiencies supplied on many of
these points; but a prospect, which we scarcely know whether
we should most rejoice in or lament. "l'he removal of the late
Secretary of this Society to an important official situation in the
country whose ornithology we are about to investigate, encou-
rages us to hope for much valuable assistance to our labours ;
while at the same time we cannot avoid regretting his temporary
absence from a Society, which is bound to him by every tie of
respect and gratitude. But the evils attendant on separation
will be softened down on both sides by the continued intercourse
which science thus fortunately holds out between us; and we
shall be the less estranged, in being still participators in his
eminent zeal for our common pursuit. We hope we do not
travel
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 177
travel out of the line of our duty,-—while investigating a collec-
tion, which has already received, and which it is expected will
continue to receive, so much benefit from Mr. MacLeay,—when
we express our sincere wishes for a successful accomplishment
of the objects of his mission, and a happy return to his country
and this Society.
Ordo Il. RAPTORES. lil.
Fam. VurTrURIDE.
The first order which meets our attention, as the first division
of the T'ypical Group in Ornithology, is the Raptorial Order, or
the Birds of Prey. Of these birds, again, the first subdivision
that comes before us, as being the first department of the Typical
Group of that order, is the family of Vulturide. Of this family
the Society's collection possesses no specimen ; nor have we as
yet seen any species of it from New Holland. Dr. Latham, how-
ever, describes two species as natives of that country: but we
have much doubt whether they will be found to appertain to the
Vultures. One of these, his New Holland Vulture, seems to have
a weak, straight, and elongated bill, with long and slender tars: ;
and, as far at least as can be judged from a figure, bears a greater
resemblance to a Wading Bird than to a Bird of Prey. The
second species, the Vultur audax of the ** Index Ornithologicus,"
which its distinguished author seems not to have described
from his own observation, but from hearsay, as he states its size
to be uncertain, does not appear to possess any characters in
common with the Vultures, except a partial absence of feathers
on the cheeks. From the account of its manners also, which are
described as bold and courageous, so much so as to induce it to
attack the natives themselves,—a circumstance, indeed, from
whence it has derived its specific name,—we can scarcely feel
VOL. XV. 2 À inclined
178 Mr. Vicors’sand Dr. Horsrretv’s Description of the
inclined to assign it a place among the proverbially slothful and
cowardly Vulturide. ‘The nearest approach to the characters of
that family that has come under our observation among the
birds of Australia is in the genus Polyborus of M. Vieillot, the par-
tially naked cheeks of which are allied to those of the Vultures.
That genus, however, possesses so many characters in common
with the Falconidæ, particularly with the Fishing Eagles, that it is
generally ranked in that family, but at that extremity of it which
meets the family now before us. This genus Polyborus is said
to assume much of the manners of the Vudtures, and may per-
haps be considered as in some degree to supply their place
in Australia. But on this and similar points we do not at
present wish to hazard an opinion. Conjecture may be allowed
in some measure to supply the place of facts, when facts are
incapable of being ascertained: but with so early a prospect
of having our doubts cleared up upon every subject relating
to the zoology of New Holland, it is perhaps more prudent
merely to express them.
Fam. FarcoNinpz.
In this family there are many species and many forms in the
Australian Fauna. ‘The forms, however, are such as are com-
mon to every other part of the world, with the exception of the
genus Polyborus, to which we have just alluded, and which is
confined to southern latitudes, although widely distributed as to
its longitudinal extent. We may generally observe with respect
to the groups of the Falconide, that they know no bounds as to
their geographical distribution. Preying indiscriminately upon
all species of the inferior animals, and not being confined, like
many other tribes of birds, to a particular or a local food, the
different forms that compose the family may readily be con-
ceived to be dispersed all over the globe. Their powers of
flight,
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 179
flight, moreover, are so great, that we need not be surprised at
finding that even the same species will sometimes spread itself
over the most distant regions. Such at least appears to be the
fact, whatever may be the causes which produce it. An analo-
gous fact is observable in the Grallatorial order, where the same
considerations, added to the habits of migration common to the
order, may probably account for a similar law of distribution.
Among the Natatores also we may expect that the extensive
powers of locomotion found in some of the groups of the order,
suited as well to the water as to the air, may tend to their wide
dispersion. A few instances consequently occur of an accord-
ance between the birds we are about to describe, and some of
the forms of the above-mentioned groups which are familiar to
Europeans. But by far the greater portion of the groups of
New Holland will be observed to exhibit peculiarities confined
to their own neighbourhood.
Subfam. ACCIPITRINA.
Genus. Astur. Bechst. et Auct.
1. Nove HorraxprE*. Ast. albus, rostro nigro, cerd, orbitis,
pedibusque flavis.
Falco
* Were we to follow a practice which has become very general among modern
naturalists, we should alter the specific name of the above bird, in consequence of its
being derived from a local source. We consider this practice, however, although
sanctioned by high authority, to be altogether founded in error. In giving local names,
it is not inferred that the species is found only in the country which affords the deno-
mination; much less that it is the only species of the group found there. All that is
inferred is, that it does actually belong to the country. After all, names are of use
only as they tend to point out the subjects for which they stand. And a name long
established, although perhaps not the most appropriate, generally becomes so iden-
tified with the species as to call it to mind with greater precision than any new name,
however significant. Few names indeed, however well chosen, can be exclusively
appropriate to species ; and a considerable number,—such as names intended to pay a
2A2 compliment
180 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HonsrrErp's Description of the
Falco Nove Hollandiæ. | Gmel. Syst. i. p. 264. no. 69.
Falco albus. Shaw, White's Voy. pl. in p. 260.
New Holland White Eagle. Lath. Gen. Hist. i. p. 217. no. 146.
In Mr. Caley’s MSS. we find the following observations on
this bird :—** Milk-white Hawk. This bird was shot near Duck-
river, which is a branch of Port Jackson harbour, about two
miles from Paramatta on the road to Sydney. I have seen the
species very sparingly. "The natives tell me it feeds upon fish.
Its weight is 11b. 1207. The irides are light olive, but with a
shade of yellow.— Feb. 1809.”
There are two specimens of this bird in the British Museum,
and we have seen two other specimens exactly according with
ours, which were lately brought to this country from New Hol-
land. We have also heard of some other specimens. We have
therefore little doubt of its being a distinct species, and not the
white variety of another, as suggested by M. Cuvier in his
** Regne Animal*,”
2. Rarr. Ast. superne cineraceus, subtus albus fusco-variegatus,
rectricibus pallidé cineraceis, subtus albescentibus fusco-fasci-
atis.
Rostrum nigrum. Gula alba lineis fuscis gracilibus notata.
Pectus fusco-lineatum. Abdomen fusco-fasciatum. Scapu-
compliment to individuals, or names expressing a native or provincial designation, —can
be of little use in pointing out a species. Local names, unless actually misapplied, (in
which case they should of course be altered) will be at least as appropriate as these.
On the whole, we consider the multiplication of synonyms, and the confusion
necessarily resulting from it, to be a greater error in nomenclature than the want of
significance in a specific name. And although, from the circumstance of objections
having been started against local names, we agree that they should be sparingly used
in future; yet when once they have been established, we conceive it more prudent to
retain them, acting upon the only sure ground which can be assumed in all such
cases,—the ground of priority. * Tom. i. p. 320.
lares
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 181
lares tectricesque fuscæ, ad basin albæ fusco-variegate.
Rectrices fasciis plurimis fuscis instruct, pogoniis internis
albo-marginatis. Pedes pallidi; wngues nigri. Longitudo
corporis, 151; ale a carpo ad remigem quartam, 101; caude,
81; mandibule superioris, 14, inferioris, 1; farsi, 23.
Memorie Joannis, Rati, Zoologicorum Britannicorum prin-
cipis, hec species perpulchra sit sacra.
3. Rapiatus. Ast. nigro radiato-maculatus, corpore ferrugineo,
alis cauddque elongata fuscis. Lath.
Falco radiatus. Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. p. xii. no. 40.
Autour radieux. Temm. Pl. Col. 123. Juv.
Radiated Falcon. Lath. i. p. 222. no. 153. pl. xi.
4. FascraTUs. Ast. superné fusco-brunneus, subtus albidus, con-
fertim fusco-brunneo-fasciatus, femoribus rufo-fasciatis.
Rostrum nigrum. Remiges superne fusco-brunneæ, pogoniis
internis rufo-marginatis, fusco-fasciatis ; subtus albide,
fusco-fasciate. Rectrices supernè fusco-brunneæ, subtus
albidæ, fasciis plurimis nigris instructæ ; pogoniis internis
superne rufescentibus, fusco-fasciatis. Longitudo corporis,
Maris 164, Foem. 191; ale a carpo ad remigem quartam,
Maris 101, Foem. 12; caude, Maris 8, Foem. 9; mandi-
bule superioris, Maris z, Foem. 2; inferioris, Maris 2,
Foím. 1$; tarsi, Maris 22, Foem. 31.
This bird is called in New Holland the greater Bilbil, as we
are informed by Mr. Caley. Dilbil seems to be a general name
for several species of Hawks.
5. APPROXIMANS. Ast. supernè fusco-brunneus, subtus albidus
brunneo-variegatus ; femoribus rufo-fasciatis, rectricibus ob-
scuré fusco-fasciatis subtus pallidioribus. .
Rostrum
182 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. Hors¥1Eetp’s Description of the
Rostrum pedesque pallidè plumbei. Caput, collum, pectusque
lineis latis brunneis notata. Abdomen fasciis latis brun-
neis notatum. Remiges interne rufo-marginate, obscure
fusco-fasciatæ : subtus pallidiores, ad apicem fuscæ, brun-
neo-fasciate. Rectrices brunneæ, interne rufo-marginate ;
subtus pallidiores, fasciis plurimis fusco-brunneis instructæ.
Longitudo corporis, 19; ale a carpo ad remigem quartam,
12; caude, 10; mandibule superioris, 1, inferioris, = ;
tarsi, 31.
This species bears a great resemblance to both the last in
its colours and the general distribution of them; and we have
had some doubt as to our bird being the young of one of them.
But we consider that the fascie on the abdomen, which are
broader and less frequent than those on the same part in Ast.
fasciatus, form a sufficient mark of distinction between the two
species; while its greater size and stronger tarsi equally sepa-
rate it from Ast. radiatus. The tarsi of this latter species are,
comparatively speaking, slender, and bring it near the group of
Accipitres.
Genus. Accrprrer. Raii et Auct.
1. Torquatus. Acc. superne cineraceo-fuscus, nuchá rufescente ;
subtus albidus, rufo-fasciatus.
Falco torquatus. | Cuv.
Autour à Collier roux. Temm. Pl. Col. 43.
Juv. Acc. superné cineraceo-fuscus, albido-variegatus, subtus albi-
dus, pectore fusco-lineato, abdomine fasciis rufo-fuscis latis
notato.
Autour à Collier roux jeune. — Temm. Pl. Col. 93.
Mr. Caley says, ** the native name of this Hawk is Dilbil. It
is a bold bird, and makes great havoc among chickens. I once
witnessed
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 183
witnessed it in the act of darting at a Blue Mountain Parrot,
which was suspended in a cage from the bough of a mulberry-
tree within a couple of yards of my door.—The irides are yellow.
The length of the male is 12+ inches, of the female, 141.”
+ Subfam. Faiconina.
Genus. FArco. Linn. et Auct.
1. Perecrinus. I’. cerd pedibusque luteis, corpore supra cinereo
fusco-fasciato, subtus ex rufo albo ; tenis postocularibus ni-
gris, caudá albo-punctatd.
Falco peregrinus. Rati Syn. Av. p. 13. no. 1.
Le Lanier. Pl. Enl. 430.
Le Faucon. 16. 421.
Peregrine Falcon. Selby, Ill. of Brit. Orn. pl. 15.
Upon a minute comparison of the specimen before us in the
Society’s collection, which is in a fine state of preservation, with
some European specimens of this species, we can discover no
material difference between them. The native name of this
bird is Wolga. The eyes, Mr. Caley observes, are of a blueish
black ; the irides having a faint shade of hazel-brown in a strong
light.
2. CeNcnnorprs. PF. superne rufus, subtus albidus, pteromati-
bus remigibusque nigris, rectricibus pallide cineraceis, fascia
nigrá lata prope apicem album.
Fom. IF. superné rufa, subtus albida, pteromatibus remigibusque
fuscis, rectricibus rufis graciliter fusco-fasciatis, fasciá lata
fusca prope apicem album.
Caput rufum, nigro-lineatum. | Dorsum scapularesque rufæ ni-
gro parce notate. Tectrices, maris nigra, foemine fuscæ,
rufo-maculatæ ; inferiores albe. Gula femoraque albæ.
Pectus
184 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. Horsrtevp’s Description of the
Pectus rufescenti-albidum, rhachibus rufis. Remigum mar-
go internus albo angulatus, rufo-variegatus. Rectrices sub-
tus albæ. Rostrum pallidum apice nigro. Longitudo cor-
poris, 124; ale a carpo ad remigem secundam, 10; caude,
6; rostri, =; tarsi, 14.
«This bird," as we are informed by Mr. Caley, “is called
Nankeen Hawk by the settlers. It is a migratory species. My
_ specimens were shot in May and June 1803. At that time the
species was plentiful; but ever afterwards I observed it but
sparingly. On the 3rd of August 1804, I made the following
note :—I saw no Nankeen Hawks this autumn.—lI never observed
it attacking the fowls.”
The species is closely allied to a group which is noted for the
general similarity and the corresponding disposition of its co-
lours; and which includes our Kestril, F. tinnunculus, Linn,
the Keyygis of Aristotle; the newly-characterized European spe-
cies, F. tinnunculoides, Temm.; the African species, F. rupico-
lus, Daud. ; and some others. ‘The group may be observed to
possess a greater shortness of wing than is usual among the true
Falcons; a character, which points out the passage from those
birds to the Hawks. Our species appears decidedly distinct
from any of the group which we have met with.
3. Bertcora. FF. rufo-brunneus, guld, collo, nucháque pallide
aurantiacis, tectricibus remigibusque fusco-brunneis rufo-no-
tatis, rectricibus cineraceo-brunneis rufo-fasciatis apice pal-
lido.
Rostrum pedesque plumbei. Pteromatum remigumque pogonia
interna rufo-fasciata ; externa, remigum quatuor extimarum
pogoniis exceptis, rufo-maculata. Tectrices inferiores rufi.
Remiges subtus ad basin albidæ, ad apicem fuscæ. Femora
parce
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 185
parce rufo-marginata. Uropygium, rectricesque fasciis rufis
plurimis instructæ, hee subtus pallidiores. Longitudo cor-
poris, 17—18; ale a carpo ad remigem secundam, 14—
15; caude, 8—9 ; mandibulæ superioris, 1-4, inferioris, 1 :
tarsi, 14.
8. variat guld colloque magis albidis quam aurantiacis, rectri-
cumque fasciis mints latis quam in specimine typico.
The native name of this bird, which we have adopted as its
specific name, is Berigora. It is called by the settlers Orange-
speckled Hawk. My. Caley informs us, that the orange marks
in the plumage of this species are considerably stronger in
recent specimens than in those of the Society’s collection, which
are much faded. ‘The specific characters of this bird accord
very closely with those of Dr. Latham’s ** Cream-bellied Falcon* ;"
but that bird is described as having a double tooth to its bill,
while ours is singly-toothed as in the genuine Falcons.
Subfam. Mitvina.
Genus. EÉrawvus. Sav.
1. Mevanoprerus. El. plumbeus, subtus albidus, remigibus
nigricantibus, rostro humerisque nigris, caudá albá, pedibus
flavis. Leach.
Falco melanopterus. Daud. Traité d'Orn. ii. 152. sp. cxxiv.
Elanus cæsius. Sav. Ois. de l'Egypte. p. 98. pl. ii. f. 2.
Elanus melanopterus. Leach, Zool. Misc. iii. p. 4. t. 122.
Le Blac. Le Vaill. Ois. d Afr. pl. 36, 37.
This bird is called by the natives Najingarring, as we are
informed by Mr. Caley, from whose MSS. we extract the fol-
lowing observations respecting it. ‘This species was very
numerous in the autumn of 1803, that is, the autumn of New
* Gen. Hist. vol. i. p.230. no. 165.
VOL. XY. 25 South
186 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. Honsrigrp's Description of the
South Wales. I never observed it to attack the fowls; and I
have some recollection of the natives telling me its principal
food was field-mice. 1 have seen it at times hover in the air
apparently motionless and stationary. It is a migratory species.
I have noticed one as early in the season as February 9th, 1805.
—The rides are reddish-orange."
The Elanus melanopterus appears to be spread over a vast
extent of the Old World, being numerous in Egypt, and the
greater part of Africa, as far as to the Cape of Good Hope. It has
also been met with in various parts of India, in Java, and New
Holland. There seems to be a considerable variation in the
plumage of this species, the black markings of the wing spread-
ing to a greater or less extent in different specimens.
Subfam. AQUILINA.
Genus. Hatixétus. Sav.
1. Carzr. Hal. rufescenti-brunneus nigro-variegatus, remigi-
bus fuscis, rectricibus cineraceis nigro-fasciatis apice pallido.
Caput, pectus, abdomen, femoraque rufescentia, nigro-lineata.
Dorsi crissique plume, scapulares, tectricesque superiores
pallidiores, maculis subtriangularibus nigris notatæ, rufo-
marginatæ. Remiges superno fusce, infra albescentes, ni-
gro-fasciate. Rectrices supernè cineraceæ, subtus albidæ,
fasciis decem nigrescentibus notatæ. Pedes pallidi; ungues
nigri. Longitudo corporis, 23; rostri, 12; ale à carpo ad
remigem quartam, 17; caude, 11; tarsi, 23.
Domini GrorGir Carry, peregrinatoris eruditi, sagacissimique
observatoris, qui, per decem annos in Australia commoratus,
Naturam in adyto suo, in agris, sylvis, montibusque coluit,
heec species, quam inter multas alias laboribus ejus debemus,
nomine designetur.
2. Ca-
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 187
2. Caxorus. Hal. supernè ferrugineo-brunneus, pteromatibus
remigibusque fusco-brunneis ; subtus albidus ferrugineo varie-
gatus.
Caput, collum, dorsum, scapulares, ptilaque pallidè ferrugineo-
brunneæ, plumis ad basin albis, rhachibus fuscis. Remiges
fusco-brunneæ, intimarum pogoniis internis ferrugineo-
marginatis fusco-fasciatis. — T'ectrices inferiores ferrugineo-
brunneæ albido-variegate. — Rectrices pallide fusco-brun-
new, pogoniis internis pallidioribus fusco-sparsis, subtus ad
basin albescentes. Longitudo corporis, 21; ale a carpo ad
remigem quartam, 16; rostri ad rictum, 11; caudæ, 101;
tarsi, 2.
We have felt much hesitation in describing this bird as a new
species; the specimen in the Society’s collection being in bad
condition, and in particular much faded in colour. We con-
sidered it to bear much resemblance, as far at least as could be
judged from a figure, to the young of Dr. Latham’s Falco Nove
Zelandie*, which species has been ascertained to belong to the
Australian Fauna. But it does not so well accord with M. 'Tem-
minck's figures of that species*, nor with those given in Fors-
ter's drawings in the Banksian library +. We consider it best to
record it for the present as a distinct species, with an expression
of doubt, until more perfect specimens permit us to speak with
certainty.
The native name of this bird is Moru, and also Wirwin, as we
are informed by Mr. Caley. It is called the Whistling Hawk by
the settlers. ‘That gentleman adds, that ** it makes a loud whist-
ling noise when on the wing and sailing about in the air. It
frequents the upper parts of the harbour (Port Jackson), par-
* Gen. Hist. 1. p. 160. no. 84. pl. ix. + Pi. Col. 192. ad 224. juv.
i Nos..36,.37; 98;
2B2 ticularly
188 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HonsrrErp's Description of the
ticularly about the Flats, a few miles below Paramatta. ‘The
natives tell me it feeds upon dead fish, and the bones (of fish 1
apprehend) which they leave. ‘The Flats is a noted fishing
place for the natives: the water there is shallow, and at ebb-
tide a great portion of sand is left bare, which, with some marshy
land adjoining, forms a convenient resort for several species of
birds."
Genus. AqvuirA. Cuv.
1. Fucosa. Aq. fusco-brunnea, capite scapularibus ptilisque fer-
rugineo-brunneis, remigibus femoribus caudáque cuneatä fusco-
nigris.
Aquila fucosa. Cuv. Règne Anim. pl. i. f. 1.
Aigle à queue etagée. Temm. Pl. Col. 32.
Fam. STRIGIDzÆ.
Genus. Noctua. Sav.
1. Boogook. N. superné brunnea, maculis parcis albido-flaves-
centibus ; subtus albida, maculis ferrugineis variegata ; digi-
tis pilosis.
Strix Boobook. Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. p. xv. no. 9.
Boobook Owl. Id. Gen. Hist. i. p. 362. no. 66.
‘The native name of this bird," as Mr. Caley informs us,
‘is Buckbuck. It may be heard nearly every night during
winter uttering a cry corresponding with that word. Although
this cry is known to every one, yet the bird itself is known but
to few; and it cost me considerable time and trouble before
I could satisfy myself respecting its identity. ‘The note of the
bird is somewhat similar to that of the European cuckoo, and
the colonists have hence given it that name. ‘The lower order
of the settlers in New South Wales are led away by the idea
that every thing is the reverse in that country to what it is in
England :
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 189
England: and the cuckoo, as they call this bird, singing by
night, is one of the instances which they point out. The zrides
are yellow.” In his references to one of the specimens in the
collection, a young male, Mr. Caley notices some variation in
the colour of the rides.
9. MacuraATA. N.superné brunnea, maculis rotundis albis notata,
abdomine ferrugineo-brunneo, maculis grandioribus ; digitis
pilosis.
Capitis frons albo parce variegata; occiput, nucha, pectusque
maculis albis parvis confertis notatæ. | Dorsum, scapulares,
tectricesque maculis pauló grandioribus rotundis albis parce
instructæ. Abdomen ferrugineo-brunneum maculis gran-
dibus albis. Remiges fusco-brunneæ ferrugineo-fusco fas-
ciate, fasciis pogonii interni ad basin albidis; prime ad
quintam inclusam pogoniis externis plàüs minüsve albido
maculatis: subtus pallidiores, fasciis basalibus albidis, api-
calibus pallide fuscis notat». Rectrices cineraceo-brun-
nez pallido-fusco fasciate, fasciis pogonii interni prope
basin albescentibus ; primz pogonio externo maculis albidis
marginato: subtus pallidiores. | Longitudo corporis, 11:
rostri, 7,5; ale a carpo ad remigem tertiam, 8; caude, 5;
tarsi, 11.
This bird much resembles the last species. Having however
seen several specimens of it in fine preservation, we are at pre-
sent inclined to consider it distinct. The chief points on which
we ground this opinion are, that the latter bird is much smaller
than N. Boobook, the colour is less ferruginous, and the white
spots are much more frequent, and distinctly marked. "The
Jascie on the tail-feathers also in our bird are more conspi-
cuous.
Genus.
190 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HonsriErp's Description of the
Genus. Strix. Linn. et Auct.
1. Fuammea? S. corpore luteo punctis albis, subtus albido punc-
tis nigricantibus. Linn.
Strix flammea. Linn. 1. p. 133. no. 8.
L'Effraie. Pl. Enl. 440.
Barn or White Owl. Selby, Illust. of Brit. Orn. pl. 24.
This bird varies from our European species in the buff colour
being considerably darker, and the spots on the abdomen being
larger and more deeply marked than is usual in our own. In
our species, however, there is considerable variety ; and as we
have had an opportunity of examining but a single specimen
from New Holland, and that in rather inferior condition, we do
not wish to state with any confidence an opinion as to the
identity of these birds.
Ordo II. INSESSORES.
Tribus. Fisstrostres. Cuv.
Fam. HIRUNDINIDE.
Genus. Hrrunpo. Linn. et Auct.
1. Pvnnnowora. Lath. MSS. Hir. suprà ceruleo-nigra, subtus
fulvescens, fascid frontali ferrugined, uropygio fulvo, alis
caudáque subfurcata fuscis.
Remiges rectricesque subtus pallide fuscee. — Tectrices inferiores
fulve. Longitudo corporis, 442, ; rostri ad frontem, 1, ad
rictum, +; ale à carpo ad remigem primam, 443; ; caude,
1i; tarsi, 2.
Dun-rumped Swallow. Lath. Gen. Hist. vii. p. 309. no. 38.
Q.JA-
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 191
2. Javanica. Hir. cerulescenti-nigra, subtus albida, fascid latá
Srontali genis gulá pectoreque ferrugineis, remigibus caudáque
forficata fusco-nigris, rectricibus lateralibus albo-notatis.
Remiges subtus rectricesque inferiores pallide fuscæ. — Rectrices
externe fascia alba obliqué, cæteræ laterales macula alba
subrotundata, in medio pogonii interni notate ; due me-
diz sine nota. Longitudo corporis, 54; ale ad remigem
primam, 413; rostri ad frontem, +, ad rictum, +; rectricis
externe, 3-3, mediæ, 1.8, ; ¢ars?, =.
Hirundo Javanica. Sparm. Mus. Carls. iv. t. 100.
Hirondelle Orientale. — Temm. Pl. Col. 83. f. 2.
We have been led into a more detailed description of this
bird than we usually give to an already described species, in
order to point out the differences of its characters from those of
our European Hir. rustica, with which it has been generally
confounded. The chief distinction is in its inferior size; in the
side-feathers of the tail being shorter, and at the same time less
gracile ; in the frontal band being wider, and in the ferruginous
colour extending over the breast, in place of the broad black
band which characterizes the European species. Our New Hol-
land specimens accord accurately with the figures and descrip-
tions of this species given by MM. Sparmann and Temminck
from Javanese specimens. ‘The migratory habits of these birds
account for their wide dispersion.
In Mr. Caley's MSS. we find the following observations on
these birds. ‘The resting-places of these Swallows are on the
dead boughs of large trees, where I have seen several of them
gathered together, in the same manner as European Swallows, on
the roof of a house. I apprehend, however, that itis when their
young have taken to flight that this occurs.”
“The
192 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. Honsrrgrp's Description of the
** The earliest* period of the year that I noticed the appear-
ance of Swallows was on the 12th of July 1803, when I saw two :
but I remarked several towards the end of the same month in
the following year (1804). The latest period I observed them
was on the 30th of May 1806, when a number of them were
twittering and flying high in the air.—When I have missed them
at Paramatta, I have sometimes met with them among the north
rocks, a romantic spot about two miles to the northward of the
former place."
*'lhe natives call the Swallow, Berrin’nin; they told me it
built its nest in the hollow limbs of white gum-trees, using
bark, grass, hair, or similar substances; but when it built in
old houses it made use of mud. ‘These old houses are the
deserted huts of settlers, who have abandoned their worn-out
farms; and the nests are constructed on the wall-plates, as
they are called in the colony. Of the nests which have been
brought to me, I have observed that the outside was made of
mud and the inside lined with feathers. "l'hough I have seen
Swallows more or less almost throughout the year, yet it is my
belief that they are migratory.—The eyes are black."
Fam. CAPRIMULGIDÆ.
Genus. Caprimuzaus. Linn. et Auct.
1. Gurratus. C.suprà rubicundo-ferrugineus, fusco-maculatus,
remigibus brunneis flavo-guttatis, guttis in seriebus quinque
regulariter dispositis.
Partes superiores capitis colli et dorsi, tectricesque alarum prime
ex rubicundo-ferrugineo, fusco, nigroque variegatæ : plu-
* We must bear in mind, that Mr. Caley's observations as to the earliness or late-
ness of the year have a reference to the year of New Holland.
mulæ
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 193
mul fasciolis transversis nigris alternis rectis, alternis un-
dulatis, notatæ, ad latera rhachium maculis rhomboideis
instructæ. — Pectus, abdomen, caudaque subtus sordide fla-
vescentes, obscureque fusco-fasciatæ. Ale brunnee ; re-
migum pogoniis externis guttis orbicularibus regulariter
circumscriptis, et in seriebus quinque parallelis dispositis,
notatis; pogoniis internis fasciis transversis, guttis oppo-
sitis, instructis. Remiges omnium ordinum fasciolis semi-
ellipticis terminate. Pteromata pogonio interno maculis
orbicularibus minoribus guttata; pt/la pogonio interno rufo-
fasciata. — Rectrices brunneæ, fasciis latis tlavescenti cine-
reoque variegatis. farsi plumulis fuscis saturatioribus ad
digitos usque vestiti. Longitudo corporis ab apice rostri ad
basin caudæ, 5; rostri ad rictum, 17 ; tarsi, 4.
The only specimen of this bird contained in the Society’s col-
lection was injured before it came into the hands of Mr. Caley.
It is however sufficiently preserved to show the genus to which
it belongs, and to afford a clear specific distinction. The bill
has all the characters of that of the true Caprimulgus, being
weak, narrowed, and much compressed at the apex, with round
and elevated nostrils: the legs also, like those of the same genus,
are short, weak, and feathered to the toes, which are uneven,
and have the middle nail serrated. The wings are more rounded
than in other Goat-suckers; but this apparent deviation from
the genus is probably owing to the mode in which the specimen
has been prepared. The plumage above is nearly perfect : and
the wings exhibit without any deficiency the beautiful series of
regular round spots described above, from which the specific
name has been derived. But the plumage of the abdomen, and
of the under-parts generally, is defective. Mr. Caley informs
us that the bird was picked up dead on his preniises in its pre-
VOL. XV. 2 c sent
194 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HorsriELD’s Description of the
sent imperfect state, and was supposed to have been killed. by a
cat. Its native name, he adds, is Wat’watkin.*
Genus. ÆcoTHELESsT.
Rostrum breve, crassiusculum, latissimum, basi depressum, to-
miis integris, rictu amplissimo. Cudmen carinatum, rotun-
datum, dertro unguiculato, subadunco. Mandibula infe-
rior apice ad accipiendum superioris dertrum canaliculata.
* * The following species of this genus, which has been kindly lent to us by Mr. Lead-
beater for description, was received from New Holland, and does not appear to have
been hitherto recorded.
ALBO-GULARIS. | C. brunneus nigro griseo fulvoque varius, abdomine fulvescente
brunneo-fasciato, macula ovali obliquá ad gulam utrinque alba.
Caput. grisco-albo undulatim sparsum, lineis nigris in medio notätum. Gula, regio
ophthalmica, collumque subtus brunneo-fulvo maculatæ : torque a gulà ad nucham
extendente e maculis fulvis composito; maculà alba grandi ellipticà utrinque ad
gulam. Pectus brunneum maculis obscure albidis griseo-sparsis notatum. Dor-
sum brunneum strigis longitudinalibus griseo albidoque sparsis superne, maculis
fulvis parcis infra, notatum. — Tectrices superiores scapularesque saturate brunneæ,
fulvo griseoque parce notate ; inferiores brunneæ, fulvo-fasciate. — Remiges satu-
rate brunneæ, omnium pogoniis, tribus primis exceptis, maculis fulvis utrinque
notatis; secundz et tertie macula fulvà unica, tert: et quarte macula albá,
pogoniis externis notatis; tertie maculà albà unicá pogonio interno notato: sub-
tus pallide brunnescentes ; tertià maculà albá-utrinque, ceteris interioribus macu-
lis albidis frequentibus notatis. Abdomen fulvum, brunneo-fasciatum, fasciis infra
minus frequentibus. — Aectrices saturate brunneæ, mediarum pogoniis ambobus,
cæterarum, duabus extimis exceptis, internis fasciis griseis brunneo-undulatis no-
tatis ; quatuor extimarum pogoniis internis, et duarum extimarum pogoniis exter-
nis, fasciis fulvis undulatis; subtus pallidiores, fasciis fulvis interruptis notata.
Rostrum nigrum. Pedes brunneæ. Longitudo corporis, 142 ;
EE
rostri ad frontem, +,
si Le " ", 1 4. » fi: se) 7
ad rictum, 1455; ale a carpo ad remigem secundam, 735 caude,05 tarsi, i0
+ Aiyolmans, Caprimulgus.—W e revive the Aristotelian name of the Goatsucker.
The word, although originally conveying an erroneous meaning, has been translated
into so many languages, and, as such, has become so identified with the birds of this
family, that we feel no hesitation in applying it to the present group.
Vibrisse
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 195
Vibrisse mastacales ad apicem simplices, ad basin pecti-
nate ; capistrales numerosæ, longissimæ, porrectæ, utrin-
que pectinate. Nares in medio rostri posite, lineares,
oblique, subpatulæ, postice angustiores.
Ale breves, rotundatæ. Remiges prima et sexta ferè æquales
brevissimæ, :ecunda et quinta æquales longiores, tertia et
quarta æqual:s longissimæ ; secundæ pogonio externo levi-
ter, tertiæ ad quintam inclusam pogoniis externis profunde
emarginatis: secundæ ad quintam inclusam pogoniis inter-
nis emarginatis.
Pedes congrui. Tarsi elongati, subgraciles, compressi, nudi.
Digiti liberi, subgraciles, fere :equales. Hallux longus,
debilis. Ungues compressissimi, medio integro. Acrotarsia
acropodiaque scutulata; horum scutis confertis approxi-
mantibus.
Caüda mediocris, rotundata.
The perfection of the family of Caprimulgide may be con-
sidered as most fully exhibited in the true Caprimulgus, Auct.,
of which the common European species is an adequate example.
In that genus, which forms part of the typical group of the
Fissirostral tribe of the Insessores, the chief characters that dis-
tinguish the birds of the tribe are strongly developed, namely,
the powers of flight and of receiving their food within the wide
gape of their bill when on the wing. ‘The chief strength of the
bird is thus centred in the wings and the rictus of the bill; and
a proportional deficiency takes place in those other members
which are less necessary to it in the performance of its peculiar
functions. ‘The bill itself is feeble, and apparently useless in
securing its prey, which object is effected chiefly by a viscous
exudation within the gape, and a regularly disposed network of
strong bristles, which externally margins the rictus. The legs
2c2 also
196 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. Honsrrrzrp's Description of the
also are short and feeble, and the toes weak and irregular; the
middle toe, however, is furnished with a serrated nail, which
seems in some measure to compensate for the general deficiency
of the member, the serration being apparently intended, as has
been observed in a former volume of our **'l'ransactions," for
the purposes of seizure *. The present genus Ægotheles evidently
exhibits a deviation from these typical characters. ‘The wings
lose the superior powers of flight displayed in the true Capri-
mulgus, and instead of being long and acuminated become
short and rounded; the bill and legs assume somewhat of the
length and strength usually attached to these parts; while as
the latter members regain their general powers, the serration of
the middle unguis, which accompanied the weaker conformation,
entirely disappears. ‘The rictal bristles also partially lose their
strength and regularity of disposition ; and here, as well as in the
succeeding group of Podargus, seem to be transferred to the
front or base of the bill.
The distinction between Ægotheles and the true Caprimulgus
is thus sufficiently evident. From M. Cuvier's genus Podargus
the former group also differs in its general comparatively weaker
conformation, holding in this respect an intermediate place
between Caprimulgus and Podargus. ‘The bill is more depressed
than in Podargus, and more generally widened towards the
apex: the shape and the disposition of the nares also, as well as
the structure of the quill-feathers, is different. The tars? are
weaker and more compressed, and at the same time compara-
tively more elongated: and the toes are nearly even, while in
Podargus the middle toe is considerably longer than the rest.
We have hitherto met with but one species belonging to this
form which seems confined to New Holland.
* Vol. xiv. p. 407.
1. Nove
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 197
1. Nove HorranpiÆ. Ag. fusco nigro albidoque nebulosus,
subtus albidus, collo pectoreque fasciis obscuris, cristá frontal
erecta setaced. Lath.
Caprimulgus Nove Hollandiæ. Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 588. no. 18.
Crested Goatsucker. Phillips's Bot. Bay, pl. in p. 270.
This bird is called by the natives Teringing'. Mr. Caley cannot
exactly discover in his Notes where he met with his specimen ;
but as far as he recollects it was shot in the woods below
Sydney.
Genus. Poparcus. Cuv.
1. STANLEYANUS*. Lath. MSS. Pod. supra fusco cinereoque
fasciatus, capite maculis rhomboideis nigris notato, collo dorso
tectricibusque nigro-strigatis ; subtus cinereo sordidoque fulvo
punctatus, nigro-strigatus, rictu amplissimo.
Ptilosis superior ex fusco cinereoque varia, capite saturatiore ;
hujus plumulis transverse fasciatis, macula terminali rhom-
boideâ nigra. Colli dorsique plume fasciis latioribus punc-
tulatis ornat: ; strigà medianá nigra, ad latera undulata,
secundum rhacheos longitudinem excurrente. Remiges pri-
mores fuscæ, saturatiores, fasciis intervallis æqualibus dis-
positis, in pogonio externo albis, in pogonio interno niero
et cinereo undulatis. Remiges secundariz fasciis obscuri-
oribus fusco-cinereoque undulatis notat». Cauda cuneata :
* Several species of the New Holland birds in the Society's collection were de-
scribed by Dr. Latham iu his * General History," but did not at the same time receive
their scientific names, which were intended to appear in a second edition of the ** Index
Ornithologicus.” Being unwilling in our present undertaking to anticipate the names
of the first describer of these birds, we applied to Dr. Latham for permission to use his
manuscript names, which he kindly granted. In the case of the species before us, he
expressed his wish to dedicate it to Lord Stanley, who had presented him with the spe-
cimen from which he drew his original description; and we feel much pleasure in uniting
with him in paying this well-merited compliment.
rectrices
198 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HorsrrezD’s Description of the
rectrices intermediz longiores, sequentes, per paria, gra-
datim breviores, exteriores abruptiüs abbreviate ; omnes
fasciis fusco cinereoque punctulatis undulatisque, obscuris.
Partes inferiores diluto-cinereo et sordido-fulvo punctate,
fasciis obscuris, rhachibus strigis nigris insignibus notatis ;
fasciis gulæ jugulique tenuioribus, strigis angustioribus.
Tarsi flavescentes. — ictus amplissimus. Squamae narium
subpatule. Seti capistri numeros, dense, elongato, an--
trorsum spectantes. Vibrisse mastacales deorsum verse;
margo mentalis vibrissis plurimis elongatis subdecompositis
circumdatus. Longitudo corporis, 23; alæ a carpo ad re-
migem quartam, 12; caude, 10; mandibule superioris ad
frontem, 11, ad rictum, 3; inferioris, 24; tarsi, 143.
Wedge-tailed Goatsucker. Lath. Gen. Hist. vii. p. 368. no. 38.
In honorem viri illustris, in Ornithologiá presiantissimi, | pou Am pt
Baronis STAN LEY, Societatis Linneane P no-Pn xstDrs, hec
avis nomen obtineat.
2. Humeratis. Pod. supra cinereo-fusco sordidoque fulvo varie-
catus, capite dorsique lateribus insigné nigro-strigatis, fronte
straguloque tenuiter albo punctatis fasciolatisque, fasciis dua-
bus latis humeralibus fulvo alboque punctulatis ; subtus strigis
nigris fasciisque approximantibus sordido-fulvis tessellatus.
Capitis plumse striga lata in medio notatæ, fascia albida, punc-
tuli instar, præditæ : in fronte maculæ latiores fasciam albi-
dam constituunt. Cervix sordido-fulvo cinereoque dense
variegata, strigis longitudinalibus obscurioribus fasciisque
terminalibus rarioribus instructa. Parapterum strigá me-
diana nigrá insigne notatum ; ad latera exteriora fasciolis
fulvo cinereoque variegatis tæniam latam efformantibus.
Tectrices superiores nigro, fusco, et cinereo variegate :
plume
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 199
plume complures, pogonio externo fascia lata subterminali
præditæ, fulvo alboque punctulate, alas tæniis latis dua-
bus exornant. Remigum primarum pogonia interna fasciis
obscurioribus, externa fasciis albis insignioribus notata.
Cauda fusco cinereoque variegata, fasciis saturatis nigri-
cantibus instructa. — Partes inferiores sordido-fulvo cinereo
albidoque variegatæ ; strigis nigris colli insignioribus un-
dulatis ; abdominis strigis nigris fasciisque fulvis transver-
sim confluentibus. Femora plumis nigricantibus vestita.
Tarsi colore corneo imbuti. — Rictus dilatatione rictui Pod.
Stankyani vix æqualis. [rides flavi. Longitudo corpo-
ris, 20; ale a carpo ad remigem quartam, 12; caude, 8: ;
rostri ad frontem, 11, ad rictum, 21; /arsi, 11.
Cold River Goatsucker? Lath. Gen. Hist. vii. p. 369. no. 39.
The birds of this genus in the Society's collection bear such
a general resemblance to each other, that we have felt some
hesitation in describing them as different species. The careful
examination of many individuals in their own country will alone
determine with certainty whether they are distinct, or merely
varieties of the same species from age or sex. With respect to the
two foregoing species we have to observe that Dr. Latham, by
the examination of other subjects, has been led to the same result
as we have been by the comparison of the specimens in our
collection; and has described these birds respectively as the
Wedge-tailed and Cold River Goatsuckers. The chief differences
between them are as follows: The Pod. Stanleyanus is some-
what larger than the Pod. humeralis ; the colour of its plumage
is more purely cinereous and brown, being almost without any
mixture of tawny ; the external marks are more delicate, and the
gape of the bill is wider. "The Pod. humeralis is distinguished
by bold black longitudinal streaks, some of which are of con-
siderable
200 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HonsriErLp's Description of the
siderable breadth, which mark the upper parts; by white dots
or bands at or near the extreme points of the plumes of the
head, forehead, neck, back, and adjoining parts of the wings :
by a decided admixture of tawny among its colours; and by
two strongly-marked fulvous bands, which cross the coverts of
the wings. On the underside the transverse bands of the plumes
meeting the longitudinal streaks along the shafts at right angles,
afford a somewhat regularly chequered marking, which appears
peculiar to this latter bird.
3. Cuvieri. Pod. supra cinereo brunneo albido fulvoque varie-
gatus, graciliter nigro-strigatus, dorso scapularibus pteroma-
tibusque saturatioribus, his albido fulvoque terminatis, remi-
cibus fusco-brunneis maculis albis quadratis ; subtus pallidior
Jusco-fulvo undulatus, nigro-strigatus ; rictu minis amplo.
Vibrissc capistrales nigræ apice albo-punctate. Capitis plume
frontales albo notatz, occipitales saturatiores, omnes strigis
gracilibus nigris præditæ. Co/Ii, abdominis cervicisque plume
pallidiores nigro tenuiter strigatæ, strigis pectoralibus paulo
latioribus. Scapulares pteromataque saturatiores, apicibus
albo fulvoque notatis. Remiges primariz fusce, pogonio
externo maculis quadratis fulvo parce punctulatis, pogonio
interno fasciis obscuris albido fuscoque variis, notato ; se-
condariæ, fusco fulvo albidoque undulata, variegatæque ;
interiores in medio nigro-strigatæ, apicibus albis. Rec-
trices fulvo cinereo albidoque varie, fasciis obscuris albido
nigroque punctulatis notatæ ; prope apicem in medio ni-
gro-strigatæ, subtus pallidiores. rides brunneæ. — Longi-
tudo corporis, 16; ale a carpo ad remigem quartam, 10:
caude,8; rostri, ad frontem, 1, ad rictum, 2445 ; farsi, 1,3,.
In honorem principis Zoologorum, hujus generis fundatoris, hac
species nominatur.
This
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 201
This bird also exhibits so general a resemblance to the pre-
ceding species, that we should at once have referred it to it as a
variety, were it not that it differs in its geographical situation, as
well as in some minuter characters. It is a native of Van Die-
men’s Land, where it was met with by Mr. Caley, while the
other species is found in New South Wales. That gentleman
noted also that the zrides of the present bird were brown, while
those of Pod. humeralis were yellow. The chief difference in
their plumage is as follows: The longitudinal streaks on the
head of Pod. humeralis are bold and broad, diffusing a strong
black shade over the head; those of Pod. Cuvieri are slender
and more distant from each other, and leave the fuscous-brown
of the head predominant. The Pod. Cuvieri wants the fulvous
fascia on the shoulder, and the fasciæ on the tail are not so
strongly marked as in Pod. humeralis. The bill also of the Van
Diemen’s Land bird is somewhat shorter than the bill of the
other. We have seen a few other specimens of Pod. Cuvieri
which came from the same locality as our specimen; as also
some other birds of the New South Wales species: and those
leading marks of distinction stated above seemed constant be-
tween them. At the same time we must observe, that there
appeared much variation in the different specimens of each of
these supposed species; and we consequently cannot speak
with the same certainty respecting the difference of species in
this group, as in groups less subject to variation. We therefore
state our doubts on these points, while we follow the general
plan which we have prescribed for ourselves in all such doubtful
cases, of keeping apparent species distinct, until proof is given
of their being identical.
Mr. Caley calls all these birds by the native name of Benit’.
He observes that they are night birds, and seem stupified when
found upon the wing by day.
NOR XY. 2D | Fam.
202 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. Honsrirrp's Description of the
Fam. Topip%.
Genus. Eunvsrowus. Vieill. (Colaris. Cuv.)
1. OnrzNTALIs. Eur. cæruleo-viridis, jugulo lazulino-strigato,
remigibus rectricumque apicibus nigris, maculd alarum ceru-
led.
Coracias orientalis. Linn. 1. 159.
Rollier des Indes. Pl. Enl. 619.
In Mr. Caley’s MSS. are the following notices of this bird.
* [ts native name is Natay kin ; the settlers call it Dollar Bird,
from the silver-like spot on the wing.—It is a noisy bird when on
the wing, but mostly so in the evening, after other birds have
gone to roost. It may then both be heard and seen on the tops of
trees, particularly on dead branches, where it is most easily shot
by so exposing itself. Its flight is much like that of the Swallow,
but I have never observed it long upon the wing ; as it generally
betakes itself, as I before mentioned, to the top of some high
tree or decayed branch, from whence it darts more readily upon
its prey. At this time (the evening) the Beetles, which I have
found in their stomachs, are upon the wing.—It is a bird of pas-
sage.—The earliest period of the year at which I have noticed it
was on the 3rd of October 1809 ; and I have missed it early in
February. It is most plentiful about Christmas.”
This bird, which seems to spread itself very generally over
the Eastern world, was originally placed by Linnæus among the
Rollers, or his genus Coracias ; and although it has latterly been
formed into a distinct genus from that group, it has still been
arranged next to it by the greater number of systematic writers.
M. Vieillot observing the extreme width of the base of the bill,
grouped it among the Berry-eaters*, a family which he formed
* « Fam. 16. BACCIVoRt.”—Analyse d'une Nouv. Orn. Elem. p. 37.
out
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 203
out of the genus Ampelis, Linn., and some conterminous birds.
He however still assigned it a station in the series of his genera,
immediately subsequent to the Linnean genus Coracias. The
bird evidently exhibits strong relations to both these groups. In
its colours, its size and strength, and its general form, it bears a
resemblance to the Rollers; while in the wide gape of the bill
it equally seems to approach the broad-billed Berry-eaters.
Judging, however, even from external characters, we have no
hesitation in stating our opinion, that these relations are merely
analogical, and that the natural station of the bird is in the
tribe of Fissirostres, but at that extremity of the group where it
joins the Dentirostres. The shape of the wing, evidently formed
for a rapid flight,—the comparative shortness and weakness of
the legs, indicating the pursuit of an aérial rather than of a ter-
restrial prey,—and the notched apex of the bill, denoting its
food to be rather animal than vegetable,—all are characters
which point out its affinity to the Fissirostral group, whose per-
fection consists in their powers of flight, and of inclosing their
prey within their gape as they pursue it on the wing. The
brilliant colours of this bird, which have hitherto led to its being
placed among the Rollers, equally associate it with the present
family of Todide and with the neighbouring Halcyonide : while
the bill appears decidedly formed according to the same model
as that of Eurylaimus* and the conterminous group of Podargus.
We had much pleasure in finding that our conjectures respecting
the affinities of this group, which we had drawn merely from its
external characters, were confirmed by the accounts of its habits
and mode of life, which we have extracted above from Mr. Ca-
ley’s manuscripts. We must observe in addition, that this natu-
ralist, arranging his birds without any predilection for systems,
* See Linn. Trans. vol. xiv. p. 430; and Zool. Researches in Java, no. 2.
2p2 and
204 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. Honsrrrrp's Description of the
and in consonance merely with what appeared to him to be their
natural aflinities, of which he formed his judgement by actual
observation of their manners, has grouped these birds in the same
case with the Caprimulgi, Podargi, Hirundines, and Artami, in
which situation they may still be seen.
Fam. Hatcyonip®.
Genus. Daczro. Leach.
1. GicaNTEA. D. albida, capitis subcristati vertice maculd post-
oculari nuchalique dorso anteriori alisque fusco-brunneis, his
cæruleo-variegatis ; caudd ferrugined fusco-brunneo-fasciatà,
apice albo.
Dacelo gigantea. Leach, Zool. Misc. ii. p. 126. pl. cvi.
Alcedo gigantea. Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 245. no. 1.
Great Brown Kingsfisher. Whites Journ. pl. in p.187. Phil.
Bot. Bay, pl. in p. 287.
This species is thus referred to in Mr. Caley’s notes. “The
settlers call this bird the Laughing Jackass, and the natives, as I
think, Cuck'unda. Itis common throughout the colony, at least
in all the forest-land of the interior parts. It makes a loud noise,
somewhat like laughing, which may be heard at a considerable
distance; from which circumstance, and its uncouth appear-
ance, it probably received the above extraordinary appellation
from the settlers on their first arrival in the country. I have
also heard it called the Hawkesbury Clock (clocks being at the
period of my residence scarce articles in the colony, there not
being one, perhaps, in the whole Hawkesbury settlement), for it
is among the first of the feathered tribes which announce the
approach of day. When sleeping in the woods, I have often
found its singular noise most welcome in the morning.—Its
habits were very different from those of the Three-toed Kings-
fisher (Ceyx azurea, Lacep.)
2. Leacuit.
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 205
2. Leacurr. Lath. MSS. D. albida fusco-fasciata, capite fusco-
lineato, dorso anteriori scapularibus alisque fuscis, his ceruleo
azureoque variegatis, uropygio caeruleo, caudá azured, apice
albo.
Caput subcristatum, albidum, fusco-lineatum. Gula albida.
Pectus, nucha, abdomen, crissumque albidæ, fasciis fuscis
gracilibus undulate. Dorsi anterioris plume basi albo
apice fusci, inferioris uropygiique basi fuscæ, medio albæ,
apice cerulee. Ptila antice brunneo-fusca, postice apice
cærulea. Pteromatum plume externe azurez, interne fusce.
Tectrices inferiores albido fusco-fasciate. Remiges ad ba-
sin albæ, pogoniis externis à medio azureis, internis fuscis.
Rectrices; suprà, pogoniis externis azureis apice albis, trium
externarum pogoniis internis albis fusco-fasciatis ferrugineo
parce variegatis, quart pogonio interno fusco prope rha-
chin azureo, duarum mediarum pogoniis internis azureis,
externis fuscis; subtus, extimæ alba fusco-fasciatæ, quatuor
medi: fuscæ apice albo. — Rostrum fuscum, mandibuld in-
feriori apice supràque albida. Longitudo corporis, 15+;
ale ad remigem tertiam, 74; caude, 53; mandibule supe-
rioris, ad frontem, 2-7,, ad rictum, 345 ; tarsi, 134.
New Holland Kingsfisher. Lath. Gen. Hist. iv. p. 11. no. 2.
In honorem GurrkELM1 Erronp LraAcu, Medicine Doctoris,
Societatum Regie et Linneane Socii, &c. $c., ornithologi
evimil, qui primüm hoc genus deteait characteribusque illus-
travit, hec species perpulchra nominatur.
The specimen of this species in the Society's collection was
presented by Mr. Brown, who discovered it, on the 24th of Octo-
ber 1802, in Keppel Bay on the East Coast. "The species was
subsequently met with at Shoalwater Day, and Broad Sound, on
the same coast.
Genus.
206 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HonsrrErp's Description of the
Genus. Harcvow. Swains.
1. Crnnamominus. Hale. caruleo-viridis ; pileo, collo, plumis-
que totis subtus pallidè cinnamominis ; auribus. viridibus :
nuchá torque nigro gracili ornatá. Swains.
Halcyon cinnamominus. Swains. Zool. Illust. pl. 67.
2, Corramris. Halc. viridi-caruleus, corpore subtus collarique
albis. Lath.
Halcyon collaris. Swains. Zool. Hlust. pl. 27.
Alcedo collaris. Lath. Ind. Orn. 250. no. 14.
Sacred Kingsfisher. Phill. Bot. Bay, pl. in p. 156.
‘This bird,” says Mr. Caley, * begins to get noisy in the
spring, and may be seen frequently. A pair of them had a nest
annually, to the best of my recollection, in a large dried tree in
my garden. After the breeding season they departed; but
whether to the woods or to a greater distance I never discovered.
From the circumstance of their appearing regularly in my gar-
den and frequenting the above-mentioned dried tree, I con-
sidered them migratory.”
[2]
3. Sanctus. Halc.cæruleo-viridis, torque nuchal abdomine pecto-
reque albidis ferrugineo-variegatis, hoc fusco-undulato, super-
ciliis macula occipitali gulaque albis, teniá ante oculos ferru-
gined, collari occipitali strigáque suboculari nigris.
Capitis plume frontales ferrugineo-marginate. Dorsum ante-
rius scapularesque fusco-virides, uropygio ceruleo, Tec-
trices superiores ferrugineo-marginatæ, inferiores ferru-
gines. Remiges intüs apiceque fuscæ, cæruleo externe
marginatæ ; prima fusca externe ferrugineo-marginata,
subtus fusca interne fulvo-marginata. Rectrices cæruleæ,
pogoniis internis fusco-marginatis, subtus fuscæ. Rostrum
fuscum,
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 207
fuscum, mandibula inferiori basi pallida. Longitudo cor-
poris, 74+; rostri ad frontem, 1-5, ad rictum, 123; ale a
5 ? 2
carpo ad remigem secundam, 313; caude, 2-3, ; tarsi, +.
If the several birds, which have been described as varieties of
the A/cedo sacra of Gmelin, be actually found to belong to that
species, our bird may probably be added to the list. We have
however much doubt of their being mere varieties. In the spe-
cies of Kingsfishers which have been well ascertained, we find
little variation of plumage; and we seldom observe such an
extensive geographical distribution among them as is assigned
to the Alcedo sacra. The various groups of this family more-
over approach so nearly to each other in their characters,
particularly in the distribution of their colours, that we need
not be surprised at finding that most of the Kingsfishers of
the islands of the Indian Ocean bear a general resemblance to
each other, so as to appear at first sight varieties of one species.
We have not materials sufficient in Europe to enable us to come
to any decision on this subject: that must be determined on the
spot. But with respect to our New Holland bird, we consider our-
selves justified in keeping it distinct from the sacred Kingsfisher,
until at least some strong grounds are advanced to prove it the
same. It differs both from Dr. Latham’s and Gmelin's original
descriptions of Alcedo sacra, which were taken from a bird
belonging to the Friendly Islands, by having a conspicuous
collar round the neck; by the under parts being yellowish-
white, varied with ferruginous and undulated with slight fuscous
fascia, instead of being pure white; and by having a black
streak running longitudinally before and behind the eye, with a
black collar margining the hind part of the head, and a conspi-
cuous white spot adjoining this collar on the occiput. The Alcedo
sacra, moreover, is described as being more than nine inches in
length, Gmelin making it nine and a half, while our bird scarcely
exceeds
208 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. Honsrrgrp's Description of the
exceeds seven inches. Of all the alleged varieties of the sacred
Kingfisher the bird before us comes nearest to the description of
those which are said to be found in New Zealand.
Genus. Cryx. Lacepede.
1. AzuREA. C. saturatè azurea, corpore subtus lorisque flaves-
centibus, lateribus colli maculá obliquá alba. Lath.
Alcedo azurea. Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. p. xxxii.
Alcedo azurea. Swains. Zool. Illust. pl. 20. Lewin, Birds of
N. Holl. p. 5. pl. 1.
Mr. Caley thus observes upon this bird in his manuscripts.
* J have never noticed this species leaving the salt water beyond
the distance of two hundred yards, and seldom so far. It in-
habits the harbour of Port Jackson, particularly the upper parts
of the branches or creeks. Some birds have the breast con-
siderably more red than others. I have met with what I con-
sidered to be the same species in a brushy creek at Western
Port. I never saw it alight in trees.”
Fam. Meropip2.
Genus. Mrnmors. Linn.
1. Mevanurus. WM. viridis, tenia ante postque oculos lunula
pectorali remigum apicibus caudáque nigris, occipite remigi-
busque castaneis, gula flavd, tenid suboculari uropygio crisso-
que cæruleis.
Rostrum nigrum. Remigum externarum pogonia extima viridia.
Cauda nigra, rectricibus duabus mediis longissimis ; harum
pogoniis utrinque, primæque pogonio externo viridi-margi-
natis. Longitudo corporis ab apice rostri ad apicem mediæ
rectricis, 10, ad apicem rectricis extimæ, 8; ale a carpo ad
remigem primam, 42; caude, 5; rostri ad frontem, 11,
ad rictum, 11; farsi, 3
T5 *
In
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 209
In Dr. Latham’s first description* of his Merops ornatus, a
New Holland species of this genus not in the Society's collec-
tion, a bird is alluded to, which was figured in Mr. Lambert's
collection of drawings, and whose characters nearly accord
with the bird before us. Dr. Latham conjectures it to be the
female of M. ornatus. In the second edition of his work*, he
repeats the same observation, but does not refer to the speci-
mens in the Society's museum. One of the birds, however, in
the collection is a male, as we find recorded in Mr. Caley's
notes. Dr. Latham's conjecture respecting sex consequently
proves erroneous. And the two specimens from which our above
description is taken, according in every particular with each
other, and exhibiting a fine state of preservation, are so distinct
from M. ornatus, that we cannot consider ourselves authorised
to come at once to the conclusion that they are varieties of that
species. The tail in our bird is black, which in M. ornatus is
chestnut; and the fore part of the head is of the same colour as
the back, while in Dr. Latham's bird it is dull orange}. Both
these species differ from the M. viridis of Linnwus by their
greater size; by the throat being orange-yellow instead of blue,
and by having a conspicuous longitudinal streak of light blue
immediately under the black band that passes beneath the eye.
The rectrices also of the Indian Bee- Eater are green above, while
in the other two species they are either black or chestnut.
Mr. Caley informs us, that the specimens in the Society’s
collection were brought to him dead: he never had an oppor-
tunity of seeing the bird in its living state. He was told that it
was a bird of passage, and bred near the conflux of the Grose
with the Hawkesbury River. Its nest was said to be in the
* Gen. Syn. Supp. X. p. 155. no. 16. + Vol. iv. p. 130. no. 9.
fi The bird which Mr. Lewin has figured in his ** Birds of New Holland” (pl. 2.),
and which he has referred to Dr. Latham's Merops ornatus, seems rather to belong to
our species.
YOL. XY. 2E sandy
210 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HonsrrErp's Description of the
sandy banks of the river. To one of the specimens* the fol-
lowing note is appended. ** [ris narrow, crimson: male.—Oct.
1804."
Tribus. Denrirosrres. Cuv.
Fam. LawrADE.
Subfam. Dicrurina. Swains.
On proceeding to the Dentirostral Tribe of the Perching
Birds, and commencing with the family of Laniadæ which forms
part of the typical group of that tribe, we find representatives
of most of the greater subdivisions of the family among the
Australian birds. One subdivision alone is wanting, the sub-
family of Tyrannina, Swains. That group, or at least the typi-
cal species of it, appears confined to the New World. "The pre-
sent subfamily of Dicrurina seems, on the other hand, to belong
exclusively to the Old World; and specimens of two of its
most prominent groups, the genera Artamus and Dicrurus, are
in our collection. ‘There appears, however, some difference in
the geographical distribution of these two forms: the species of
Artamus being chietly inhabitants of the islands in the Southern
Ocean, while those of Dicrurus extend their habitats from the
continents of Africa and India to the neighbouring islands.
AnTAMUs. Vieill. (Ocypterus. Cuv.)
1. ALBOVITTATUS. Art. fuscatus alis ardesiacis, remigibus tri-
bus pene extimis externé albo-marginatis, rectricibus nigris,
mediis exceptis, apice albis.
Ocypterus albovittatus. Valenciennes, Mém. du Mus. d'Hist.
Nat. tom. vi. p. 23. no. 3.
The bills of this bird, and we believe of all the species of the
present genus, are of a bluish or lead colour at their base, with
a black aper. This species has hence attained the name of B/uc-
* No. 106, in Mr. Caley's Catalogue.
bill
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 211
bill among the colonists. It is also called Mood Swallow, as we
find in Mr. Caley’s notes. ‘That gentleman further adds :—*« I
have occasionally seen as, many of these birds flying about in
some places as LI ever did Swallows, which they closely imitate
in their mode of flight. ‘This occurred where the ground had
been cleared and abandoned. Their resting places were on
the stumps of trees which had been felled. I do not think
them migratory: if they are so, they depart for no great
length of time."—4^ specimen in the collection was obtained by
Mr. Brown at King George's Sound.
2. CINEREUS. Art. supernè canus subtus albidus ; fascid fron-
tali gularique, uropygio, crisso, caudáque atris, hác apice
albo.
Ocypterus cinereus. Valenciennes, Mém. du Mus. d' Hist. Nat.
tom. vi. p. 22. no. 2.
All the specimens of this species in the collection were pro-
cured by Mr. Brown at Broad Sound, September 1802.
Genus. Dicrurus. Vieill. (Edolius. Cuz.)
1. Baticasstus. D. virescenti-ater, rectricibus primis extrorsum
inclinantibus.
Corvus balicassius. Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 157.
Monedula Philippensis. Briss. Orn. ii. p. 51. no. 9. pl. 2. f. 1.
Le Choucas des Philippines. P/. En/. 603,
Le Drongup. Le Vaill. Ois. d' Afr. pl. 173.
We consider our bird to be the same as the species above
referred to, with which it agrees in its most essential particulars,
although it does not exhibit the green metallic lustre which is
described as alternating with the black of that species. ‘The bird
in the Society's collection may be a young bird or a female, and
thus may not show the same splendour in its colours. ‘The spe-
2E2 cies
212 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HorsriELzD’s Description of the
cies is described as very generally diffused over the East, being
found in the Philippine Islands and various parts of India.
Subfam. Laniana. Swains.
Genus. FarcuwNcurvus. Vieill.
1. FnoNTATUs. Fale. cristatus fuscus, subtus flavus, capite col-
loque nigris, lateribus vittis duabus albis. Lath.
Lanius Frontatus. Lath. Ind. Orn. p. xviii. no. 8.
Frontal Shrike. Id. Gen. Hist. ii. p. 72. no. 86. pl. xx.
Pie-grièche à casque. Temm. Pl. Col. 77.
2. GurTU RALIS. Falc. fusco-brunneus, subtus pallidior, fronte
guláque albis, cristd erecta guttureque nigris, crisso fulvo.
Capitis plume frontales albae, proxime nigra, fasciam nigram
formantes ; cristales nigræ, basi grise: ; occipitales nucha-
lesque subgrisescentes. Tectrices inferiores, remigesque sub-
tus basi albescentes. Rostrum nigrum, mandibulæ supe-
rioris apice pallido. Longitudo corporis, (53; ; ale a carpo
ad remigem quartam, 41; caude, 34 ; rostri ad frontem, 5,
ad rictum, 455; farsi 122
The specimen of this species in the Society’s collection is in
very indifferent condition, and the upper mandible has unfortu-
nately been mutilated. We cannot therefore refer it with cer-
tainty to the present genus. From what we can judge however
of the bill, it accords with that of the type of Falcunculus, with
the exception of the notch being less strongly marked. In the
characters of the wings, tail, and tarsi, it agrees very accurately
with the present genus.
This bird was presented to the Society by Mr. Brown, and was
procured by that gentleman at Kent’s Group, December 1803.
Subfam.
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 215
Subfam. "'THAMNOPHILINA. Swains.
Genus. Vawca. Vieill.
1. Desrrucror. V. supra cinereo-fuscus, subtus albidus; capite,
genis, remigibus, rectricibusque nigris, illis albo-strigatis, his
apice albo-marginatis.
Vanga Destructor. Temm. Man. d'Ornith. p. lix.
Cassican Destructeur. Id. Pl. Col. 273.
Mr. Caley thus observes on this species. ** Butcher-bird.—
This bird used frequently to come into some green wattle-trees
near my house, and in wet weather was very noisy ; from which
circumstance it obtained the name of Rain-bird. It appeared to
be a solitary bird, or at least to associate only with its mate."
Genus. CoLLURICINCLA*.
Rostrum forte, sub-elongatum, compressum, rectum, culmine
apicem versus gradatim arcuato : mandibulá inferiori prope
apicem fortiter emarginatà : naribus ovalibus subobliquis,
membrano partim clausis, setis plumulisque obtectis: rictu
setis parce instructis.
Ale mediocres rotundato : remigibus, prima brevi, tertià quarta
quinta et sexta fer? æqualibus longissimis, septima breviori,
secundà et octavà pauló brevioribus æqualibus ; tertiæ ad
sextam inclusam pogoniis externis in medio paulatim latio-
ribus.
Pedes mediocres, fubfortes ; acrotarsiis scutellatis, paratarsiis
integris ; digitis mediocribus, medio longiori, halluce forti,
hujus ungue subelongato forti.
Cauda subelongata, æqualis.
* Koddvpiwy lunius, and xiyxaos turdus.
This
214 Mr.Vicors’sand Dr. HonsriErp's Description of the
This group, which by its straight and rather lengthened bill
appears to come into the subfamily of Thamnophilina among the
Shrikes, may probably be considered the representative in Aus-
tralia of the South American Thamnophili and the African Mala-
conoti. From both those genera it differs in its entirely even
tail; in its wings being comparatively longer, although rounded
as in those genera; and in the paratarsia being entire instead of
being furnished with either large but distant, or small but nu-
merous, scales. We have been enabled to ascertain nothing of
the habits of the group: but its general appearance points out
the situation we at present assign it; while at the same time it
has also some general resemblance to the neighbouring family
of the Thrushes. ‘The present subfamily, it is to be observed, is
that which connects the Laniade with the last-mentioned family
Merulide : and this approaching conformity to the Thrushes in
the birds which compose the extreme and connecting group of
the Shrikes is therefore to be expected. We have assigned the
genus a name indicative of these approaching affinities.
1. CINEREA. Coll. supra cinerea, subtus pallidior, gula regione-
que anteoculari albidis, remigibus interne fuscis.
Fœm. Subtus cinerescens, gulá nigro-striatá, rostro flavescente.
Dorsum brunnescens. Ptila inferiora albida; pteromata infe-
riora cana fusco-variegata. Rostrum pedesque nigri. Lon-
gitudo corporis, 82 ; ale a carpo ad remigem quintam, 4.5, ;
caud@, 4+; rostri ad frontem, -2,, ad rictum, 125 ; farsi, 45.
Mr. Caley has noted these two birds as sexes of the same
species. Ile adds, that they frequented at times the neighbour-
hood of his house, and were found in the green wattle-trees.
The eyes he described as black. The weight of the male was
21 ounces.
Genus.
Australicn Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 215
Genus. SPHECOTHERES. PFieill.
1. Vrripis. Sphec. olivaceo-viridis ; gulá pectore nucháque cine-
raceis ; capite, genis, alulá, pteromatibus, remigibus, rectrici-
busque nigris; his, quatuor mediis exceptis, apice albis.
Sphecotheres viridis. Vell. Anal. d'une Nouv. Orn. pp. 42 à 68.
Graucalus viridis. Quoy et Gaimard, Voy. aut. du Monde, pl. 21.
Sphecothere vert. Vieill. Gal. des Ois. p. 238. pl. 147.
M. Vieillot ranks this genus among or near the Thrushes. Its
strong bill, however, inclines us to give it a station among the
Shrikes; but at that extremity of the family which approaches
the Thrushes. We do not see in this bird any of the leading
characters of Graucalus Cuv., in which genus MM. Quoy and
Gaimard have placed it. In particular, it wants those sharp and
pointed feathers on the back which distinguish the birds of that
group. In its habits perhaps, which those naturalists had the
best opportunity of observing, it may approach Graucalus, and
thus indicate the affinity which unites the present subfamily to
the succeeding, of which that genus makes a part. Our speci-
men was presented to the Society by Mr. Brown, who met with
the species in Keppel Bay, August 11th and October 21st, 1802.
It differs from M. Vieillot's figure in having the back part of the
neck cinereous instead of green, and the ends of the lateral tail-
feathers white. Our bird may probably be the male. If it should
prove to be a distinct species, it may appropriately receive the
specific name of Vieilloti after the founder of the genus.
Subfam. CaMPEPHAGINA. Swains.
Genus. CawPEPHAGA. Vieill. (Ceblepyris. Cuv.)
1. LevcouELa. Camp. supra nigra, subtus alba nigro-fasciata ;
gulá, pteromatum et rectricum apicibus, remigumque margi-
nibus exterioribus albis, crisso fulvo.
Corpus
216 Mr. Vicors’sand Dr. HonsrrErp's Description of the
Corpus subtus fasciis gracilibus nigris undulatum. — T'ectrices in-
feriores albae. Rostrum pedesque nigri.
The specimen of this bird in the Society’s collection is in such
indifferent condition that we cannot enter further into the details
of its characters than the above few remarks. The tail is par-
ticularly defective; and we can determine little respecting the
proportions of the species, but that the body from the apex of
the bill to the root of the tail is 34 inches in length. ‘The bird
was found by Mr. Brown at Broad Sound, October 26th, 1802.
Genus. Graucatus. Cuv.
1. Meraxors. Grauc. cinereus, fronte gutture remigibus rec-
tricibusque, mediis exceptis, nigris, harum apicibus crissoque
albis.
Corvus melanops. Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. p. xxiv. no. 1.
Ceblepyris melanops. Temm. Manuel. p. lxii.
Rollier à masque noir. Le Vaill. Ois. de Paradis, §c. pl. 30.
Mr. Caley says of this bird, that it may generally be seen on
the tops of high dead trees. He does not consider it migratory.
One of his specimens is marked “male,” and a second “female.”
2. Papuensis. Grauc. cinereus, gutture. pectore abdomineque
albis graciliter fusco transversim undulatis ; striga lata per
oculos, pteromatibus remigibus rectricibusque nigris, harum
apice albis.
Corvus Papuensis. Gel. i. 371.
Choucari de la Nouvelle Guinée. PI. Eni. 630.
Papuan Crow. Lath. Gen. Hist. i. p. 45. no. 42.
M. 'Temminck unites these two last birds as different sexes of
the same species: the latter being the female. We know not upon
what authority he has founded this opinion. We must however ob-
serve,
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 217
serve, that the only specimen of the G. Papuensis in the Linnean
collection, collected by Mr. Caley, is marked by that gentleman
as a male; while a specimen of the G. melanops is noted as a
female. ‘lime will clear away the difficulties that attend such
points. At present we can only state the doubts which exist on
the subject.
3. Mentatis. Grauc. fuscescenti-cinereus, subtus pallidior ;
tenid gracili frontali per oculos extendente, maculis gularibus,
remigibus, rectricibusque nigris ; mento, crisso, rectricumque
apicibus albis.
Regio parotica nigra. Gula summumque pectus nigro-sparsæ.
Remiges interne ad basin albæ, externe graciliter albo-
marginatæ. Tectrices inferiores albo. Rectrices, mediis
exceptis, interne graciliter albo-marginat:e, apicibus albo- .
fasciatis, externarum fasciis gradatim latioribus. Rostrum
, o
pedesque fusco-nigri. Longitudo corporis, 91; ale a carpo
ad remigem quartam, 61; rostri, 3, ; caude, 5; tarsi, #.
The bird described above exhibits so many points of distinc-
tion from the preceding species, that we have ranked it as sepa-
rate. Its locality also, which is different from that of the other
species, serves to strengthen us in this opinion. ‘The chief dif-
ference consists in the inferior size of our bird, all the specimens
we have seen of the former species being about thirteen inches
in length ; in the darkness of the ash-colour on the back ; in the
narrowness of the frontal band, and particularly in the white
colour of the mentum. ‘There is, however, much variation, as is
alleged, in the Grauc. melanops and Papuensis ; and it may hap-
pen that our bird is but the young of one of those species.—Our
specimen was found on the South Coast by Mr. Brown in 1805.
VOL. XV. QF Fam.
218 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HorsFieLp’s Description of the
Fam. MERULIDE.
Subfam. Myroruerina. Swains.
Genus. Pirra. Vieill.
1. Bracnyura. Pit. viridis, subtus ferrugineo-fulva ; teniá
superciliari pallidè fulva ; capite, pteromatibus, remigibus,
caudáque ad apicem fere, nigris; gula maculaque alarum al-
bis; ptilis uropygioque cæruleis, macula media abdominali
crissoque coccineis.
Corvus brachyurus, var. z? Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 166. no. 43.
Short-tailed Crow, var. F? Jd. Gen. Hist. ii. p. 68. no. 1
We have great doubts whether this bird and all the other
varieties, described by Dr. Latham as belonging to this species,
are varieties only. We have not, however, sufficient grounds to
make any decided observations on the subject.
Subfam. MERULINA.
Genus. Turpus. Linn. et Auct.
1. Varius. T. castaneo-testaceus, pennis apice perfuscis, remi-
vibus fuscis eaterné castaneo-testaceis, abdomine albido, late-
ribus castaneo et nigro variis, rectricibus subtus fuscescentibus,
crisso albido nigroque tenuiter fasciato. Horsf. in Linn.
Trans. vol. xiii. p. 149.
Turdus varius. Horsf. Zool. Researches in Jaca.
In the general characters of the bill, wings and legs, and in
the disposition of its colours, this species accords sufficiently
well with the European group of the genuine Turdus to autho-
rize us to refer it to that genus. We must however observe,
that in the few specimens which we have seen of the bird, the
under mandible is considerably shorter than the upper. Whether
this
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 219
this inequality is owing to the manner in which the skins have
been prepared, or whether it is natural, is not for us to deter-
mine. ‘lhe present individual is the only specimen Mr. Caley
ever met with: it was much shattered by the contents of his
gun.
Subfam. CossvPuriNA.
Genus. CincLosoma*.
Rostrum subgracile, subrectum ; cu/mine rotundato, apice gra-
datim leviterque arcuato ; mandibuld superiori apice emar-
ginatà : naribus basalibus, linearibus, membraná partim tec-
tis, setis parce opertis; rictu parce setis instructo.
Ale breves, rotundatz ; remige prima brevi, tertià quartà et
quinta fere zequalibus longissimis, secunda et sexta breviori-
bus; tertiæ quarte et quintæ pogoniis externis prope me-
dium emarginatis.
Pedes subelongati, fortes ; acrotarsiis scutellatis, paratarsiis inte-
eris; digitis mediocribus, halluce subforti, ungue subelon-
gato, subforti.
Cauda elongata, gradata.
The birds of this genus appear to belong to that subdivision of
the Thrushes, which by the weaker conformation of the bill opens
a passage to the slender-billed Warblers. They deviate very
considerably from the typical form of the Merulide. Besides
the more gracile shape of the bill, the nares may be observed to
be linear and longitudinal, instead of being rounded, as in the
true Turdi. The wings are short and rounded, the first quill-
feather being of moderate length, and the next gradually in-
creasing; they thus differ from the wings of Turdus, where the
four quill-feathers succeeding the first are nearly of equal length,
* Kiyxros turdus, and coma corpus.
a 2 and
290 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HonsrrErp's Description of the
and the first almost spurious. The tail is long and graduated,
which in the true Thrushes is even; and the scales on the acro-
tarsia are strongly conspicuous, while the tarsz of the Thrushes
are entire.
The genus appears very nearly allied to Timalia, Horsf., in
its general conformation. But it does not possess the elevated
culmen of the bill so conspicuous in that group; nor is the dis-
position of the quill-feathers the same. In these respects Timalia
comes nearer to Turdus, Auct. The farsi of our genus appear
somewhat more elevated than is usual in this family ; and from
what Mr. Caley says of the habits of the birds which compose the
type of the group, we conjecture that they indicate the approach
of the present subfamily to the Rock and Ground Thrushes, which
form the next succeeding divisions of the extensive group of
Merulide.
1. Puxcrarum. Cinc. supra fusco-brunneum fusco-nigro stri-
gatum; tenid superciliari, macula utrinque longitudinali gut-
turali, punctis tectricum, apicibus rectricum, abdomineque
medio, albis; guld, juguli medio, maculis pectoralibus laterali-
bus crissique nitescenti-nigris ; pectore griseo.
Fom. Gulá maculisque gutturalibus ferrugineo-luteis.
Turdus punctatus. Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. p. xliv. no. 23.
Punctated Thrush. Jd. Gen. Hist. v. p. 130. no. 169.
Mr. Caley says, that the weight of the male was 4 ounces. He
adds: **'This species is by no means plentifully to be met with.
It inhabits the small forest scrubs, and is frequently started from
the ground. It appears to be more constantly on the ground
than in the trees, taking a short flight on being disturbed, and
then again alighting on the ground a little further off.”
Fam.
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 221
Fam. Svrvriapzm.
Genus. Maturus. Vieill.
* Rectricibus haud decompositis.
1. Cyaneus. Mal. capite tenia suboculari lunulaque subnuchali
sericeo-cæruleis; strigá ante poneque oculos nuchá gutture pec-
tore dorsoque sericeo-nigris, abdomine albo, remigibus rectri-
cibusque brunnescenti-fuscis, caudd rotundatá.
Fom. Supra fuscescenti-brunnea, subtus albida, caudá subrotun-
datá.
Motacilla cyanea. | Gmel. i. 991. no. 165.
Sylvia cyanea. Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 545. no. 142.
Superb Warbler. Phillips’s Bot. Bay, pl. at p. 157,8. p. 159,2 .
Whites Journ. pl. at p. 256. fig. sup. Lath. Gen. Hist. vii.
p. 117. no. 128. pl. 106.
In Mr. Caley’s notes we find the following observations on
this species :—** "These birds, at least the brown ones, were very
common about Paramatta, particularly in my garden, where they
came frequently hopping about in the hedges, or among the
pea-sticks: but I think I may safely say that there was not one
blue one amongst a hundred of them. They are gregarious and
polygamous to appearance, unless I have been deceived by the
young birds possessing the plumage of the female. ‘They are
very good songsters, and I may say almost the only ones in the
colony.—The zrides are black.
2. Lamberti. Mal. capite strigd subauriculari ad nucham ex-
tendente dorsoque medio sericeo-cæruleis ; gulá gutture pec-
tore nuchá dorso inferiori uropygioque sericeo-nigris, scapula-
ribus rufo-brunneis, abdomine albo, remigibus rectricibusque
brunnescenti-fuscis, caudá gradatá.
Foem. Brunnescenti-fusca, subtus albida, caudd subgradatá.
Capitis
222 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HonsrriErp's Description of the
Capitis dorsique color cæruleus saturatior quam in Mal. cyaneo,
occipitis in brunneum vergens. Tectrices inferiores albidæ.
Rectrices brunnescenti-fuscæ, cæruleo-nitentes. Rostrum
nigrum. Pedes flavescentes. Longitudo corporis, 51; ale
a carpo ad remigem quartam, 14; caude, 31; rostri ad fron-
tem, 7, ad rictum, 4$; ; farsi, 2.
Superb Warbler, var. Whites Journ. pl. at p. 256. fig. inf.
In honorem Axruer Bourke LAMBERT, Armigeri, Societatis
Linncane Pro-Prxsrpis, $c. Botanici eximii, Zoologiæque
prasertim studiosissimi, hec avis superba nomen accipiat. — —
These two last birds have long been considered varieties of the
same species, and have been figured as such in Whites Journal.
Independently, however, of the difference between the two birds
in their colours, and in the distribution of them, we may observe,
that the tail of the latter bird is much more graduated than that
of Mal. cyaneus ; while the under wing-coverts are whitish, which
in Mal. cyaneus are rufous.
3. LrvcorrEnvs. Mal. capite cristato corporeque intensè azu-
reis, scapularibus alarumque tectricibus fuscis, his azureo-
nitentibus.
Malurus leucopterus. Quoy et Gaimard, Voy. autour du Monde,
Pies: qm
This beautiful bird was presented to the Society by Mr. Drown,
who met with it on the South coast of New Holland.
4. Metanoceruatus. Mal. capite collo antico pectoreque brun-
nescenti-nigris, dorso coccineo, remigibus rectricibusque brun-
neis, abdomine albescente.
Muscicapa melanocephala. Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. p. lii. no. 16.
Orange-rumped Warbler. Id. Gen. Hist. vii. p. 124. no. 137.
5. Dnowerr.
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 223
5. Brownir. Mal. capite subcristato collo antico tectricibus ala-
rum rectricibusque nigris, dorso coccineo, remigibus fusco-
brunneis.
Tectrices suprà nigræ, inferiores fulvescentes. Remiges fusco-
brunneæ subtus pallidiores. Rostrum nigrum. Pedes flaves-
centes. Longitudo corporis, 37; ; ale a carpo ad remigem
2
quartam, 12; caude, 14; rostri, 2; tarsi, 3.
2
In honorem RongnTi Brown, Armigeri, Societatum Regie et
Linneane Socii, $c. Dotanicorum principis, qui Museum Lin-
neanum avibus Nove Hollandie propriis pretiosissimis ditavit,
hec species perpulchra nominatur.
This species is very nearly allied to M. melanocephalus in the
general disposition of the colours. It differs, however, in the black
being more intense, and covering the whole of the under parts, the
tail being darker, and the size of the bird much smaller. The bill
also is black, which is of a pale-yellowish colour in the preceding
species. It ismarked by Mr. Brown, to whom the Society is in-
debted for the specimen, as having been obtained at the Bay of
Inlets, near the inner entrance of Thirsty Sound, Sept. 1809.
6. Exrzis. Lath. MSS. Mal. supernè rufo-brunneus, strigis
latis fuscis ornatus, subtus pallidior ; remigibus rectricibusque
fuscis, his apice albido.
Capitis dorsique plume in medio fuscæ. Tectrices inferiores
rufescenti-albidz. Rectrices fuscæ, prope apicem albidum
saturatiores, brunneo-rufo marginatæ ; subtus erisescentes,
macula nigra prope apicem albidum instructe. Rostrum
pedesque flavescentes. [rides avellaneæ. Longitudo cor-
poris, 4; ale a carpo ad remigem quartam, 1475; ; caude, 17;
rostri, +; tarsi, à. Longitudo corporis Foemine, 347.
Exile Warbler. Lath. Gen. Hist. vii. p. 136. no. 165.
** Rec-
294 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HorsriELzD’s Description of the
** Rectricibus decompositis.
7. MaracuunRus. Mal. ferrugineo-brunneus, fusco-strigatus,
subtus pallidior, strigá ante oculos superciliisque pallidè cæru-
leis, guld guttureque griseis, rectricibus decompositis.
Fom. Guld guttureque ferrugineis.
Muscicapa malachura. Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. p. lii. no. 15.
Soft-tailed Flycatcher. Linn. Trans. iv. p. 242. pl. 21.
‘This bird,” Mr. Caley observes, ‘is called Emu Bird by
the colonists. ‘The native name is Wawguljelly. I have never
known it called Merion Binnion, as published in the Linnean
Society’s Transactions. The native name of an Emu is Murring.
The species is an inhabitant of scrubs, which are principally
composed of different kinds of Banksia, particularly where the
ground is moist or inclining to be marshy. The natives tell me
it may be run down.—It has a small shining black eye, with a
hazel-brown iris.”
Genus. ACANTHIZA*.
Rostrum gracile, breve, rectum, basi subdepressum, apice com-
pressum, culmine apicem versus leviter arcuato ; mandibulá
superiori subemarginatà ; naribus linearibus, longitudinali-
bus, supra membraná tectis, setis plumulisque partim oper-
tis; rictu setis parce instructo.
Ale subbreves, rotundatæ ; remige prima brevi, secunda et ter-
tid gradatim longioribus, quartà longissima, secundà et
decima æqualibus.
Pedes graciles, acrotarsiis paratarsiisque integris.
Cauda mediocris, apice subrotundata.
This group is closely connected with that of Malurus. The
construction of the wings and legs is the same, and their habits,
as far as we can learn, are similar. But the soft, lengthened,
* Axavdewy dumetum, and {aw vivo.
and
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 225
and graduated tail, which gives a striking character to the typi-
cal species of Malurus, is wanting in the present group, in which
the tail is short and rounded ; in some species, indeed, inclining
to become even. Both groups have a bill which partakes of the
character of that of the Muscicapide, and which has caused some
species among them to be referred to that family. But the bill
of our group is rather more depressed at the base, is shorter and
less arcuated than that of Malurus. In all these points, how-
ever, the two groups approach each other so nearly in some of
the extreme species, that it is difficult to draw the line of distinc-
tion between them. As in all similar cases of groups thus ap-
proximating to each other, we fix our attention on the typical
species chiefly of each, which in the present instance may be
considered to be Malurus Lamberti and Acanthiza pusilla.
In reference to the European groups of this family, these two
forms of the New Holland Warblers appear to approach them
more nearly than any other extra- European species. The wings
are formed upon the same model, the first quill-feather being
short, although not so much so as in the typical species of
Europe. The integrity of the tarsz, however, the uneven tail,
and the rictus of the bill partially beset with bristles, and ap-
proximating to that of the Flycatchers, sufficiently point out a
distinction. Of all the European Sylviade, they resemble most
nearly the group of Regulus, Cuv.: they want, however, the
singular plume which covers the nostrils of that genus. "The
species which we have met with possess a general similarity in
the disposition of their colours; and they appear to be distin-
guished by the character of having the webs of their feathers,
particularly about the head and neck, more than usually loose
and decomposed. Like the Reguli they appear to be the in-
habitants of bushes and low scrubs.
VOL. XV. 26 1. NANA.
296 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HonsrrErp's Description of the
1. Nana. Acant. viridescenti-olivacea, subtus flava, fronte genis-
que albescenti-flavis, remigibus caudáque olivaceo-fuscis, hdc
prope apicem nigro-fasciatá.
Genarum plumarum rhaches albidz. Tectrices inferiores albido.
Rostrum pedesque flavescentes. Longitudo corporis, 52 ; ale
a carpo ad remigem quartam, 1-52; ; caude, 135; ; rostri, 45;
tarsi, 13.
Dwarf Warbler, var. A? Lath. Gen. Hist. vii. p. 134. no. 161.
We are informed by Mr. Caley that these birds were found in
the green wattle-trees about his house in great numbers. The
rides are gray.
2. REGUrLOIDES. Acant. supra viridi-olivacea, subtus flavescenti-
albida ; fronte sincipitisque parte anteriori ferrugineo notatis,
uropygio caudæque basi apiceque fulvo-luteis, hac medio nigra.
Frontis sincipitisque plume in medio ferrugineæ, apice fusco-
marginatw. Tectrices inferiores albidæ. — Rostrum. brun-
nescens, parte inferiori pallescente. — Pedes flavescentes.
Irides grisex. Longitudo corporis, 33 ; ale a carpo ad remi-
gem quartam, 2 ; caude, 15; rostri, <1, ; farsi, =.
Dwarf Warbler, var. D? Lath. Gen. Hist. vii. p. 135. no. 161.
This species was met with by Mr. Caley in the same situation
as the last. Some specimens also in the collection were brought
home by Mr. Brown from Port Jackson, where he obtained
them in August 1803.
3. Fronraits. cant. fusco-brunnea, subtus pallidior ; fronte,
guld, pectoreque albis, uropygio rufescente.
Remiges rectricesque brunneo-fuscæ, subtus grisescentes. Tec-
trices inferiores albido. Rostrum pallidè fuscum, subtus
flavescens. Pedes flavescentes. Longitudo corporis, 44;
ale a carpo ad remigem quartam, 953, ; caud@, 1-55; rostri, 25:
tarsi, 3. Variat corpore grandiore.
4. Pyn-
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 227
4. PyRRHOPYGIA. Acant. fusco-brunnea, subtus albida ; uropy gro
rufo, cauda fascid subapicali nigrd, apice albido.
Remiges pogonio interno fuscescentes, subtus fuscæ. Rectrices,
due mediæ tote fusco-brunneæ, cæteræ apice albido ; sub-
tus fusco-cinereæ, versus apicem saturatiores, apice albido.
Rostrum pedesque flavescentes. | Longitudo corporis, 4-5, ;
n ’
ale a carpo ad remigem quartam, 2-3, ; caudæ, 21;
0
1; rostri, +;
tarsi, 12.
This species has a tail more elongated, and somewhat more
graduated than the typical species of the genus. In its other
external characters and in the disposition of the colours it suf-
ficiently accords with the group. By the characters of its tail
it appears to approach the Maluri ; and with Malurus exilis, a
species described above, it may be said to form a passage between
these two closely-allied groups*.
* We take this opportunity of inserting two species of this genus, which are not in
the Society’s collection.
5. PUSILLA. Acant. fusco-brunnea fronte fulvo-variegata, subtus albida, gutture pec-
toreque fusco-striatis, uropygio rufescente, rectricibus in medio fusco-fasciatis, apice
pallido.
Motacilla pusilla. Whites Journ. pl. in p. 257.
Dwarf Warbler. Lath. Gen. Hist. vii. p. 134. no. 161.
In Mus. Societatis Zoologice.
6. BUCHANANT. Acant. suprà olivaceo-viridis, capitis parte anteriori albo-lineato,
subtus albida, gutture pectoreque fusco-lineatis ; rectricibus nigris, uropygio coc-
cineo.
Frontis sincipitisque partis anterioris plumarum rhaches albe. Lora alba. Remiges
brunneo-fuscæ, subtus pallidiores. — T'ectrices inferiores albe. Rectrices nigre,
exteriores pallidiores, subtus fuscescentes. Rostrum fuscum. — Pedes flavescenti-
fusci. Longitudo corporis, 44^; ; ale a carpo ad remigem quartam, 2; caude, 14
EI
10?
"ne. y. Qs v7 3
rostri, £5 tarsi, 3.
In Mus. Dom. Buchanan.
In honorem GU ALTERI BUCHANAN, Armigeri, Societatis Linneane Socii, Zoologiæ
studiosissimi, hanc speciem nominavimus.
2 2 -Genus.
298 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HorsFrieLD's Description of the
Genus. Mecaturus. Horsf.
1. CRuRaLIS. Meg. pallidè murino-brunneus ; maculis ante-
ocularibus, gutturalibus, abdominalibusque fusco-brunneis ;
crisso fusco-striato, plumarum auricularium rhachibus albis.
Dorsum brunneo saturatiore nebulosum. Remiges pallido-rufo
externe marginatæ ; subtus basi albidæ, ad apicem grises-
centes. Tectrices inferiores fusco-brunnex. Rectrices sub-
tus grisescentes. — Rostrum brunnescens. Pedes pallidè
brunnei. /rides griseo-brunnex. — Longitudo corporis, 81 :
ale a carpo ad remigem tertiam, 42 ; caude, 315 ; rostri
ad frontem, $4, ad rictum, 15; farsi, 14; hallucis, ungue
incluso, 14.
** These birds," as is observed by Mr. Caley, “are birds of
passage. ‘They appear in no great numbers. They alight on
the tops of dead trees. The note is loud and harsh.”
2. GarAcToTEs. Meg. rufo-brunneus, fusco-brunneo strigatus,
subtus albidus, rectricum rhachibus fusco-brunneis.
Malurus Galactotes. Temm. Pl. Col. 65.
This bird has been placed by M. Temminck among the Ma-
luri ; but the strength of its formation with respect to its bill,
legs, and tail, by no means accords with the characters of those
birds. It belongs more properly to Megalurus, although not
exactly agreeing with the typical species; its structure being
weaker in comparison with them, as it is stronger with respect
to the Maluri. It seems to indicate a passage between the two
groups. 'The specimens in the collection were obtained by
Mr. Brown at Broad Sound, near the upper head, October 24th,
1802.
Genus.
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 229
Genus. Antuus. Bechst.
1. AusTRALIS. Ant. supra rufo-brunneus, fusco-brunneo varie-
gatus, subtus fulvo-albidus strigis fusco-brunneis ; maculd su-
perciliari fulvá, gulá alba, remigibus rectricibusque brunneo-
fuscis, harum duabus exterioribus albo-marginatis.
Capitis dorsi scapularium tectricumque plume in medio longitu-
dinaliter fusco-notate. Pectoris abdominisque plume in me-
dio brunneo graciliter strigatæ ; criss? albescentis similiter
strigatæ. Remiges subtus pallidiores, interne ad basin albes-
centes. Tectrices inferiores pallide fulvæ. — Rectrices due
extern albæ, pogonio interno brunneo-fusco marginatæ ;
primarum rhachibus ad basin albis, ad apicem brunneis ;
secundarum totis brunneis: du: mediæ fulvo-marginatæ.
Rostrum brunneo-fuscum, subtus ad basin pallescens. Pedes
flavescentes. Longitudo corporis, 6; ale, 34; caude, 215 ;
rostri, 9; tarsi, 145.
Mr. Caley says that ‘this Lark is very common. It may
frequently be seen both in the trees and on the ground.
Having met with it in the height of summer and the depth of
winter, and indeed I may almost say at all times, I consider it
not migratory.” A specimen in the collection presented by
Mr. Brown was obtained on the South Coast.
2, PALLEsCENs. Ant. supra pallido-rufo brunneoque varius, sub-
tus albidus, pectore brunneo parcé maculato; remigibus rectri-
cibusque fusco-brunneis, harum duabus exterioribus albo-mar-
ginatis.
Capitis dorsi tectricumque plume in medio fusco-brunneæ, ad
margines pallidè rufæ. Remiges rufo-marginatæ, subtus
grisescentes, internè pallidiores. T'ctrices inferiores pallidæ.
Rectria
230 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HorsFiELD’s Description of the
Rectriv prima alba, pogonio interno brunneo-marginato ;
secunda alba, strig& media, rhachin includente, margineque
interno brunneis. Rostrum pedesque flavescentes. Lon-
gitudo corporis, 44; ale, 3; caude, 14%; tarsi, lg.
3. Minimus. Ant. supra viridi-olivaceus, fusco varius, capite
brunneo albido-strigato ; subtus. viridiscenti-albus brunneo-
striatus ; rectricibus, mediis eaceptis, brunnescenti-nigris apice
albis.
Capitis plume brunneæ, strigà media alba, rhachin includente,
notat». Dorsi tectricumque plume in medio fusco, ad
margines viridi-olivaceæ ; wropygü ad viridi-flavum incli-
nantes. Remiges fusce, subtus pallidiores. — T'ectrices infe-
riores fusce. Rectrices duæ medie viridi-olivaceæ ; cæteræ
basi brunnescenti-nigræ apicem versus saturatiores, apici-
bus albis. Rostrum pedesque pallidi. | Longitudo corporis,
345; ale 2-3; ; caude, 15; rostri, 2; tarsi, 35.
4. FuziGinosus. Ant. supra viridi-olivaceus, subtus pallidior,
nigro-strigatus ; remigibus rectricibusque pallidè brunneis,
his nigro-fasciatis apice albido.
Corporis plume in medio nigro-strigatee. Remigum pogonia
externa pallidè marginata. Caude@ fascia sublata prope
apicem nigra. Longitudo corporis, 4; alte, 24+; caude, 145; ;
rostri, +; tarsi, 1.
This bird was procured by Mr. Brown at Van Diemen’s
Land in 1804.
5. Rurrscrws. Ant. pallidè brunneus, fusco-brunneo nebulosus,
subtus pallidior ; gula albidá, uropygio rufescente, remigibus
caudáque brunnescentibus.
Corporis superioris plum: in medio fusco-brunneæ. — Remigum
pogonia
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 231
pogonia externa albido-marginata. Tectrices inferiores al-
bidæ parc? nigro notate. Longitudo corporis, 61; ale,
945; caude, 2-2, ; rostri, d ; tarsi, 1-1.
The birds of the group just described which are in our collec-
tion are in general in bad condition, and we have been obliged
to confine ourselves to a few details only of their characters.
Even still we are not satisfied with our distinguishing marks.
The last species in particular is very doubtful, and we are not
quite certain that it even belongs to this genus.
Genus. Dasvonwxrs*.
Rostrum forte, subarcuatum, culmine carinato, mandibulá supe-
riori vix emarginatà ; naribus basalibus, ovalibus, longitudi-
nalibus, membrana suprà partim tectis.
Ale breves, rotunde : remige prima subbrevi, secunda tertià et
quartà gradatim longioribus, quintà sextà et septimá fere
æqualibus longissimis, cæteris gradatim decrescentibus.
Cauda elongata, gradata.
Pedes subfortes, mediocres; Aalluce forti, ungue subelongato
arcuato; acrotarsiis scutellatis, paratarsiis integris.
Regio anteocularis vibrissis recumbentibus fortibus instructa.
3
Corporis plumarum pogonia decomposita.
This genus bears a very close resemblance to the group of
Timalia of the Javanese ornithology. In the shortness and
roundness of the wings, in the length and graduation of the tail,
in the carinated bill, and in the loose and decomposed feathers
of the body, it comes so close to that group that we should at
once refer our species to it, were it not for the singular bristles
that spring from the front of the forehead above the bill, and form
* Aacus hirsutus, and ogyig avis.
a strongly
232 Mr. Vicors’sand Dr. HorsriELD’s Description of the
a strongly distinguishing character. The Motacilla Africana,
Gmel., Le Fluteur of M. Le Vaillant, belongs to this group.
In that bird the frontal bristles are not so long as as in our bird,
but they are more numerous, and equally strong. We do not
feel quite satisfied as to the situation of the group. We have
some grounds for thinking that with Timalia it may rather be
referred to that place among the Thrushes where the species
gradually pass into the /Varblers, than to the present situation.
At the same time, it shows some resemblance to Megalurus,
Horsf., and perhaps to Malurus, Vieill. ; in which last genus
M. Temminck would decidedly place it according to the mode
in which he has undertaken to enlarge that group. We wait for
further knowledge of the habits of the species to enable us to
determine this point.
1. Ausrrazis. Das. supra fusco-brunneus, subtus pallidior ;
jugulo abdomineque medio albido, remigibus rectricibusque
rufo-brunneis.
Remiges rectricesque subtus fuscescentes. T'ectrices inferiores
fusco-brunnez. Rostrum pedesque pallidi. Longitudo cor-
poris, 74+; ale a carpo ad remigem sextam, 2-3, ; caude, 3$ ;
rostri ad frontem, 13, ad rictum, & ; farsi, =.
This bird Mr. Caley procured in a scrubby place on the north
side of Paramatta. He was able to ascertain nothing of its
habits. He calls it in his notes ** Bristle Bird.”
Genus. GRALLINA. Fieill.
1. Mezaxoreuca. Grall.nigra; fronte, guld, strigd postoculari,
torque nuchali, abdomine, strigd lata longitudinali alarum,
uropygio, remigum secundariarum apicibus, caudæque basi e!
apice albis.
Grallina
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 233
Grallina melanoleuca. Vieill. Anal. d'une Nouvelle Orn. pp. 42.
§ 68.
La Gralline noire et blanche. Id. Gal. des Ois. pl. 150.
We feel much uncertainty respecting the natural station of this
genus of M. Vieillot. That gentleman places it in the same
division with the Thrushes, next to his genus Psaroidos (Pastor,
Temm.); and from the size of the typical species and its general
appearance, such a situation may be assigned it with much pro-
bability of being near the truth. Our specimens, both of this
species and of the next, which seems to belong to the same
group, are not in sufficiently good condition to enable us to
come to any decided opinion on this point. But as far as we
can judge from the general characters of the bird before us, it
strikes us that it bears a very great resemblance to the group of
Enicurus, l'emm., which belongs to the neighbouring Island of
Java, and which is closely allied to the true Motacilla or the
Wagtails of Authors. The length of the legs, the depression of
the bill, and the general disposition of the colours, atford us some
grounds for such a supposition. We leave it in this place pro-
visionally for the present, until more perfect specimens are
before us, and some knowledge of the habits and anatomy of
the birds points out with certainty their station in nature.
Our specimen was procured by Mr. Brown at Port Jackson
in 1802.
2. Bicoror. Gral. nigra, dorso albo-variegato ; scapularibus,
strigd humerali, fascid media alarum, abdomine caudeque
basi albis.
Caput collumque intense nigra, colore nigro in medium pectus
angulariter descendente. Remiges suprà nigre, subtus
pallide fuscæ ; tertiæ ad sextam inclusam pogonia interna,
cæterarum, duabus intimis exceptis, pogonia utrinque fas-
VOU tY. 2H cia
234 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. Honsrrgrp's Description of the
cid alba instructa, fasciam albam elongatam, alis patentibus,
exhibentia: secundariarum margines et apices albo-notati.
Tectrices inferiores albo, nigro variegatæ. Rectrices duæ
medic tot» nigra; quinta ad basin externe alba; cæteræ
ad basin utrinque albæ, ad apicem fascià pergracili alba
marginate. Rostrum nigrum. Pedes pallide fuscæ. Lon-
gitudo corporis, 542; ale a carpo ad remigem quartam, 323 :
caude, 3, ; rostri ad frontem, +, ad rictum, 45 ; tarsi, 1.
This species resembles the preceding in its general characters,
and in the disposition of its colours. It differs much in size.
Dut from its accordance in more material points we do not hesi-
tate to refer it to the same group.
The specimen in the collection was met with by Mr. Brown
near Prospect Hill.
Genus. ZosTEnors*,
Rostrum mediocre, gracile, arcuatum ; mandibuld superiore vix
emarginatà ; naribus basalibus, linearibus, longitudinalibus,
membrana supra tectis, r/ctu inermi.
Ale mediocres ; remigibus prima et quintà ferè æqualibus, se-
cunda tertià et quartà pauló longioribus, ferè æqualibus,
primariis secundarias paululum longitudine superantibus.
Pedes subfortes, subelongati ; acrotarsiis scutellatis.
Cauda equalis.
Caput gracile, concinnum ; plumulis periopthalmicis subsericeis
albis cingulum subprominentem efformantibus.
The true Sylvia, if we select the slenderly-formed Warblers of
Europe, such as the Motacille hippolais, trochilus, $c. Linn., as
the types of the genus, are set apart from almost all the other
species of the family by the formation of their wing, in which
the first quill-feather is extremely short, in some instances, in-
* Zwornp cingulum, and of oculus. deed
eed,
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 235
deed, almost spurious. Of the foreign groups of the family we
have already observed that the New Holland genera Malurus
and Acanthiza come nearest the European type by the same
construction of the wing. ‘The present group essentially differs
from it. ‘The first quill-feather is long, almost equal to the
second, which together with the third and fourth,—all of them
are the longest. The nares also are linear
nearly of a length,
and longitudinal, thus differing from the oval form of the Euro-
pean type. In other respects the characters of these two groups
have a general accordance. Besides the disposition of the
wing-feathers, we may also mention the scutellation of the tarsi,
the even tail, and the unarmed rictus, as additional marks of
distinction from the before-mentioned New Holland Sylviade.
From the genus Hylophilus of M.'Temminck, which has lately
been separated with much judgement from the Sylvia of Dr. La-
tham, and which also has the first quill-feather elongated and
nearly even with the rest, our present group may readily be dis-
tinguished by a much more gracile and arcuated bill, in which
the nares also are of a different construction. The Motacilla
Maderaspatana of Linneus, (Sylvia Madagascariensis, Lath.),
belongs to our group, which seems to have a very wide dis-
persion.
1. Dorsatis. Zost. flavescenti-viridis, dorso cinereo, strigd ante
subtusque oculos nigrd ; subtus flavescenti-albidus, gutture pal-
lidé flavo, abdominis lateribus ferrugineo tinctis.
Remiges rectricesque fuscæ, tlavescenti-olivaceo marginatæ, sub-
tus pallidiores. T'ectrices alarum inferiores albidee. Orbite
plumulis albis vestitæ. Rostrum pedesque flavescenti-fusci.
Longitudo corporis, 43-; ale a carpo ad remigem tertiam, 2-3; ;
caude, 1-2,; rostri ad frontem, 2, ad rictum, 44; tars?, 3.
Sylvia annulosa, var. 8. Svains. Zool. Illust. pl. 16.
2H 2 This
230 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HorsriELzD’s Description of the
This species differs from the Motacilla Maderaspatana, Linn.,
chiefly by the griseous band which covers the back, and the less
extent and depth of colour of the black mark which is found
before and under the eye. Mr. Caley has not noticed the habits
of this bird, beyond its having built its nest in a mulberry-tree
close to his house.
Genus. SaxicoLA*. Bechst.
1. SOLITARIA. Sax. supra fusco-brunnea, fronte, pectore, abdo-
mineque ferrugineo-rufis ; gula albidd.
Frontis plumæ pallide ferrugineæ, gule albida. Tectrices in-
feriores ferrugineo-rufæ. Remiges interne ad basin rufes-
centes; subtus pallide fusc:e. Rectrices suprà fusco-brun-
new, subtus brunneo-fuscæ. Rostrum pedesque pallide
fusci. Irides avellaneæ. Longitudo corporis, 5 ; ale a carpo
ad remigem quartam, 22; caude, 11; rostri ad frontem, + :
ad rictum, 44; darsi, 22,
* We adjoin the following description of a New Holland bird of this genus, which
has been kindly sent to us by Mr. Buchanan of this Society.
2. JARDINII. Sax. nigrescenti-grisea, abdomine albo ; alis rectricibusque nigris,
illis albo-fasciatis, his, mediis exceptis, fascia in medio lata, ad apicem gracili,
albá notatis.
Caput thoraxque nigrescentes ; illo griseo, hoc albo parce sparsis: hujus color nigres-
cens in pectus descendit, semilunam efformans. Ptila grisescentia. Remiges
prima et secunda tote nigræ; tertia internè ad basin albo-marginata ; quarta
quinta et sexta interne albo marginate inque medio fasciate ; cæteræ utrinque in
medio albo-fasciate : subtus fusca, albo, ut superne, notate. Tectrices inferiores
alba, nigro variegate. — Rectrices quatuor externe in medio utrinque latè albo-
fasciatæ, ad apicem albo-marginate ; quinta pogonio externo albo-fasciata; duæ
medie tote nigra. Rostrum pedesque nigri. Longitudo corporis, 64; ale a
carpo ad remigem quartam, 34; caude, 212; rostri ad frontem, 3, ad rictum, 3 ;
tarsi, 1.
Viri in Ornithologia præstantis, nobis amicissimi, GULIELMI JARDINE, Baroneti,
Societatum Regia Edinensis et Linneane Socii, hac species nomine distinguatur.
Motacilla
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 237
Motacilla solitaria. Lewin, Birds of New Holland, pl. 16.
Muscicapa solitaria. Lath. Gen. Hist. vi. p. 220. no. 110.
The specimens of this bird in the Society’s collection are in
very bad condition: but from their general characters, and the
accounts we have received of their manners, we consider them
as sufficiently according with M. Bechstein’s group of Saxicola.
Mr. Caley in his Notes thus observes of these birds.—-** Cataract
Bird: an inhabitant of rocky ground.— While at the Waterfall
of Carrung-gurring, about thirty miles to the southward of
Prospect Hill, I saw several of them. I have also seen them in
the North Rocks, about a couple of miles from Paramatta : and
always upon the rocks. I never observed them in trees or
bushes.” A specimen in the collection presented by Mr. Brown
is marked as found by that gentleman at Port Jackson, Septem-
ber 15th, 1803.
We have some doubt as to this species according exactly with
Mr. Lewin's Motacilla solitaria, and have therefore added a
more detailed description of it than is our custom when noticing
a published species.
Fam. Prienipzx.
Genus. Parpatotus*. Vieill.
1. PuwcTATUs. Pard. supra griseus, fusco undulatus, capite
alisque nigris albo punctatis, strigd superciliosd albá, uropygio
coccineo ; subtus albidus, gutture flavo.
* We characterize the following species, although not in the Society's collection, in
order to point out the difference between it and Pard. punctatus, which it much resem-
bles in general appearance.
2. STRIATUs. Pard.dorso grisescenti-brunneo uropygio fulvo; capite alis caudáque
nigris, illo albo-striato; strigá superciliari ad frontem flava pone albá, pteromati-
bus apice coccineis, gulà flava, pectore abdomineque albis, flavo parce variegatis.
Pipra striata. Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 558. no. 13.
ni
Fom.
238 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. Honsrrzrp's Description of the
Fam. Capitis punctis fulvis.
Pipra punctata. Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. p.lvi mo. 1.
Pardalote pointillé. Temm. PI. Col. 78. Vieill. Gal. des Ois.
pi- 13.
We are informed by Mr. Caley, that ** this species is called
Diamond Bird by the settlers, from the spots on its body. By
them it is reckoned a valuable bird on account of its skin. It is
not very plentifully to be met with. It inhabits both forest-land
and brushes; at least I have seen it in both."
Genus. PacuxcEPHALA*. Swains. MSS.
Rostrum forte, basi aliquantulum latum, culmine rotundato, ar-
cuato ; mandibulá superiore emarginatà ; naribus basalibus,
ovalibus, membrana suprà partim tectis, plumulis setisque
parce opertis ; ricéu setis debilibus parce hirsuto.
Ale mediocres rotundato ; remige prima brevi, secunda et tertia
gradatim longioribus, quartá et quintà fere æqualibus lon-
gissimis, sexta pauló breviori, ceteris gradatim decrescen-
tibus; terti: quartæ et quintæ pogoniis externis in medio
pauló latioribus.
Cauda mediocris, fere æqualis, vix furcata.
Pedes mediocres, subfortes ; acrotarsiis scutellatis, paratarsiis in-
tegris.
Caput tumidiusculum.
Although we have received no account of the habits of the
birds of this group, we consider the present family of Pipride
to be that to which it bears the greatest affinity. The bill is
formed very much on the same model as that of the Linnean
Pipra, short, strong, rather wide at the base, and with an arched
and rounded culmen. In their general appearance some of the
* Tlaxus crassus, and xeta2x caput.
species
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 239
species exhibit a resemblance to the birds of the genus Procnias,
Ill, while by the puffed-out appearance of the feathers about
the head, we trace also an approximation to some of the Lin-
nean Pari. An approach in character may also be noticed
between them and the Muscicapæ ; among which, indeed, the
typical species of the present group has been hitherto placed.
The situations which we at present assign the group, in con-
sonance with the views exhibited on the subject in a preceding
volume of these Transactions*, will be found to embrace all
these affinities, and to unite all the birds thus approaching each
other in one conterminous assemblage.
1. GurTURALIS. Pac. flavo-olivacea ; capite lunuláque pectorali
nigris; jugulo albo; torque nuchali, pectore abdomine crisso-
que flavis.
Turdus gutturalis. Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. p. xh. no. 6.
Black-crowned Thrush. Lewin, Birds of New Holl. pl. 10.
‘This species," Mr. Caley says, is called Thunder-bird by
the colonists. I have not often met with it, at least in perfect
plumage. It frequents the green wattle-trees in Paramatta. The
natives tell me, that, when it begins to thunder, this bird is very
noisy.
2. Pecroratis. Pac. grisea, strigà latd per oculos lunuläque
pectorali nigris, jugulo albo; abdomine ferrugineo, pteroma-
tibus remigibus rectricibusque fusco-nigris.
Capitis plume in medio longitudinaliter. fusco-striatæ ; dorsi,
ptilorumque plume similiter at magis leviter striate. — Pte-
romata, remiges, rectricesque fusco-nigræ, externe griseo-
marginatæ ; subtus pallidiores, basi albescentes. Tectrices
* Vol. xiv. p. 444.
inferiores
240 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. Horsrrezv's Description of the
inferiores pallidè ferrugineæ. Rostrum nigrum. Pedes fusci.
Longitudo corporis, 64; ale a carpo ad remigem quar-
tam, 312; caude, 37, ; rostri ad frontem, +, ad rictum, 2 ;
tarsi, +2.
Muscicapa pectoralis. Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. p. li. no. 11.
Orange-breasted Thrush. Lewin, Birds of New Holl. pl. 6.
Some confusion has existed between these two last species,
which we are decidedly of opinion are distinct, although referred
to one species by Dr. Latham in his lately published General
History. The former is a common and well known species. Of
the latter, we have entered into the characters in detail, as it is
less usually met with than P. gutturalis.
3. Srriata. Pac. supernè olivaceo-grisea, leviter fusco-striata,
subtus albescens, striis fuscis latioribus notata, pteromatibus
remigibus rectricibusque fuscis.
Foem. Supernè grisea, subtus fulvo-albescens, graciliter fusco-
striata; gulá guttureque albidis.
Capitis dorsique plume in medio strigis fuscis leviter notato.
Guttur albescens. — Remiges rectricesque suprà fusci, sub-
tus pallidiores. Tectrices inferiores fulvo-albidæ, leviter
fusco-striate. Rostrum pedesque pallescentes. | Longitudo
corporis, O.; ale a carpo ad remigem quartam, 345;
cauda, 3; rostri ad frontem, £, ad rictum, ZZ, ; farsi, 4.
The inside of the mouth of these birds is noted by Mr. Caley
as being yellow; the eyes are black ; their weight is an ounce.
4. Fusca. Pac. olivaceo-fusca, subtus pallidior, gulá abdomine-
, ^» 5
que albidis, remigibus rectricibusque fuscis, istarum intimarum
marginibus ferrugineis.
Pteromatum
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 241
Pteromatum interiorum apices fulvo, exteriorum fusco, notati.
Tectrices inferiores albescentes. Rostrum flavescens. Pedes
fusci. Longitudo corporis, 6; ale a carpo ad remigem
quartam, 344; caude, 35; rostri ad frontem, -4, ad ric-
tum, 13; farsi, 18.
There are two specimens of this bird in the collection, one of
which is marked by Mr. Caley as a young male, the other as a
female. It is probable that the adult male may differ from
both. The eyes are noted as being black. ‘Their weight is
14 drachms.
5. OrrivAcEA. Pac. supra viridi-olivacea, subtus fulvescens, ca-
pite grisescente, gutture albo notato.
Remiges rectricesque fusce, viridi-olivaceo externè marginate ;
hee subtus viridi-flavescentes, ist: pallidè fusci. Tectrices
inferiores albidæ. Rostrum fuscum, mandibulà inferiore
ad basin fuscá. Pedes nigri. Longitudo corporis, 745 :
ale a carpo ad remigem quartam, 34; caud@, 345 ; rostri ad
7
frontem, 1, ad rictum, 44 ; tarsi, 1-1.
6. FuriGrNosa. Pac. griseo-testacea, subtus pallidior subful-
vescens, guld albidescente.
Rostrum nigrum. Pedes fusci. Longitudo corporis, 6: ale a
carpo ad remigem quartam, 342, ; rostri, 13.; tarsi, 13.
Two birds of this species were presented to the Society by
Mr. Brown, which he met with on the South coast of New Hol-
land. A third bird, presented also by that gentleman, was
found by him on the East coast. It varies from the other
two in the upper colour being more plumbeous. ‘This may be
a distinct species; but all the specimens are in bad condition,
and it is impossible to make any decision respecting them, par-
ticularly in a group where the colours are in general indistinct.
VOL. XV. 21 7. Aus-
242 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HonsrrErp's Description of the
7. AusTRALIS. Pac. supra cinerea, dorso infimo flavescente ; sub-
tus flava, remigibus rectricibusque fuscis.
Muscicapa australis. Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. p. l. no. 2.
Southern Motacilla. White's Voy. pl. in p. 239.
Southern Flycatcher. Lath. Gen. Hist. vi. p. 216. no. 102.
This bird," Mr. Caley says, ‘is called yellow Robin by the
colonists. It is an inhabitant of brushes." <A bird in the col-
lection, which has in every respect the appearance of the present
species, with the exception of the throat being whitish instead
of yellow, was met with by Mr. Brown on the South coast. It
is probably the young of the species.
The two last species deviate considerably in the form of their
bills from the other species of this genus. ‘Those members are
much more slender and less arched at the culmen than in the
typical birds. In other characters the two species sufliciently
accord with the group. We leave them at the extremity of it
for the present, not being willing to speak too decisively on a
subject in which our materials are scanty and not in the best
order for examination. The two species evince a very strong
approximation to the Muscicapide.
Fam. MvscricaPripz.
Genus. Muscicapa. Linn. et Auct.
If we select the Muscicapa atricapilla of Linnæus as the type
of the extensive family of Muscicapide, and the representative
of the true Muscicapa,—an arrangement, which from our fami-
liarity with the species, and from its exhibiting characters the
most remote from those of all the neighbouring groups, appears
to be the most expedient,—little deviation will be found to exist
between some of the Australian species of the family and the
European type. The three following species belonging to the
Society’s
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 243
Society’s collection accord very closely with the general charac-
ters of that type. The construction of the bill is nearly the
same ; in our birds that member being only in a slight degree
longer and more gracile. The wing has the same formation ;
the first quill-feather being short, and the second and third
gradually exceeding it; the only difference discernible in this
member is, that in the European bird the fourth feather is the
longest, while in ours the fifth rather exceeds the fourth. The
legs and feet afford no mark of distinction ; unless, perhaps, we
should say that in our birds the farsi are somewhat longer.
These slight differences do not exhibit sufficient ground for
separation between the birds of these distant countries; par-
ticularly as there is a striking resemblance in the disposition of
their colours. We may, for instance, trace the white front,
and the white markings on the wings and tail of M. atricapilla
in the Australian species. There are several species described
by authors as belonging to New Holland, the description of
whose colours approaches very nearly to that of the birds before
us. We have not seen these birds, but consider it probable that
they belong to the same group.
1. Mutticotor. Musc.nigra: fronte, macula tectricum, fascia
remigum, rectricum lateralium strigá, crissoque albis; pectore
abdomineque coccineis.
Muscicapa multicolor. Gmel. i. p. 944. no. 74.
Muscicapa erythrogastra. Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 479. no. 50.
Red-bellied Flycatcher. Id. Gen. Hist. vi. p. 209. no. 88. pl. 100.
We have referred this bird to the red-bellied Flycatcher of
Dr. Latham, although that species does not possess the white
markings on the wing-coverts or the tail which are seen in our
bird, as far at least as we can judge both from the figure and de-
scription given by that gentleman. Such differences in the white
212 markings,
244 Mr. Vicors’sand Dr. Honsrrgrp's Description of the
markings, we must observe, are important; similar differences
form the points of distinction between our European species,
M. collaris, Bechst., and M.atricapilla, Linn. But at present we
have not sufticient grounds for decision on this subject; the few
specimens we have in this country exhibiting much appearance
of variation. We therefore merely express our doubts.
We have necessarily adopted Gmelin's name for this spe-
cies instead of Dr. Latham's, in as much as the former has
the right of priority. Dr. Latham, although he described and
figured the bird in 1783, did not give it a scientific name
until he published his ** Index Ornithologicus" in 1790, two
years after the publication of Gmelin's ** Systema." A line
of distinction must be drawn by which we can invariably de-
termine the choice of names, where a species or a group has
more than one; and the date of publication seems to be the
justest and most uniform by which we can be regulated. In the
present instance, however, and in many others of a similar de-
scription, we have to regret, that whatever credit is due to him
who confers a title on a group in nature,
and, trivial as it 15,
still some little reputation is attached to such points,-—is trans-
ferred to the compiler, who puts together without knowledge or
discrimination the observations of those who precede him, and
thus stamps with his own name the labours of others, in detri-
ment to the true naturalist, who works not from books, but
studies in nature. The law, however, ought to be inflexible :
and as such it would be expedient for naturalists not to exhibit
the fruit of their labours without at the same time characterizing
and naming them.
In Mr. Caley’s MSS. are the following observations on the
specimens in our collection. *4ustralasian Redstart.—'This is by
no means to be called a plentiful bird, and it seems to be scat-
tered over a great space of country. In the month of November
T saw
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 245
] saw it when far distant in the mountains, the roughest part of
the country I had then or since visited. In the months of March
and April, when I was in Western Port, it came and perched on
the rigging of the vessel.—I apprehend it is migratory ; but if
this is the case, it does not depart to any great distance.”
2. Larnawr. Muse. nigra, pectore abdomineque purpureo-roseis,
macula frontali crissoque albis.
Var. 6? rectricibus tribus extimis interne albo-marginatis.
Frontis macula subrotunda, alba. Remiges rectricesque fusco-
nigre, subtus pallidiores. Tectrices inferiores nigra. Ros-
trum nigrum. Pedes fusci. Longitudo corporis, 41; ale
a carpo ad remigem quintam, 211; caude, 243; ; rostri ad
frontem, 2, ad rictum, 1; tarsi, 44.
Muscicapa Lathami. VW. in Zool. Journ. vol. i. p. 410. pl. 13.
For the same considerations that influenced us when we
referred the last bird to a described species of Dr. Latham,
although it evinced some marks of difference from the figure
of that species, we are inclined to consider the bird before us
as a variety of the Muscicapa Lathami of the Zoological Journal.
It differs from the specimen there described in having the three
outer tail-feathers margined internally with white. The spe-
cimen in the Society's collection was met with at Port Jackson
by Mr. Brown, August 1803.
3. Goopenovil. Musc. nigra; abdomine, strigá longitudinali
alarum, rectricumque duarum. lateralium marginibus albis :
fronte, pectoreque vividé coccineis.
Frontis sincipitis partis pectorisque plume basi albæ, apice coc-
cineæ. Striga lata alba longitudinaliter extendit per tec-
trices remigesque secundarias. Remiges quarta ct quinta
leviter in medio externè albo-marginatæ : cæteræ utrinque
fascia
246 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HonsrrErp's Description of the
fascia alba in medio notatæ ; subtus pallide fuscæ, pogo-
niis, ut superne, albo-notatis. Tectrices inferiores albæ.
Abdominis latera parce coccineo imbuta. Rectrices; prima
alba, strigà longâ basali interna, brevique subapicali ex-
terná fuscis notata ; secunda fusca, strigà in medio pogonii
externi, margineque apical albis notata: cæteræ fusco-
nigræ, subtus pallidiores. Pedes fusci. Longitudo corpo-
ris, 34; ale a carpo ad remigem quartam, 25%; caude, 945; ;
rostri ad rictum, circiter, +; éarsi, 4.
In honorem Viri reverendissimi eruditissimique, SAMUELIS Goop-
ENovGH, Carliolensis Episcopi, Societatis Linneane Pro-
Prestpts, in Historie Naturalis Scientià prastantis, hanc
avem eximiam nominavimus.
This beautiful species was discovered by Mr. Brown on the
South coast of New Holland in 1802.
Genus. RHIPIDURA*.
Rostrum breve, depressum, basi latum, apice compressum, cul-
mine arcuato ; mandibulá superiore apice emarginatà ; nari-
bus basalibus, ovalibus, setis plumulisque fere obtectis ; rictu
vibrissis confertis mandibulas longitudine feré superantibus
instructo.
Ale mediocres, subacuminatæ ; remige prima brevissimá, se-
cunda dupló longiore, tertià et quartá, que est longissima,
gradatim longioribus.
Cauda elongata, patula, apice rotundata.
Pedes mediocres, graciles, acrotarsiis paratarsiisque integris.
This group may be at once recognised as offering strong
marks of distinction from the true Muscicapa in the fan-like
structure of the tail. In the birds which feed entirely or par-
* ‘Pins flabellum, and ovga cauda.
tially
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 247
tially in the air this member becomes of much importance, as
contributing more or less to their support or government in their
aérial movements. In the true Muscicapa its general character
is that of being slightly forked: in the present group it is
rounded at the aper; but what it loses in that forked structure,
which is generally supposed to be most conducive to the pur-
poses of flight, it gains in being lengthened and capable of being
spread out like a fan, so as to give the bird a greater power in
the air. ‘The group is also distinguished by the great length
and number of the rictal bristles, which exceed the bill itself in
length. This also is an important character among the birds
that feed on insects in the air, as serving to encompass and
secure their prey: and the greater or less developement of the
character becomes a material point of distinction among them.
The wings, although very similar in structure to those of Musci-
capa, are less rounded, and, being in a slight degree acumi-
nated, possess perhaps somewhat superior powers of flight. We
have not hitherto noticed any birds possessing the characters of
the group, except the New Holland species.
1. FranELLIFERA. Rhip. fusco-nigra; macula superciliari post-
ocularique, gulá, tectricum apicibus, rectricumque rhachibus
et apicibus albidis ; abdomine ferruginescente.
Muscicapa flabellifera. | Gmel. i. 943. no. OT.
Fan-tailed Flycatcher. Lath. Gen. Hist. vi. p. 184. no. 44. pl.99.
The figure that Dr. Latham gives of this species has much
more white on the lateral tail-feathers than our bird. But that
gentleman affirms that the species is subject to much variation.
Mr. Caley thus observes on the manners of this bird. — ** Fan-
tail.—There is something singular in the habits of this bird. It
frequents the small trees and bushes, from whence it suddenly
darts at its prey, spreading out its tail like a fan, and to appear-
ance
248 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HonsriErp's Description of the
ance turning over like a tumbler Pigeon, and then immediately
returning to the same twig or bough from whence it sprang.
These actions it continues constantly to repeat. ‘The skin is
very tender ; and it is difficult after having taken it off the body
to restore it again to its proper shape. "The species is very
common about Paramatta ; and I do not recollect having missed
it at any period of the year.”
2, MoracizLoiDEes. Rhip. nigra; macula superciliari, pectore
medio, abdomine, crissoque albis ; remigibus nigro-fuscis.
Gule latera parce albo variegata. —.Dors? color niger in pectus
descendit, fasciam interruptam pectoralem exhibens, pec-
torisque colorem album, ut in circulo, fere circumcingens.
Pteromata ad apicem parcè albo-marginata. — Tectrices in-
feriores nigro alboque varia. — Remiges fuscæ, subtus pal-
lidiores. Rostrum pedesque nigri. Longitudo corporis, 71;
ale a carpo ad remigem quartam, 3+; caude, 44; rostri ad
frontem, 2, ad rictum, 2; ¢arst, 4$;
This species was discovered by Mr. Brown at George's River
in September 1803. It bears a great resemblance to the descrip-
tion of Dr. Latham's Motacilla atricapilla*, or the Black-topped
Elycatcher of his ** General History", but differs in the colour
of the bill, back and throat. ‘The latter species most probably
belongs to the present group.
3. Rurirnows. Rip. fusco-brunnea, fronte, superciliis, dorso
infimo, caude basi, abdomineque infimo rufis ; jugulo nigro,
guld pectoreque albis, hoc nigro-maculato ; remigibus rectri-
cibusque fuscis, his apice albido.
Muscicapa rufifrons. Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. p. 1. no. 5.
Rufous-fronted Flycatcher. Id. Gen. Hist. vi. p. 213. no. 95.
* Ind. Orn. Supp. p. liii. no. 1. + Vol. vi. p. 214. no. 96. ,
Mr.
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 249
Mr. Caley appends the following remarks to this species.
‘This bird appears to me to be a rare one, at least I do not
recollect having ever seen any other specimen than the present.
I met with it on the 15th of October 1807 at Cardunny, a place
about ten miles to the north-east of Paramatta. It is a thick
brush (or underwood), and is the resort of the great Bat.”
Genus. SrisunA*.
Rostrum elongatum, subforte, valde depressum, basi medioque
latum, mandibuld superiore ad apicem subarcuatd, sub-
emarginatà ; naribus basalibus, ovalibus, setis plumulisque
obsitis ; rictu setis brevibus parce instructo.
Lingua* ad apicem et ad latera laciniata.
Ale subelongatæ, ad medium caudæ extendentes ; remige prima
brevi, secunda et tertia gradatim longioribus, quartá quinta
et sexta æqualibus longissimis, tertià et septima his pauld
brevioribus; tertiæ quartz: et quinte pogoniis externis in
medio paulatim latioribus.
Cauda elongata, patula, apice ferè æqualis.
Pedes mediocres, acrotarsiis scutellatis, paratarsiis integris.
This group bears a very close resemblance to the latter in the
form of its tail, and we consequently expect to find in it a simi-
larity of habits. In this expectation we shall not be disap-
pointed, as the concurrent testimony of all the eye-witnesses of
the manners of the bird which forms the type of the genus
represents it as being an active and restless bird, moving its tail
when in quest of insects like the. European Motacilla, and
spreading it out like the preceding group of Rhipidura when it
* Mew quatio, and ove« cauda.
* The tongue of the type of this genus, of which a specimen was fortunately at-
tached to one of the birds in the Society's collection, differs from that of the European
Musc. grisola only in being longer, the length being in proportion to that of the bill.
VOL. XV. 2 K darts
250 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. Honsrigrp's Description of the
darts upon its prey. Itis, however, sufficiently distinguished from
Rhipidura by the tail being even, not rounded, at the end. The
bill also is much more lengthened, more depressed, and stronger :
and it is deficient in those elongated bristles which protect the
rictus of the preceding birds. ‘The formation of the wing also
of both these genera will be observed, from the characters given
of each, to be materially different: and the marked scutellation
of the tarsi separates the present group from the preceding, and
indeed from most of the Muscicapide that we have as yet had an
opportunity of examining.
1. Vonrrans. Seis. supra nigra, subius alba; capite metallice
atro, remigibus fuscis.
Turdus volitans. Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. p. xli. no. 10.
Volatile Thrush. Id. Gen. Hist. v. p. 192. no. 151.
We find the following observations on this species in Mr. Ca-
leys MSS. * This bird is called by the colonists Dishwasher.
It is very curious in its actions. In alighting on a stump of a
tree it makes several semicircular motions, spreading out its tail
at the time, and making a loud noise, somewhat like that caused
by a rasor-grinder when at work. I have seen it frequently
alight on the ridge of my house, and perform the same evolu-
tions. I have often considered it, when I witnessed these man-
ners, to be the Wagtail of the colony.—The stumps of trees on
which it alights are those which have been left standing, where
the ground has been cleared; the trees themselves having been
cut down about a yard from the ground."
Genus. Myrdcra*.
Rostrum rectum, subbreve, depressum, basi latum, multó latius
quàm altum ; mandibuld superiore emarginatà : naribus ba-
* Muia musca, and ayoguo venor.
salibus,
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 251
salibus, ovalibus, setis plumulisque ferè obtectis ; rictu vi-
brissis fortibus hirsuto.
Ale mediocres subrotundatæ ; remige prima brevi, secunda
dupló fere longiore, tertià quartà et quintà fere æqualibus
longissimis.
Cauda mediocris, lata, equalis aut interdum subfurcata.
Pedes graciles, mediocres ; acrotarsiis scutellatis, scutorum sutu-
ris vix decernendis.
The necessity of subdividing the overgrown Linnean genus of
Muscicapa has long been acknowledged: and the difficulty of
seizing upon such characters as will serve to distinguish such
subdivisions has been equally admitted. Where so much simi-
larity prevails as in the characters belonging to all the species
of the truly natural group of Muscicapide, it is only by observing
the different modifications of the same characters,—by fixing, in
fact, upon the greater or less developement of them, and not by
detecting any tangible differences among them,—that we can
hope to draw such boundary lines between the groups of the
family as will restrain the number of species contained in each
within moderate limits.
Hitherto the only material subdivisions that have been insti-
tuted in this family consist of the genera Platyrhynchus, Desm.,
and Muscipeta, Cuv. The former of these groups includes those
birds in which the broad and flattened bill, peculiar to the Lin-
nean Muscicapæ, is carried to the extreme bounds of its de-
velopement. ‘The breadth, which is nearly equal to that of the
head, extends nearly the whole length of the bill, which becomes
narrower only towards the aper. Such a character affords a
good foundation for a group. The genus Muscipeta does not
appear to be equally well defined. As it has been latterly
extended by those ornithologists who have adopted the name of
2x2 M. Cuvier's
252 Mr. Vicors’sand Dr. HorsrieLzD's Description of the
M. Cuvier’s genus, it seems calculated to embrace all the spe-
cies of the family which do not belong to the European form ;
in fact, merely to draw a geographical line of demarcation
between the European and extra- European species. "To those
who have had an opportunity of observing the mode in which
the characters of the Muscicapide vary in the numberless foreign
species which we already possess, and which are daily increasing
our collections, it must be evident that such a wide latitude in-
cludes in the genus Muscipeta a vast variety of forms: while at
the same time it affords but little relief to the student in lessening
the number of species detached from the original Muscicapa.
It appears to us, however, that some advance will be made to
the more luminous arrangement of this family, by restricting the
species of. Muscipeta to those which exhibit the characters ori-
ginally laid down by M. Cuvier for the group, and which accord
with the birds enumerated by him as its types. From these we
may perhaps select the Muscicapa Paradisi of LinnϾus as the
most conspicuous, and best fitted to point out the characters
which that eminent naturalist designed to particularize. We
here perceive a somewhat elongated bill, which appears inter-
mediate with respect to its breadth between the narrower bills
of the European Muscicape, and the widely-dilated bill of
Platyrhynchus. ‘The tail also is graduated. The group, thus
restricted, will contain a number of well-defined species, which
at present appear to us proper to Africa and India, and which
more or less accord with this type. In addition to this group,
we have ourselves already pointed out two other forms among
our New Holland species, which, besides the modifications of
their bills, exhibit by the structure of the tail, and the use to
which it is applied, some natural grounds for separation. We
venture in addition to propose another group, characterized
above, which we have reason to hope will still further serve to
afford
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 253
afford some assistance towards the subdivision of the family. In
it the bill, like that of the group to which we would restrict the
name of Muscipeta, is intermediate in breadth between the bills
of the true Muscicapa and Platyrhynchus. It is at the same time
moderately short; in which it differs from the bill of Muscipe'a.
The tail is even, by which character it may be also distinguished
from the latter genus; and moderate in length, by which it is
separated from the equally even but long-tailed Seisura. In
drawing a line between the species of this family we are inclined
to lay much stress upon the structure of the tail. Nearly allied
as the whole group is to the Fissirostral Birds which feed upon
the wing, and being themselves accustomed to seize their prey
in the air, a member which, like the tail, contributes to their
powers of flight, or support upon the wing, must be considered
as of much importance: and in a numerous family like that
before us, which calls for subdivision, and in which no stronger
mark of distinction is tangible, it appears to us that the variations
in the structure of the tail afford not merely a convenient arti-
ficial ground of separation, but one which is sufficiently natural.
The group, as we have at present characterized it, does not
appear to be peculiar to New Holland. Some American spe-
cies, such as the Muscicapa querula and M. rapax of Wilson's
* Ornithology,” appear to belong to it.
1. RunEcororpEs. My. plumbeo-grisea, gutture. pectoreque
rufis, abdomine albido, pteromatibus remigibus rectricibusque
fuscis.
Pteromata remigesque interiores pallido-fusco-marginate. — Tec-
trices inferiores albidæ, fusco-variegate. — Remiges rectri-
cesque subtus grisescentes. Rostrum nigrum. Pedes fusci.
Longitudo corporis, 54; ale a carpo ad remigem quartam, 3;
caudæ, 23; rostri ad frontem, 2, ad rictum, 44, ; tarsi, 44.
2. PLuMBEA.
254 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. Horsriezp's Description of the
2. PrumBea. My. supra fusco-plumbea, capite cervice gutture-
que nitidé cæruleo-plumbeis ; abdomine crissoque albis.
Remiges subtus fusci, ad basin interne albescentes. Tectrices
inferiores albæ, prope carpum fusco-maculate. — Rectrices
subtus pallidè fuscee. Rostrum pedesque nigri. Longitudo
corporis, 44; ale a carpo ad remigem quartam, 3; caude, 25-;
rostri ad frontem, 4$, ad rictum, 44; farsi, 44.
3. Macroprera. My. supra olivescenti-fusca, subtus albescens,
remigibus rectricibusque fuscis, harum exterioribus gulá crisso-
que albis.
Remiges subtus pallidiores, basin versüs interne albescentes.
> 2
Ptila inferiora albida, fusco parce notata: pteromata alba.
Rectrices, prima tota alba, secunda ad basin fusca, tertia ad
? ,
apicem alba, cæteræ fusca, subtus pallidiores. Rostrum
pedesque nigri. Longitudo corporis, 54; ; ale a carpo ad
remigem quartam, 317; caude, 21; rostri ad frontem, 2, ad
Ss 20 5 $755
rictum, 12; farsi, +3
2 20°
The comparative length of the wings in this species and the
shortness of the tail distinguish it from the other species of this
group. The wings reach to the extremity of the latter mem-.
ber. In other characters it accords sufficiently with the group.
Mr. Caley informs us that the boys of the colony used to call it
Winter, the reason of which he does not give. He adds, that
* the bird has all the actions of the British Robin Redbreast,
except coming inside houses. When a piece of ground was
fresh dug, it was always a constant attendant.”
Genus. Monarcnua.
Rostrum forte, subelongatum, basi latum, subdepressum ; culmine
carinato, apice arcuato : mandibuld superiore emarginata ;
naribus
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 255
naribus basalibus, rotundis, setis plumulisque opertis ; rictu
vibrissis fortibus instructo.
Ale mediocres, subrotundatæ ; remige prima brevi, secunda
dupló longiore, tertià et quinta æqualibus, quartà qui est
longissima, pauló breviori; ceteris gradatim breviscenti-
bus: tertiæ ad sextam inclusam pogoniis externis paulatim
in medio latioribus.
Cauda mediocris, «qualis.
Pedes mediocres, acrotarsiis scutellatis, paratarsiis integris.
The powerful construction of the bill of this group separates
it at once from the other species of the Muscicapide, with
which in the depression and breadth at the base of that mem-
ber, the strength of the rictal bristles, and the general charac-
ters of the wings and legs, it otherwise accords. "This strength
of bill would incline us to place the bird among the Laniad«,
and in the subfamily of Tyrannina, Swains., of which it might
thus be considered to form the Australian representative, did
not the other characters of its structure evince a more predomi-
nant inclination to the Muscicapide than to the Tyranni. The
group may, however, be considered to stand intermediately
between the two families; and might perhaps be referred with
equal propriety to either, according to the characters which
each naturalist would select as most predominant, and most
convenient to guide him in his subdivisions. ‘The habits of the
birds of the group, hitherto unknown, will have much influence
in determining its exact station.
1. Cartnata. Mon. plumbea; genis collique lateribus pallidi-
oribus ; fronte, gula, notdque carpali nigris; abdomine, tec-
tricibus inferioribus, crissoque ferrugineis.
Muscipeta carinata. Swains. Zool. Illust. pl. 147.
The
256 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HonsrrErp's Description of the
The specimen of this species in our collection was procured
by Mr. Brown at the Day of Inlets near the inner entrance of
Thirsty Sound, September 1802.
Tribus. Conrrostres. Cur.
Fam. FRINGILLIDE.
Genus. FRINGILLA. Auct.
There is no group which requires more revision than the
extensive family of Fringillide. Although M. Cuvier in his
* Régne Animal" has pointed out some well-defined divisions of
the family, yet there still remains such a number of species
belonging not merely to the Linnean Fringilla, but which have
indiscriminately and apparently without any decided law of de-
marcation been scattered by the strict followers of Linnzus in
his genus Loxia, that many more subdivisions must yet be
eflected before the whole group can be placed in an intelligible
and luminous order. The few species that occur in the New
Holland collection do not afford us materials or opportunity for
throwing any light at present upon the subject. They are
chiefly well-known species ; and we shall introduce them without
any attempt at more accurate arrangement, under the compre-
hensive genus Fringilla.
1. LarnuaMr. F.grisescenti-brunnea ; loris, fascia latá pectorali,
lateribusque abdominis nigris; horum maculis rotundis, gut-
ture, abdomine, crissoque albis ; uropygio coccineo.
Fringilla leucocephala, var. Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. p. xlviii.
no. l.
Spotted-sided Grosbeak. Id. Gen. Hist. v. p. 248. no. 50. pl. 89.
It is only in a very urgent case, and where a decided inap-
plicability of name occurs, that we would venture to change the
original
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 257
original name of any species. ‘The present case seems to be
one where we are called upon to risk such an alteration. Out
of numberless birds of this species which have come under our
observation, we have seen none in which the colour of the head
was not the same as that of the bird before us, a grayish-brown.
The white-headed specimen which Dr. Latham figured, and
from which he derived the name of /eucocephala, appears to be
not a typical individual of the species, but an accidental, or, as
far as is hitherto known, an unique variety of it. Even still we
should adhere to an established name, however strictly inappli-
cable to an entire group, if the original describer had named the
species from an actual specimen. But in the present instance
we find that Dr. Latham's figure and description are taken from
a drawing. We shall not, however, deprive this beautiful bird
of its original name without assigning it a better. And in pro-
posing the present alteration, we hope the venerable Father of
Ornithology will pardon us for the liberty we have taken, and
accept this slight tribute of gratitude for the valuable assistance
which his labours have afforded us in our ornithological studies.
Mr. Caley calls this species Red Diamond Bird,—the colonial
name; he met with it occasionally, but not in abundance. He
is not aware of its habits.
2, Barra. F.brunnescenti-grisea, fasciis numerosis nigris line-
ata; subtus alba, nigro-fasciata ; loris nigris ; uropygio rec-
tricumque mediarum basi coccineis.
Loxia bella. Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. xlvi. no. 8.
Black-lined Grosbeak. Id. Gen. Hist. v. p. 267. no. 83.
Some specimens of this species in the collection were brought
by Mr. Brown from Port Jackson, where he obtained them
September 1803.
VOL. XV. 2L 3. BIcHENOVII.
258 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HonsrirErp's Description of the
3. Bicnenovit. F. murino-brunnea, graciliter fusco-fasciata ;
pteromatibus remigibusque albo-tessellatis ; genis, gutture, ab-
domine, uropygioque albis ; loris, fascia gracili gutturali alte-
ráque abdominali, dorso imo, crisso, rectricibusque nigris.
Capitis vertex saturatiori-brunneus, fasciis fuscis vix decernen-
dis: ptila pallidiora fasciis numerosis conspicuis. Remiges
primariæ, externarum pogoniis extimis ad medium usque
et gradatim paulo ultra, internarum ad apicem, albo-
maculatis; secundariæ, exteriores pogoniis extimis, inte-
riores utrinque, maculis albis in paribus dispositis notatæ :
subtus, primariz fuscæ, secundariæ, ut superne, maculis
conspicuis instructee. — Pteromata maculis albis, ut in remi-
gibus secundariis, notatæ. T'ectrices inferiores albo, ad car-
pum nigro notato. Fascia gracilis nigra gutturalis a capi-
tis lateribus utrinque extendit, genas gulamque circum-
cingens. Fascia abdominalis ab humeris utrinque exten-
dit, pectus ab abdomine dividens. Rectrices suprà et
infrà nigræ. Rostrum, mandibuld superiore ad basin plum-
beo-nigrá, apice albido, inferiore ad basin plumbeo-nigrá,
apice tomiisque albidis. Pedes plumbeo-fusci. Longitudo
corporis, 32; ale a carpo ad remigem secundam, 244:
TAM
caude, 13; rostri, 3 ; tarsi, 14.
In honorem viri nobis amicissimi J'AcoBt E BiCHENO, Armigeri,
Linneane Societatis SECRETARIL, Zoologie studiosissimi, h«c
species perpulchra nominatur.
This delicately-coloured species was discovered by Mr. Brown
at Shoalwater Day and Broad Sound, September 1802.
4. TEmporaris. Æ, olivaceo-brunnea subtus albescens, capite
cærulescenti-griseo, tænid per oculos uropygioque coccineis.
Fringilla
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 259
Fringilla temporalis. Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. xlviii. no. 4.
Temporal Finch. Id. Gen. Hist. vi. p. 115. no. 91. Lewin,
Birds of New Holl. pl. 12.
“This bird," says Mr. Caley, ** which the settlers call Red-bill,
is gregarious, and appears at times in very large flocks. I have
killed above forty at a shot. ‘They frequently visited my garden
in the winter to feed on a species of grass-seed.”
Fam. STuRNID&.
We have introduced the mention of this family for the pur-
pose of stating the great deficiency, if not total want of the
birds belonging to it, which prevails in New Holland. In the
continents of the Old and New World the Sturnide congre-
gate in large flocks, and follow the herds of the larger herbivo-
rous Mammalia, from whom they obtain a great portion of their
“nourishment, collecting the insects with which they abound,
and the remains of the herbaceous food which are found in
their neighbourhood. 'The general want of these herbivorous
Quadrupeds in Australia, accounts for a corresponding deficiency
in those birds which look to them for a chief portion of their
support. A similar deficiency in the Coprophagous insects has
been equally observed* in the same country, and a similar
cause assigned for it. A species however of the family is now
before us, which has been for some time included in our New
Holland collection. It bears no note of whence it came, nor
any donors name ; and we have some doubts whether it might
not have crept into the collection by mistake. As we have
been particularly guarded against introducing any species which
has not come to the Society from an authentic source, we
refrain from giving it as a New Holland bird, but shall merely
* See * Hore Entomologice," part i. p. 59.
DUO charac-
260 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. Horsriezp’s Description of the
characterize it*, with a statement of our doubts. We have also
to mention that a pair of the Sturnus militaris, Linn., a species
also belonging to this family, have been presented to the So-
ciety by a gentleman who received them with other birds from
New Holland. The species has hitherto been considered ex-
clusively South American: and as the skins of our birds might
easily have been imported from America into New Holland, we
consider it extremely doubtful that they were natives of the
latter country. The subject is one of importance, as involving
not merely the fact of the wide dispersion of a species, but of
the existence of a group in New Holland as yet unnoticed there ;
and we therefore consider it prudent merely to state the above
circumstances without any further comment.
Fam. Corvipx.
Genus. Cracticus. Vieill. (Barita. Cuv.)
1. Tiptcen. Cr. niger, nuchá, tectricibus alarum, dorso imo,
uropigio, crisso, caudeque basi albis.
Coracias tibicen. Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. p. xxvii. no. 2.
Piping Roller. Id. Gen. Hist. iii. p. 86. no. 23.
‘The birds of this species," Mr. Caley informs us, ** are ore-
garious, and found only in particular places. In the morning
they make a loud whistling noise high up in the trees.—The
natives call the species Ca’ruck: and they tell me it builds its
nest of sticks lined with grass in Iron-bark and Apple-trees (a
species of Angophora). It has three young ones.— 'l'hese birds
* Genus. LAMPROTORNIS. Temm.
Moro. Lamp. corpore toto nigro, metallicó subnitente.
Rostrum pedesque nigri. Longitudo. corporis, 94; ale a carpo ad remigem secun-
X RAS »; 01$ a "E 1€ an vi B s. 207
dam, 5; caude, 345; rostri ad frontem, 12, ad rictum, 1525 5 farsi, 175.
de
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 261
do not appear to be migratory. To the best of my recollection
I have never missed them."
2. Varius. Cr.niger ; torque nuchali, ptilis, pteromatum strigá
longitudinali, dorso imo, uropygio, abdomine, crisso, rectricum-
que lateralium apicibus albis.
Coracias varia. Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 173. no. 22.
Cassican de la Nouvelle Guinée. —P/. Enl. 628.
Pied Roller. Lath. Gen. Hist. in. p. 86. no. 24.
The specimen in the Society's collection was found by
Mr. Brown at Keppel's Bay, in August 1802.
3. STREPERUS. Cr. niger; maculá alarum, crisso, caudeque basi
apiceque albis.
Coracias strepera. Lath. Ind. Orn. 173. no. 21.
Corvus streperus. Leach, Zool. Misc. vol. ii. pl. 86.
White-vented Crow. White's Journ. pl. in p. 251.
Grand Calybé. Le Vaill. Ois. de Par. $c. pl. 24.
Le Cassican reveilleur. Vieill. Gal. des Ois. pl. 109.
“This bird," says Mr. Caley, “is called by the colonists
Hircine Magpie. It is very good eating, except the hinder
parts, which have a strong goatish smell. It is gregarious. |
have known large flocks of these birds come occasionally into
the small trees (Gum-wattle) about Government House and
elsewhere, and hop about from tree to tree until driven away
by being fired at. They may also be seen in large flocks on
the new-sown wheat, particularly in the depth of winter."
Genus. Corvus. Linn. et Auct.
1. Coronorpes. Corv. totus niger subcærulescens, rostro sub-
elongato.
Rostrum
262 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HorsriezDp's Description of the
Rostrum sublongum vix glabrum. Longitudo corporis, 99 ; ale
a carpo ad remigem tertiam, 14; caude, 9; rostri, 2-3; ;
tarsi, 2-3.
This bird has a very general resemblance to our common
species C. corone. It is to be distinguished chietly by its supe-
rior size, its length being twenty-two inches, while that of the
European species is eighteen inches*. ‘The bill also differs. In
our bird this member is much more elongated in proportion to
its size ; the culmen is less rounded and arched, and the gonys of
the under mandible less prominent: it is also less smooth and
glossy than in C. corone.
In Mr. Caley's MSS. are the following remarks. "This bird
is gregarious and not to be met with at all times. Its native
name is Wa'gan.—Moowattin, a native follower of mine, tells me
that it makes its nest like the Ca'ruck (Cr. tibicen), but that he
never met with more than one nest, which was in a Coray bo tree,
at the Devil’s Back, about four miles from Prospect Hill. He
and several other natives at first took it to be a Curriaygun’s
(Scythrops) nest. ‘There were two young ones in it, and the
broken shells of two eggs, which were quite black. There was
a quantity of dung under the tree.— »
** T have observed that the croak of this bird is not so hoarse as
that of C. corone. ‘This was also remarked by the same native
when with me in this country (England) on his hearing a Crow
one morning near Fulham.—The people in the colony say that
it will devour chickens: this I rather doubt.”—In a subsequent
Note Mr. Caley says, that he remembers once or twice meeting
with a single bird of this species; and once more particularly in
the month of November 1804, when in the roughest part of the
mountains, he observed for several days a pair of them flying
* Montague, Ornith. Dict.—Art. * Crow-carrion."
about.
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 263
about. ‘The people who accompanied him observed that they
must be lost, or they would never remain in so dreary a country.
—On the whole, however, he considered them as gregarious.
Genus. PrrroNoRgnuvNcmnus. Aul.
1. MacLzavir. Lath. MSS. Ptil. metallicè ater; plumis ni-
tentibus sericeis, rostri apice pedibusque flavescentibus.
Foem. supra viridis, subtus pallidior, maculis albis lunulisque fus-
cis variegata : pteromatibus, remigibus, rectricibusque rufo-
brunneis.
Mas. Pteromata atra apicibus metallicè nitentibus. — Remiges
rectricesque atræ sine nitore, subtus fuscescenti-atræ. Man-
dibule ad basin nigre, marginibus apicibusque flavescen-
tibus. Longitudo corporis, 1952. ; ale a carpo ad remigem
quartam, 62; caudæ, 444; rostri ad frontem, 13, ad ric-
tum, 1-155 ¢arsz, 1+.
Fœm. Pileus olivaceo-viridis : nucha, dorsum, uropygiumque
olivacescenti-virides ; rhachibus plumarum pallidioribus.
Genarum plumarum rhaches albæ. Gule plume albæ mar-
gine gracili fusco. Juguli plume in medio albidæ fusco-
marginate, rhachibus albis: pectoris abdominis crissique
plume flavescentes, in medio lunula transversá fusca fasci-
atæ, rhachibus albis. Pteromatum remigumque secunda-
riarum internarum apices fulvæ, tænià pergracili pallida
terminate. — Tectrices inferiores albidæ, fusco-maculatæ lu-
nulatæque. Remiges subtus pallide fuscescentes, basi in-
ternè fulvæ. — Rectrices subtus pallide fusce, basin versüs
pallidiores. Rostrum nigrum. Pedes pallide fusci. Di-
mensiones corporis pauló grandiores quàm in mari.
In honorem AL gxaNDRI MacLeay, Armigeri, Societatis Lin-
neanæ nuper SECRETARII, qui collectionem Australem avi-
bus
264 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HorsriEezD’s Description of the
bus pretiosissimis ditavit, hanc speciem nominavimus, meritas
gratias solventes.
Satin Grakle. Lath. Gen. Hist. ii. p. 171. no. 30.
Mr. Caley says that **the male of this species is reckoned a very
scarce bird, and is highly valued. ‘The natives call it Cory,
the colonists Satin Bird. I have now and then met with a
solitary bird of this species: but I once saw large flocks of
them on some newly-sown wheat, from whence they fled, on
being scared, into a neighbouring brush: when all was again
quiet, they soon returned to the wheat. ‘They did not leave the
brush above a few yards. There were no black ones among
them ; nor can I aflirm that they were feeding on the wheat."
It is singular that this beautiful and well-known bird should
never have as yet received a specific name. Although it has
been made the type of a genus by M. Kuhl, and published as
such by M. Temminck in his ** Manuel,” we no where have met
with a scientific name for the species. We are happy to have
the opportunity of uniting with Dr. Latham in designating so
distinguished a bird by the name of the late respected Secretary
of this Society.
2. Surruir. Lath. MSS. — Pl. vivide viridis, subtus paulo pal-
lidior albo-strigatus; remigum internarum pteromatumque
apicibus albo-maculatis ; rectricibus lateralibus apice albis, ex-
timis fuscis virescenti-nitidis.
Gutturis genarumque plume in medio albo-maculatæ ; nuche,
pectoris, abdominisque in medio albo-strigate. Remiges
fuscæ, pogonio externo viridi-marginato; subtus palli-
diores. Tectrices inferiores albidæ, fusco-fasciatæ. — Rec-
trices duæ mediz tote virides; cæteræ prope apicem fus-
cescentes apice ipso nigro ; exteriores fuscæ, viridi-nitentes.
Rostrum
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 205
Rostrum pallidum. Pedes fusci. Longitudo corporis, 12 ;
ale a carpo ad remigem quartam, 63,3; rostri ad frontem,
19, ad rictum, 1-4; caude, 42; tarsi, 2.
Varied Roller. Lath. Gen. Hist. ii. p. 80. no. 17.
In honorem Viri in scientià illustrissimi Jaconr Epovanpi
Suiru, Equitis Aurati, Societatis Linneane Prestvis,
Zoologie patroni liberalissimi, hec speciosissima avis nomi-
natur.
This species does not possess the velvet-like covering to the
nares which is so conspicuous in the preceding species of Ptilo-
norhynchus. In its other characters, however, it sufficiently
accords with the group; and by the deficiency in the covering
of the base of the bill may be looked upon as forming the pas-
sage to the Rollers of Linn:us from the genus before us. ‘The
specimen in the Linnean collection was met with by Mr. Drown
at Watham's River, November 1804.
Genus. Frecitus. Cuv.
1. LEvcorrEnvs. reg. corpore rostro pedibusque nigris, remi-
gum pogoniis internis fascia alba in medio notatis.
Pyrrhocorax leucopterus. Temm. Manuel, p. 121.
The tail in this species of Fregilus is somewhat more elon-
gated than in the typical species, and is also rounded at the
end. The bill wings and legs, however, sufficiently accord
with the group, which is at present too limited to call for or
admit of separation.
*'l'his bird," Mr. Caley observes in his Notes, ‘is called
Waybung! by the natives. They tell me it begins its nest by
laying two sticks in a parallel manner; it then builds it up
with mud or clay, and lines it with a few feathers. It is gre-
garious, and seems to prefer elevated situations, or such as
VOL. XV. 2M command
266 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HonsrrErvp's Description of the
command a prospect of the country. I cannot consider it as
migratory.”
Tribus. ScansoreEs. Auct.
Fam. Psirrracip2#. Leach.
The species of this family found in Australia are numerous,
and they exhibit a considerable variety of form. These, with
the exception of one or two groups which are equally met with
in some of the adjoining islands in the Pacific Ocean, are pecu-
liar to their own continent. ‘They belong to two only of the five
subfamilies of the Psittacide ; those of the Cockatoos and the
long-tailed Parrakeets. Hitherto we have seen no example from
Australia of the true Psittacus, Auct., of the conterminous sub-
family of even-tailed Parrakeets, or of the Maccaws.
Although from the general resemblance which the birds of
this family bear to each other, it may at first sight appear dif-
ficult to determine which are the typical and aberrant groups, it
strikes us that we may attain a clue to this point of distinction
by attending to the construction of the bill, and tracing out the
mode in which it varies from the strength and shortness appa-
rent in some species, to the weakness and elongation exhibited
in others. ‘The food of the Parrots consists chietly of nuts,
seeds, and similar vegetable substances; and the bill, which
possesses the greatest power in breaking the hard shells or
rinds which inclose these substances, seems to peint out the
typical pre-eminence of the groups in which it is found. ‘This
strength of bill may be observed to be carried to the ex-
treme in the two subfamilies of Cockatoos and Maccaws. In
these birds the mandibles are of considerable size and thick-
ness, and much more deep than long ; more especially the under
mandible, which is extremely short, and bent inwards at the
apev so as to give the bill a ereater power over the substances
which
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 207
which it is designed to break. In speaking of the shortness of
this member, we measure the space between the rictus and the
apea, which in the birds to which we allude seldom equals the
distance between the mentum and the same point. On the
other hand, the remaining three subdivisions of the family have
a longer, and consequently a weaker bill. The under mandible
in particular becomes conspicuously elongated, the tomia or
cutting edges being sometimes nearly straight, and the depth
not equalling half the length. The bill thus assumes the gene-
ral form which is found among birds, and deviates from that
which appears peculiar* to this family. In some of these longer-
billed birds, which we are thus inclined to consider aberrant
among the Parrots, we shall have occasion to observe a devia-
tion also from the mode of feeding prevalent in the family by
the tongue partially superseding the use of the bill. Here we
may trace the first approach to the Picide, Certhiade, and the
honey-feeding Tenuirostres ; birds which form a conterminous
group immediately succeeding the present family of Psittacide,
and of which the use of the tongue is the predominant cha-
racter.
According to these views we shall consider the shorter- and
* We know no other bird in which this peculiar construction is found, except the
Fratercula Arctica, Briss., in which species the depth of the bill from the front to the
mentum is nearly equal to the length from the rictus to the apex. This analogical re-
semblance has given that bird the familiar name of Sea-Parrot. In some of the
Loxiade also we see an approach to the same depth and shortness of bill, but not an
equal developement of the character. And here also the name of Psittarostra, attached
to one of the groups, indicates the same analogy. We may observe, that the food of the
birds of this latter family is similar to that of the Parrots, and requires corresponding
powers of bill. When we speak of the height of the bills among birds, we do not take
into account those eminences which surmount the bills of some of the Bucerida.
These give an apparent rather than a real elevation to these members, and in no wise
increase their strength.
2m 2 stronger-
268 Mr. Vicors’sand Dr. Honsrrzrp's Description of the
stronger-billed birds as the typical group of this family, and
shall commence our catalogue of the species in the Society’s
collection with the Cockatoos, or the
Subfam. PrvcroroPnuriwa.
Genus. Prxvcrorormnus. Vieill.
* Crista plicatili, acuminata, antrorsum torta.
1. Gateritus. Pl. albus; cristá, remigum rectricumque latera-
lium pogonüs internis, pteromatibusque inferioribus sulphu-
reis.
Psittacus ealeritus. Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 109. no. 80. Kuhl, Nova
Acta $c. vol. 10. p. 87. no. 157.
Crested Cockatoo. Whites Journ. pl. in p. 937. Lath. Gen.
Hist. it. p. 205. no. 136.
The following observations on this species are extracted from
Mr.Caley's Notes. ‘This bird is called by the natives Car’away,
and also Cur'riang. I have met with it in large flocks at the
conflux of the Grose and the Hawkesbury rivers, below Mul-
so'ey on the former river, and in the long meadow near the
Nepean river. They are shy, and not easily approached. ‘The
tlesh of the young ones is accounted good eating. I have heard
from the natives that it makes its nest in the rotten limbs of
trees, of nothing more than the vegetable mould formed by the
decayed parts of the bough ; that it has no more than two young
ones ata time ; and that the eggs are white without spots. 'l'he
natives first find where the nests are by the bird making Co tora
in an adjoining tree, which lies in conspicuous heaps on the
ground.—Co tora is the bark stripped off the smaller branches,
and cut into small pieces.— When the young ones are nearly
fledged the old birds cut a quantity of small branches from the
adjoining
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 269
adjoining trees, but never from that in which the nest is situated.
They are sometimes found to enter the hollow limb as far as two
yards. ‘The nests are generally formed in a Black-butted gum-
tree; and also in Coroy'bo, Cajim’bora and Yarrowar’ry trees
(species of Eucalyptus).—Their breeding-places appear to be
local."
** Crista rotundatà, retrorsum incumbente.
2. Eos. Pl. pallidè cineraceus; collo, corpore subtus, tectricibus-
que inferioribus rosaceis; cristá albido-rosaced.
Psittacus Eos. Kuhl, Nova Acta &c. vol. 10. p. 88. no. 159.
Perroquet kakatoe rosalbin. "Temm. PI. Col. 81.
Le Kakatoés rose. Vieill. Gal. des Ois. pl. 25.
Genus. CALYPTORHYNCHUS*.
Rostrum crassum, fortissimum, multó altius quàm longum, basi
latum ; mandibule superioris culmine compresso, a bas!
ascendente, maximé arcuato, apice introrsum inclinante :
inferiore brevissima, dilatà, fortiter emarginatà, apice in-
trorsum inclinante, plumis genarum precipue tect: cristd
retrorsum incumbente.
Ale mediocres; remigibus secunda tertià quartà et quintà fere
æqualibus longissimis, prima et sexta æqualibus ; secunda
ad quintam inclusam pogoniis externis medium versus
emarginatis.
Pedes subfortes, digitis unguibusque mediocribus.
Cauda subrotundata, sublonga ; rectricum rhachibus apice sub-
elongatis, nudis.
The chief difference between this genus and that of Plycto-
lophus consists in the greater elevation and the comparative
shortness of the bill. The latter group possesses a bill of
* Kadurtw celo, and £vyxos rostrum.
nearly
270 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. Honsrrerp's Description of the
nearly an equal length and similar construction to that of the
true Psittacus*, which immediately precedes the present sub-
family. While Calyptorhynchus is allied to the Maccaws in the
characters of this member, and thus evinces a higher develope-
ment than Plyctolophus of the typical peculiarities of the family.
The culmen of the upper mandible is considerably curved and
bent inwards at the apex ; in some species when viewed in pro-
file it has a semilunar appearance. The under mandible is
much more dilated also than it is in Plyctolophus. In most
specimens which we have seen of this genus the shafts of the
tail-feathers are prolonged beyond the webs; a peculiarity
which seems to indicate something distinctive in the economy of
the birds. From all the accounts we have received of them they
seem much less gregarious than the birds of the conterminous
genus. ‘The group appears to be confined to Australia. The
black colour that prevails through these: birds separates them
also at first sight from the species of Plyctolophus, which are
generally white. ‘The species of the latter genus, which has
been just enumerated in our catalogue, P/. Eos, and the Caly-
ptorhynchus galeatus, which will be presently noticed, both of
* The group of the Psittacide, to which the name of Psittacus should be applied,
may perhaps be considered to be that which comprises the Psitt. Amazonicus, Briss.,
and some allied species. That at least is the group best known under the old scientific
term, and at the same time under the familiar names of Parrot in our language, and
Perroquet in the French, which correspond with it. In general, when we subdivide
a group, we ought to retain the original name for that subdivision of it which contains
the typical species. There are instances, however, where this mode cannot well be fol-
lowed, as when the typical species have already been distinguished by generic names.
This happens to be the case in the group before us, the typical species of which were
the first that were separated by distinct names. These have long been called Macro-
cercus and Plyctolophus, or more familiarly Maccaws and Cockatoos ; and we cannot
venture to disturb these established names, even for the sake of scientific correctness.
The most eligible rule, next to that of selecting the typical species for the original name,
is probably that of selecting the species to which it has been most familiarly applied.
which
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 271
which partially deviate from the characteristic colouring of their
respective congeners, bring the two groups into immediate
contact.
1. Baxxsrr. C.atro-nitens, subtus flavescenti-undulatus, capite
tectricibusyue flavescenti-maculatis, rectricibus lateralibus me-
dio coccineis nigro-fasciatis subtus flavescentibus.
Psittacus Banksii. Lath. Ind. Orn. p.107. no. 76. Kuh, Nova
Acta óc. vol. 10. p. 90. no. 163.
Psittacus magnificus. Shaw, Nat. Misc. pl. 50.
Banksian Cockatoo. Lath. Gen. Hist. ii. p. 199. no. 128. pl. xxvi.
Phill. Bot. Bay, pl.in p.207. White's Journ. pl. in p. 139.
**'The native name of these birds," says Mr. Caley, “is Gerin-
gora. I have met with them in various parts of the country.
In the north rocks, a few miles to the northward of Paramatta, 1
have frequently seen them, but never many together. ‘The
natives tell me it breeds in the winter in Mun’ning-trees, or
Blood-trees of the colonists (a species of Eucalyptus). It makes
no other nest than of the vegetable mould formed by the decay
of the tree. It cuts off the small branches of the Oak-trees (a
species of Casuarina), but makes no Co'tora. It has three young
ones, but of the eges I could obtain no information."
2. Funereus. C.niger, subtus nigricanti-brunneus, regione pa-
roticd flava, rectricibus lateralibus medio flavicantibus nigro-
imbutis.
Psittacus funereus. Shaw, Nat. Misc. pl. 186. Kuhl, Nova
Acta §c. vol. 10. p. 89. no. 101.
Funereal Cockatoo. Lath. Gen. Hist. i. p. 202. no. 151.
Mr. Caley thus observes upon this bird. ‘Its native name
is Wy'la, so called from the similitude of that word to the sound
which it makes. I have never seen them together in any num-
bers,
272 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. Honsrrierp's Description of the
bers, not more perhaps than half-a-dozen at a time: but I have
met with them in many different places. Sometimes they came
within half a mile of the centre of Paramatta, where 1 have shot
them in the trees. ‘The natives told me it made its nest in
Yar'ro-trees (a species of Eucalyptus), using only the vegetable
mould. It makes no Co'tora, but cuts off the small branches of
Apple-trees (a species of Angophora). It has two young ones.”
3. Cooxir*. C. niger, rectricibus lateralibus medio coccineis,
rostro nigro.
* This bird, together with five other new species of Parrots belonging to the
Society's collection, were described by M. Temminck in the 13th volume of these
Transactions. The same birds, and from the same collection, some of them being
found exclusively in it, were also described by the late M. Kuhl in a Monograph of
the family published in the ** Nova Acta Physico- Medica Academie Caesarea Leopol-
dino- Caroline Nature curiosorum," but described under different names from those of
M.Temminck. A question here arises as to the respective right of these naturalists
to have their names adopted. On the point of priority the case is as follows. M.Tem-
minck's Paper was published in 1821: M. Kuhl’s bears the date of 1820. But on
the other hand, M. T'emminck's Paper was read before the Society on the 21st of De-
cember 1819.—For our own parts, we have not the slightest hesitation in preferring
the names of M. Temminck. We do not found our decision on the nice point of the
act of reading before a chartered Society being to be considered as an act of publica-
tion; a point, however, which ought to be determined and acted upon as of much
consequence to the interests of naturalists: but we go upon the broad principle, that
when a naturalist has the exclusive authority to describe any subjects of Natural
History, and has devoted himself to the task,—a fact of course to be ascertained from
the public readiug of his Paper,—any attempt to anticipate him in his descriptions,
by taking advantage of the delays which sometimes unavoidably take place in the
publication of extensive works, is perfectly unwarrantable, and ought decidedly to
be discountenanced. Such are our views as to the general principle. In applying
it to the present case, however, we must subjoin our suspicions that some mistake
arose between those two gentlemen. M. Kuhl was the friend and coadjutor of
M. Temminck during his visit to this country when he described the birds in ques-
tion; and it is not probable that he would have interfered, unless under some miscon-
ception.
Psittacus
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 273
Psittacus Cookii. Temm. Linn. Trans. vol. xiii. p. 111.
Psittacus Leachii. Kuhl, Nova Acta $c. vol. 10. p. 91. no. 164.
tab. ill.
Cook's Cockatoo. Lath. Gen. Hist. ii. p. 201. no. 130.
The colour of the bill of the two specimens of this bird in the
Society's collection is a deep and decided black. M. T'emminck
in his Paper on these birds, in a former volume of these 'Trans-
actions, says that the bill is of a lead colour, —* couleur de plomb."
—We know not how to reconcile this difference: but we men-
tion the point more particularly, as the colour of the bill appears
to us, judging at least from the specimens before us, to offer a
strong mark of distinction between this bird and the next, the
existence of which as a separate species has been much doubted.
The specimens in our museum were not among the birds
originally collected by Mr. Caley. In that gentleman's Notes,
however, we find the following observations, which we make no
doubt apply to this species. ‘*'The natives tell me of another
kind of Cockatoo (besides Wyla and Geringora), which they call
Carat’. It is very shy. It scrapes dirt out of the hollow boughs,
and makes its nest as the others do. It lays two eges, the colours
of which I did not ascertain. ‘The nest is found by watching the
bird into the hole. It does not make Co’tora, nor cut off the
branches of the trees: but it cuts off May'rybor'ro and Mun mow
(the fruit of two species of Persoonia), without however eating
them, before they are ripe, to the great injury and vexation of
the natives." Mr. Caley has informed us, that he recollects
having shot a bird soon after his arrival in the colony, which he
believes to have been of the same species as the Cal. Cookii of
the Society's collection. It differed from the Wyla and Gerin-
gora in having no yellow in its plumage. He also expresses his
opinion that Cal. Cookii is the Carat’ of the natives.
VOL. XV. Qn 4, So-
274 Mr.Vicors’s and Dr. Honsrrkrp's Description of the
4. Socaxpri? C. niger, collo corporeque inferiori brunnescenti-
nigris, rectricibus lateralibus medio coccineis nigro-fasciatis,
rostro pallido.
Psittacus Solandri? | Temm. Linn. Trans. vol. xiii. p. 113.
Psittacus l'emminckii. Kuhl, Nova Acta óc. p. 89. no. 102.
Solander's Cockatoo. Lath. Gen. Hist. i. p. 201. no. 129.
In describing and giving a name to this bird M. Temminck
expresses his doubts as to its being a distinct species, or the
young of the preceding C. Cook; and he clearly states the
arguments on both sides the question. As far as we can judge,
it seems probable that the birds will prove distinct. But this is
a mere matter of fact, which we hope shortly will be ascertained:
and as such we leave it to time, without indulging in conjecture.
5. GaArEATUs. | C. cineraceus viridi-splendens, albido-variegatus,
rectricibus albido fasciatim undulatis, cristá maris coccined.
Psittacus galeatus. Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. p. xxiii. no. 15. Kuhl,
Nova Acta &c. vol. 10. p. 88. no. 100.
Red-crowned Parrot. Lath. Gen. Hist. ii. p. 218. no. 152.
pl. xxviii.
Subfam. PALÆORNINA.
Genus. NanopeEs*.
Rostrum breve culmine rotundato, altius quàm longum, generis
Macrocerci rostro persimile; mandibulà inferiori brevis-
sima, introrsum inclinante, emarginata.
Ale mediocres, subacuminatæ ; remigibus prima et secunda fere
æqualibus longissimis, secundæ et terti; pogoniis externis
apicem versus leviter emarginatis.
Pedes mediocres ; tarsis digitisque subgracilibus.
Cauda gradata, cuneata ; rectricibus apicem versüs gracilioribus.
* Navwins nanus.
We
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 275
We have already observed, that no species of the subfamily
Macrocercina, or the Maccaws, the next succeeding group to the
subdivision of Cockatoos which we have just quitted, has been
found in Australia. Neither has the recently-described genus
Psittacara, V., or the Perruche-Aras of M. Le Vaillant, which
connects the Maccaws with the present subfamily of Pal«ornina,
been met with in that country. New Holland, however, supplies
the next link in the chain of affinities; and in a singularly beau-
tiful assemblage of birds, diminutive in their size, but brilliant
and attractive in their plumage, affords the representatives of the
New World Macrocercus. These birds, or the genus Nanodes,
the characters of which we have given above, have the bill and
general form of Macrocercus ; and, with the exception of the
naked cheeks, appear perfect Macca:s in miniature. ‘The first
species enumerated, N. discolor, may be considered the type of
the group. The two last species will be found partially to
deviate from this type, as we shall observe in its place, and to
form the passage to the succeeding genus*.
1 DS
* The above group is as nearly allied to Pezoporus as to Platycercus; and it might
perhaps, in a rude distribution of species, be included in that genus from a conformity
in general appearance and habits. We are induced to keep it separate, in consequence
of its close affinity to the Maccaæs, and for the purpose of more strongly marking out,
by such a generic separation, one of the intervening gradations by which the species of
this extensive family are beautifully connected with each other. Nanodes with Platy-
cercus and Pezoporus form a natural group, the species of which return into themselves
in a circular succession; and they thus constitute a minor subdivision of the present
subfamily. We take this opportunity of pointing out the other subdivisions with which
it is connected. The subfamily of Palaornina comprises, first, the Parrakeet Mac-
caws of South America, or the genus Psittacara, V.; secondly, the present Australian
group of Ground Parrakeets, including Nanodes, Platycercus, and Pezoporus, and con-
nected with the preceding Parrakeet Maccaws by Nanodes discolor ; thirdly, the Indian
group of Palæornis, which is united with the Ground Parrakeets by means of the New
Holland species Pal. Barrabandi; fourthly, the Parrakeets whose tongue is fila-
mentous, such as the Australian and Indian genera Trichoglossus and Lorius, which
2N2 join
276 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HonsrrErp's Description of the
1. Drscocor. N. viridis; tenid frontali, gula, maculis pectorali-
bus abdominalibusque, tectricibus inferioribus, crissoque cocci-
neis; capitis vertice, alula, pteromatibusque azurco-c«ruleis ;
ptilis caudáque purpurascenti-ferrugineis.
Psittacus discolor. Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. p. xxi. no. 6.
Perruche Banks. Le Vaill. Hist. des Perr. pl. 50.
Red-shouldered Parrakeet. Whites Journ. pl. in p. 203. Phill.
Bot. Bay, pl. in p. 209. Swains. Zool. Illust. pl. 62. Lath.
Gen. Hist. it. p. 176. no. 90.
One of our specimens of this species was brought by Mr. Brown
from the banks of the Derwent, where he obtained it in 1804.
It appears to be the bird from which the late M. Kuhl took the
description of his Psittacus australis (p. 48. no. (4). He refers to
a specimen in the Linnean Society's collection, and there is no
other bird in that collection which accords with his description.
We do not observe any material difference between our speci-
men and the Psitt. discolor of Dr. Latham. ‘The front is some-
what more yellow than is usual in the species ; and when the bird
is compared with M. Le Vaillant's figure, in which the front is
pure scarlet, a slight difference appears, which may have given
rise to M. Kuhl's separating the two birds. In most of the
birds, however, which are considered to belong to M. Le Vail-
lant's species Perruche Banks, and Dr. Latham's P. discolor, a
greater or less proportion of this yellow marking is discernible.
M. Le Vaillant’s figure appears to us too highly coloured.
Mr. Swainson’s is an excellent representation of the bird. There
join Paleornis by the osculant species Pal. Papuensis ; and fifthly, the species of
various countries, known by the general title of. Perruches proprement dits, including
Brotogeris, V., united to Lorius of the last subdivision by Psitt. fringillaceus, Lath.,
and leading round again to the first subdivision of Parrakeet Maccaws by some Ame-
rican species, whose bills gradually shortening, and becoming stronger, indicate au
approaching affinity to that group.
seems
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 277
seems to be some confusion in respect to M. Kuhl’s reference to
P. discolor of the ** Index Ornithologicus.” He refers that name
to the Perruche Latham of M. Le Vaillant (pl. 62.), Psitt. La-
thami, Bechst., an apparently distinct species ; and he assigns the
denomination of Psitt. humeralis, Bechst., to the Psitt. discolor,
or Red-shouldered Parakeet of Latham, White, and Phillips.
2, Unnutatus. N. obscure viridis fusco-variegatus, subtus pal-
lide viridis ; capite, nucháque flavescenti, fasciis perangustis
fuscis undulatis ; maculá genarum azureá ; rectricibus ceru-
leo-viridibus, lateralibus fascid flava in medio notatis.
Psittacus undulatus. Shaw, Nat. Misc. pl. 673. Kuhl, Nova
Acta &c. vol. 10. p. 49. no. 76.
Undulated Parrot. Lath. Gen. Hist. ii. p. 179. no. 95. pl. 26.
3. Purcnezrus. N. viridis, subtus flavus ; fronte, genis, tec-
tricibusque lazulinis, remigibus azureis, rectricibus lateralibus
flavis, humeris maris sanguineo-purpureis.
Psittacus pulchellus. Shaw, Nat. Misc. pl. 96. Kuhl, Nova
Acta &c. vol. 10. p. 50. no. 79.
Perruche Edwards. Le Vaill. Hist. des Perr. pl. 68.8.
Turcosine Parakeet. Swains. Zool. Illust. pl. 13. 8. Lath. Gen.
Hist. ii. p. 185. no. 104.
The bills of this species and of the next are in a slight degree
more rounded at the culmen than that of the typical species
N. discolor : the wings are also somewhat less acuminated, and
the tail flatter and more rounded at the apex. In these parti-
culars it evinces a gradual approach to the next genus, Platy-
cercus. ‘The birds of this latter genus are observed to feed upon
the ground; and the two species now before us are generally
found in a similar situation as we are informed by Mr. Caley.
But
218 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HonsriErp's Description of the
But they are not equally well adapted to the ground as the spe-
cies of Platycercus, not having an equal length of tarsus, or the
same shortness and roundness of wing. ‘The gradual approach,
however, of the two genera, both in characters and habits, is
singularly conspicuous.
Mr. Caley says of this species,—‘‘ The native name I have
forgotten. ‘The settlers call it Ground Parrot. It feeds upon
the ground. Great care is required in taking off the skin, from
its being particularly fine and thin, and readily torn. The crop is
generally full of small grass-seeds ; and should it be cut or torn,
so as to let these seeds out among the feathers, it is with dif-
ficulty they are got off again, from their having become glu-
tinous in the stomach. ‘The natives tell me it chiefly breeds in
a stump of a small White Gum-tree, making no other nest than
of the decayed parts of the tree. It has eight young ones. The
eges are white without spots."
4. VgNusTUs. N. olivaceo-viridis, subtus flavus, teniá frontali,
tectricibus, rectricibusque lazulinis, harum apice, loris, peri-
ophthalmiisque flavis, remigibus nigris.
Psittacus venustus. Temm. Linn. Trans. vol. xii. p. 121.
Psittacus chrysostomus. Kuhl, Nova Acta &c. vol. 10. p. 50.
no. 78. tab. 1.
Blue-banded Parakeet. Lath. Gen. Hist. ii. p. 188. no. 109.
Mr. Caley informs us that this bird is called by the settlers
Hobart Ground Parrot. The native name he has not ascertained.
Our male specimen was brought by that gentleman from Van
Diemen's Land; the female was procured by Mr. Brown at King
George's Sound.
Genus. PrarvcEemcus*.
Rostrum breviusculum, mandibuld superiori rotundaté dilatatà,
* Tatu latus, and xeoxog cauda.
inferiori
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 279
inferiori brevi profundè emarginata, apice quadrato, myxá
convexà glabra.
Ale rotundatæ ; remige prima secundá breviori, quinte præci-
pue æquali ; secunda et tertià longissimis : omnium, primá
exceptà, pogoniis externis abrupte medium versüs emar-
ginatis.
Cauda lata, depressa, subrotundata aut subgradata ; rectricibus
apice subrotundis.
Pedes; tarsis elevatis; digitis gracilibus, elongatis; wnguibus
longis, parum falcatis.
D
The chief difference between the typical species of this genus
and those of the preceding, lies in the roundness and compara-
tive shortness of the wing, and the elevation of the tarsi of the
former. Other more minute distinctions may be also detected
sufficient to separate the groups; such as the more rounded
culmen of the bill of Platycereus, the breadth and depression of
the tail; the abrupt emargination of the webs of the quill-
feathers, &c.: but the former characters of the wings and tarsi
are the most decisive, as indicating the greater developement
of the characters of these neighbouring groups. ‘These charac-
ters at once point out the terrestrial habits of Platycercus. And
they not only show that the food of the birds of that genus is
found upon the ground, but they evince their superior activity
and greater freedom of action, when compared with the remain-
ing groups of the family, whose gait is awkward and embar-
rassed, and who seem to possess no powers of motion on the
ground. ‘The species enumerated in this genus accord in gene-
ral with the above characters taken from P/. Pennantii, which
may be considered the type; with the exception of Pl. scapula-
tus, or King’s Parrot, which exhibits some slight deviation from
the characters of the bill. ‘This difference, however, is not of
sufficient
280 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HorsriezD’s Description of the
sufficient importance to cause us to separate it from the group,
with which it generally accords in habits and external appear-
ance.
1. Pennanrit. Pl. coccineo-sanguinens, dorso scapularibusque
nigris coccineo-marginatis ; gulà tectricibus caudáque lazuli-
nis, remigibus nigris lazulino-marginatis.
Psittacus Pennantii. Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 90. no. 26.
Psittacus gloriosus. Shaw, Nat. Misc. pl. 53.
Psittacus splendidus. Id. Lev. Mus. tab. 7.
Perruche à large queue. Le Vaill. Hist. des Perr. pl. 78. juv.
Pennantian Parrot. Phill. bot. Bay, pl. in p. 154. Whites Journ.
pl. in p.174. Lath. Gen. Hist. i. p. 131. no. 34.
Psittacus elegans. Gmel. 1. p. 318. n0. 59. Kuhl, Nova Acta $c.
vol. 10. p. 55. no. 89.
Perruche à large queue. Le Vaill. Hist. des Perr. pl. 79.
“This species," says Mr. Caley, “is called by the natives
Dulang! and Julang’. Like the King’s Parrot (Pl. scapulatus),
it is found in large flocks among the ripe Indian corn, both
species being intermixed. It varies much in colour: but as the
greater part of the flock is of the colour of the female, it may
almost be taken for granted that they are young birds.—The
natives tell me it makes its nest chiefly in the Peppermint-tree
‘Eucalyptus piperita), always in the body, but never in the
boughs. Sometimes it enlarges the hole through which it
enters. Year after year the same place is frequented for the
purposes of incubation. It makes no nest but from the decayed
parts of the tree. It has four young ones. ‘The eggs are white.
‘ [ have met with this bird in November in the most moun-
tainous parts of the country: but I apprehend it leaves these
parts in the winter.”
Cue Gk
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 281
2. Fraviventris*. Pl. nigro viridique varius, capite postico
corporeque subtus flavescentibus, fronte coccineo, guld tectri-
cibus rectricibusque lateralibus lazulinis, remigibus nigris lazu-
lino-marginatis.
Psittacus flaviventris. Temm. Linn. Trans. vol. xiii. pp. 116—
118.
Psittacus Drownii. Kuhl, Nova Acta $c. vol. 10. p. 56. no. 90.
Perruche à large queue, var. Le Vaill. Hist. des Pere. pl. 80.
Van Diemen's Parrot? Lath. Gen. Hist. ii. p. 130. no. 33.
“This bird," Mr. Caley tells us, was common at the settle-
ment near Hobart Town in Van Diemen’s Land. It is also met
with, as I understand, in New Caledonia. I know nothing of
its habits." Dr. Latham expresses a doubt whether his Van
Diemen's Parrot is the same as M. Temminck's species. [t
appears to us that they are the same, and that the descrip-
tion of the Sulphur-headed Parrot (Gen. Hist. p. 133. no. 35.)
appertains also to the same species.
3. Exrwrus. Pl. nigro flaco viridique varius, collo pectore crisso-
que coccineis, guld albd, tectricibus rectricibusque lateralibus
lazulinis, remigibus nigris lazulino-marginatis.
Psittacus eximius. Shaw, Nat. Misc. pl. 90. Zool. of New Holl.
t.1. Kuhl, Nova Acta $c. vol. 10. p. 54. no. 87.
Perruche omnicolore. Le Vaill. Hist. des Perr. pl. 28. 29.
Nonpareil Parrot. Lath. Gen. Hist. ii. p. 139. no. 41.
In Mr. Caley's MSS. are the following observations on this
bird. ** Rosehill Parrot.—So called from the name of the set-
* M. Temminck originally gave the specific name of flavigaster to this bird ( Linn.
Trans. xiii. p. 116.); but as he himself subsequently referred to it ( p. 118.) under the
name of flaviventris, we have no scruple in adopting the latter title in preference to
the former, which is obviously liable to objections.
VOL: XV: 20 tlement
282 Mr. Vicors’sand Dr. HonsrrEnp's Description of the
tlement afterwards known by the name of Paramatta. The
native name of the bird is Bundullock.
“The natives inform me it always breeds in dead trees, chiefly
on farms, making its nest with feathers in the body of the hol-
low tree. ‘To whatever depth the tree may be hollow, the bird
always descends to the bottom, like an Opossum. Its nest is
found by watching the old bird; and sometimes by hearing the
young ones in the hollow of the tree on passing by. It has six
young ones; the eggs are white without spots.
* [t may frequently be seen in small flocks along with the
King's Parrot (Pl. scapulatus) and the Lory (Pl. Pennantii) in
fields of Indian corn : but I never recollect it taking the corn from
the stalk like the other two birds, and I suspect it only picks up
what the others throw to the ground. I have seen the most of
this species on new-sown wheat early in the morning ; but never
in large flocks. I do not recollect ever to have seen the King’s
Parrot or Lory pulling up the young wheat like this bird. All
three species are caught in traps. They are very good eating.
The King’s and Rosehill Parrots are the most valuable for selling
to ships to take to England. This latter species (eximius) fre-
quents Van Diemen’s Land. I do not know whether the Lory
does so, but I remember shooting that species at Western Port.
on the opposite side of the strait.”
4. Browntt. Pl. flavescenti-albidus, nigro variegatus ; capite
scapularibusque nigris, alis cauddque lazulinis, genis albis
subtus cæruleo-marginatis, crisso coccineo.
Psittacus Brownii. Temm. Linn. Trans. vol. xiii. p. 119.
Psittacus venustus. Kuhl, Nova Acta de. vol. 10. p. 52. no. 83.
Brown's Parrot. Lath. Gen. Hist. ii. p. 139. no. 42.
This species, which may perhaps be considered, from the
extreme delicacy of its colours, as the most beautiful of the
family.
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 283
family, was discovered by Mr. Brown, whose name it justly
bears, at Arnheim Bay.
5. Bavrgnr. PI. viridis, capite nigro, torque nuchali abdomine-
que imo flavis, pteromatibus remigibusque lazulinis apicibus
nigris, rectricibus lateralibus apice cæruleis.
Psittacus Baueri. Temm. Linn. Trans. vol. xiii. p. 118.
Psittacus cyanomelas. Kuhl, Nova Acta §c. vol. 10. p. 53.
no. 84.
Bauer’s Parrot. Lath. Gen. Hist. ii. p. 120. no. 21.
The fine specimen of this species in the collection was met
with by Mr. Brown at Memory Cove on the South coast.
6. Barnarpi. Lath. MSS. Pl. leté viridis, fronte coccineo,
fascia occipitali brunnescenti-fuscá, dorso cærulescenti-nigro,
torque nuchali interrupto flavo, genis pteromatum rectricum-
que apice lazulinis, humeris remigum margine rectricumque
lateralium basi azureis.
Barnard’s Parrot. Lath. Gen. Hist. ii. p. 121. no. 23.
In honorem EpovaRpDpi BARNARD, Armigeri, Societatis Lin-
neanæ Socii, Ornithologie studiosissimi, hec species, quam
Societas liberalitati ejus debet, nomen accipiat.
7. Muzricoror. Pl, viridis, fronte humeris femoribus crissoque
aurantiaco-flavis, fascid occipitali purpureo-brunned, ptero-
matibus remigibusque eaterné azureis.
Psittacus multicolor. Temm. Linn. Trans. vol. xin. p.119. Kuhl,
Nova Acta &c. vol. 10. p. 55. no. 88.
Varied Parrot. Lath. Gen. Hist. i1. p. 182. no. 98.
This bird was procured by Mr. Brown at Spencer’s Gulf,
South coast.
202 8. Env-
284 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. Honsrrigrp's Description of the
8. Eryruroprerus. Pl. viridis subtus flavescenti-viridis, dorso
scapularibusque nigris, tectricibus coccineis, fascid dorsali
lazuliná.
Psittacus erythropterus. Gmel. Syst. i. p. 343. no. 120. Kuhl,
Nova Acta dc. vol. 10. p. 53. no. 85.
Psittacus melanonotus. Shaw, Nat. Misc. pl. 653.
Perruche érythroptere. Quoy et Gaymard, Voy. aut. du Monde,
pl. 27.
Crimson-winged Parrot. Lath. Gen. Hist. ii. p. 253. no. 198.
A female of this species, presented to the Society by Mr.
Brown, was obtained in an island of the Gulf of Carpentaria
in December 1802.
9. Scaputatus. Pl. viridis, capite collo corporeque subtus coc-
cineis, lunuld nuchali uropygioque lazulinis, lined scapulari
longitudinali pallidè viridi-caruled, rectricibus nigris viridi
splendentibus.
Foem. Capite pectoreque viridibus.
Psittacus scapulatus. Bechst. Kuhl, Nova Acta $c. p. 56. no. 91.
Psittacus ''abuensis, var. 9. Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 88. no. 19.
Grande Perruche à collier et croupion bleue. Le Vaill. Hist.
des Perr: pl. 55.50.
Tabuan Parrot. Whites Journ. pl. in p. 108.8. in p. 169.2.
Phill. Bot. Bay, pl. in p. 153.
Mr. Caley could not inform us of the native name of this
bird. ‘It was seldom,” he tells us, ‘that I noticed a full
coloured specimen, viz. red. When the Indian corn is ripe
they may be seen in large flocks, on the farms, clinging on the
stalks, and occasioning much mischief to the corn. 1 appre-
hend that the greater part of these flocks are young birds, as it
is rare to see a bright-red one among them.—The natives tell
me
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 285
me it breeds chiefly in a white Gum-tree (a species of Eucalyp-
tus), making its nest of a little grass, and lining it with feathers.
It has as many as twelve young ones. ‘The eggs are of a dirty-
white with black specks. The nest is found by the bird en-
larging the hole to creep in at. This process gives the sur-
rounding part a reddish appearance, which, forming a contrast
with the whiteness of the other parts, renders it conspicuous."
Genus. Przoronvus. I.
The birds of this genus, which was first characterized by
M. Illiger, differ essentially from those of the last by the form
of the tail, which, instead of being broad and depressed, is
narrow and cuneated, and has the feathers pointed at the apez.
The toes also seem even still more appropriated to the ground
than those of Platycercus, being longer and straighter, and the
nails being less falcated. ‘The outer webs of the quill-feathers
are less indented, and the indenture is nearer the aper ; while
the under mandible also exhibits a slighter emargination than
in the latter genus, thus evincing a greater recession from the
groups that approach the Maccaws. "There has hitherto been
but one species discovered of the genus, which appears confined
to New Holland.
1. Formosus. P. viridis, capite nigro-lineato, dorso alis pectoreque
maculis nigris lunulatis flavo-marginatis, corpore subtus rec-
tricibusque flavo viridique fasciatis, tenid frontali coccineá,
remigum fascid interruptà flava.
Psittacus formosus. Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 103. no. 60. Kuhl, Nova
Acta &c. p. 43. no. 64.
Psittacus terrestris. Shaw, Zool. of New Holl. pl. 3. Nat. Misc.
228. Lev. Mus. tab. 55.
Perruche ingambe. Le Vaill. Hist. des Perr. pl. 32.
Ground Parrot. Lath. Gen. Hist. ii. p. 137. no. 40.
There
286 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. Honsrrgrp's Description of the
There was no specimen of this species in the collection ori-
ginally brought to this country by Mr. Caley. That gentleman,
however, makes the following reference to this bird, when speak-
ing of the N. pulchellus. ‘* What is called the Ground Parrot at
Sydney inhabits the scrubs in that neighbourhood. I have also
seen it in similar situations elsewhere. I have never seen it
except on the wing; it having started up before me, taking a
short flight, and alighting among the bushes, but never to my
knowledge upon them.”—Our specimen was obtained by Mr.
Brown at Port Phillip, January 25th, 1804.
Genus. PaL#®ornis*.
Rostrum subcrassum ; mandibuld superiore dilatatà, culmine ro-
tundo: inferiore lata, brevi, emarginatä.
Ale mediocres ; remigibus tribus extimis fere æqualibus, longis-
simis ; secunde terti: et quartæ pogoniis externis in medio
gradatim latioribus.
Cauda gradata; rectricibus duabus mediis gracillimis, cæteras
longitudine magnopere excedentibus.
Pedes; tarsis brevibus, debilibus ; unguibus mediocribus, sub-
gracilibus, falcatis.
Corpus gracile, concinnum.
lhe birds of this genus, which are of peculiar interest as
having formed the group of Parrots known to the ancients, are
distinguished at once from those of the conterminous genera by
the form of the tail, in which the two middle feathers con-
siderably exceed the others in length. Other distinguishing
characters may also be observed on comparing the generic de-
scriptions. ‘The group belongs chiefly to India, and some of
the neighbouring islands in the Indian Ocean. One species
only has been found in New Holland. ‘This seems to possess
* IIaAXcios antiquus, and opvis avis.
the
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 287
the general characters of Palæornis; but the tarsi are more
elongated than is usual in the genus. In this aberration of
character we may trace a beautiful connection between the
Ground Parrakeets of Australia, and the more typical birds of
the present genus belonging to the continent of India.
1. BarrABaNDI. Pal. viridis, sincipite guláque aureo-flavis,
torque pectoral maculisque femoralibus coccineis.
Psittacus Darrabandi. Swains. Zool. Illust. pl. 59.
Scarlet-breasted Parrot. Lath. Gen. Hist. i. p. 121. no. 24.
Genus. TrIcHoGLossus*.
Rostrum subelongatum, compressiusculum : mandibulá inferiori
subrectà, margine integra, longiori quàm alta.
Lingua setis plurimis marginalibus ad apicem subtus instructa.
Ale mediocres; remige prima longissimá, secunda et tertià pauld
brevioribus, pogoniis integris.
Pedes subbreves ; tarsis plumis femoralibus aliquatenus opertis :
acrotarsiis infra genu paululum plumosis ; digitis subforti-
bus, depressis, lomatinis ; unguibus fortibus, falcatis.
Cauda gradata ; rectricibus apice angustioribus.
Besides the external characters, specified above, which sepa-
rate this genus from the rest of the present subfamily, a decided
ground of distinction is exhibited in the formation of the tongue.
The under part of this member is furnished at the apex with
numerous strong hairs or bristles, of a brush-like structure ;
and which seem to serve the bird for the purposes of suction.
The tendency of a considerable portion of the birds of New
Holland to feed by suction upon vegetable juices, for which a
sufficient provision is made by nature in the luxuriant vegeta-
tion and the constant succession of flowers in that country, ren-
* ODË seta, and yaucoe lingua.
ders
288 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HonsrrErp's Description of the
ders this singular deviation from the general form of the Parrot's
tongue less surprising. Our characters of the tongue are drawn
from a specimen belonging to a species of this genus, which was
for some time alive in this country: and our inferences con-
cerning its use are strongly confirmed by the observations of
Mr. Caley on the manners of some species, extracts from which
will accompany our descriptions of the birds. It is to be re-
marked, that although the Parrots are in general a long-lived
race, and of all birds perhaps the most easily reared, and
although the birds of the present group are most numerous in
New Holland, few of them have been kept alive for any length
of time in a state of confinement. Ignorance most probably
of their natural mode of feeding has occasioned this difficulty in
rearing them.
We have reason to believe that the next adjoining group of
the present subfamily, the genus Lorius of the Eastern Islands,
is endowed with a similar formation of tongue. ‘These two
united groups include some of the birds which exhibit the most
elongated and the weakest bills in the family : and the deviation
evinced from the general mode of feeding of the family confirms
our conjectures that the birds which are distinguished by such
characters of the bill are the most aberrant in the group; while
the birds which possess the opposite characters, viz. strength
and shortness of bill, are the most typical. It is also to be
observed, that the next allied group of the Order of Insessores
which adjoins the Parrots, and to which the two aberrant genera
at present before us approach most nearly of all that family, is
distinguished by the tongue entirely superseding the general
functions of the bill in procuring sustenance. ‘The partial use
of the tongue in these two genera of Psittacidæ, thus affords an
addition to the numberless beautiful instances in which nature
blends together the characters of her conterminous groups.
l- Elias
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 289
1. Hæmaropus. Tri. viridis, capite collo abdomineque medio
purpurascenti-azureis ; pectore coccineo flavo-variegato, tec-
tricibus inferioribus coccineis, lunuld nuchali fasciáque re-
migum subtus flavis.
Fœm.? Pectore coccineo, azureo-fasciato.
Psittacus hæmatodus. Linn. Mant. 1771. p. 524.
Perruche des Moluques. Pl. Ent. 745.
Perruche d'Amboine. J[b.61. 2.
Perruche à tête bleue. Le Vaill. Hist. des Perr. pl. 24.8. 25.2.
26. juv. 27. var.
Blue-bellied Parrakeet. Brown, Illust. of Zool. pl. 7. Phill.
Bot. Bay, pl. in p. 152.
Red-breasted Parrot. Lath. Gen. Hist. ii. p. 122. no. 26.
Mr. Caley informs us, that ** this bird is called Var’rin by the
natives, and by the settlers Blue Mountain Parrot. ‘The young
birds of this species are taken by the natives, who sell them to
the settlers inhabiting the banks of the Hawkesbury, and the
neighbourhood of Richmond Hill ; which latter settlement being
situated at the foot of the mountains, the above name has been
given to the bird. ‘The name however is misapplied, for this
species does not frequent the mountains; at least I have never
met with it there during the various times and the different sea-
sons that I visited those parts. It is a bird remarkable for its
docility and attachment to some people, although a perfect
scold to others, who may have teazed or offended it.— Flocks of
these birds may be seen in the Eucalypti trees when in flower,
in different parts of the country, but in the greatest number
near their breeding-places. It does not eat any kind of grain,
even when in a domesticated state. It is much subject to fits,
which generally prove fatal ; and it is rare to find an individual
kept alive above a couple of years. One that I kept, on being
VOL. XV. 2r shown
2900 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HonsrrErp's Description of the
shown a figure of a coloured plant, used to put its tongue to the
flowers, as if with the intent of sucking them: and I have seen
it make the same attempt with a piece of cotton furniture. The
flesh of this bird is very good eating.”
Although, according to general custom, we have referred our
New Holland birds of this species to the Psztt. hematodus of
Linnæus, we have strong doubts as to their being the same spe-
cies. It is not, however, in our power at present to make any
decisive observations on this point, as we have not been able to
procure a sufficient number of authentic specimens of the Mo-
lucca birds, from whence Linnzus’s original description was
taken, to compare with our Australian specimens. We have also
to add, that a bird agreeing with the above description of the
female of this species, which we have marked with a note of
doubt, was brought from New Holland, and presented to the
Society as the female of the Blue Mountain Parrot. This bird
accurately accords with M. Le Vaillant’s figure of the female of
the Perruche à téte bleue. We are of opinion, however, that
it will prove to belong to a very distinct species. Mr. Caley,
whose observations on the spot were most accurate, informs us
that he noticed little difference in plumage between the sexes
of the Blue Mountain Parrot. And among hundreds of skins of
this species, which have come under our own observation, we
have never seen a second specimen agreeing with the bird to
which we allude. It is not probable that one sex should be so
common in the collections sent home to this country, and the
other sex, equally attractive in plumage, be so extremely rare.
2. Capisrratus. Tri. viridis, pileo guläque purpurascenti-azu-
reis, pectore coccineo-aurantio, tectricibus inferioribus cocci-
neis, torque nuchali fascidque remigum subtus flavis.
Psittacus
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 291
Psittacus capistratus. Bechst. Kuhl, Nova Acta &c. vol. 10.
p. 35. no. 44.
Perruche à face bleue. Le Vaill. Hist. des Perr. pl. 47.
3. RugritTorquis. Tri. viridis, capite genis guláque cæruleis,
pectore tectricibus inferioribus torqueque nuchali aurantio-
coccineis, hoc azureo-variegato, maculd abdominali azureo-
viridi, fascia remigum subtus abdomineque infimo flavis.
Caput totum cæruleo-splendens. Torquis nuchalis plume coc-
cineæ, ad apicem azureo-marginate. Remigum pogonia
interna fusca, maculà longà longitudinali marginata. Fe-
morum caudeque tectrices flavæ, viridi varie. — Rectrices
virides, subtus flavescenti-virides, pogoniis internis, mediis
exceptis, ad basin flavo-marginatis. Longitudo corporis,
9.2, ; mandibule superioris ad rictum, +, inferioris, 12 ; ale
a carpo ad remigem primam, 545 ; farsi, +}; digiti antici
externi, ungue incluso, 14.
This species approaches very nearly to the two preceding ;
but it may at once be distinguished from them by the colour of
the nuchal collar, which is scarlet, with the feathers margined
by deep blue. ‘The colour of the head is of a paler azure, and
that of the breast and inner wing-coverts is more of an orange
and less of a scarlet than in Trich. hematodus.
4. Maroxr. Lath. MSS.* Tri. viridis, pectore abdomine nu-
cháque flavo coccineoque variis, tectricibus inferioribus fas-
ciáque remigum subtus coccineis.
* "There is a species described by M. Kuhl in his Monograph on this family (Psitt.
chlorolepidotus, p. 48. no. 75.), which he refers to as being in the Linnean Society’s
collection, and which bears some resemblance in characters to the present species.
The description, however, is not sufficiently accordant with our bird to lead us at once
to conclude that it is intended for it. The species described above is extremely com-
mon, and in every extensive collection.
9p? Capitis
202 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. Honsrrgrp's Description of the
Capitis pileus viridis, cæruleo splendens: gula, geneque cæru-
lescenti-virides. Pectoris, abdominis medii, nucheque plume
ad basin flavæ, coccineo parce variegatæ, fasciá apicali
viridi lata marginate. Remigum pogonia interna fusca,
omnium, prima excepta, macula aurantio-coccineà in medio
notata, his maculis fasciam subtus formantibus. —Rectrices
virides, subtus pallide fusce, pogoniis internis omnium,
duabus mediis exceptis, ad basin aurantiaco-coccineis.
Rostrum rubro-flavum. Pedes nigri. Longitudo corporis,
9-3-: ale a carpo ad remigem primam, 55; mandibule supe-
rioris ad rictum et ad ceram, 3, inferioris, +; farsi, 3; di-
citi antici externi, ungue incluso, -%,.
Spotted Parrot. Lath. Gen. Hist iip. LOT. nol 129:
In honorem GutteEtMt Maton, Medicine Doctoris, Societatis
Linneanæ Pro-Præsipis, in Zoologia evimii judicis, hac
species pulchra generis pulcherrimi nomine distinguatur.
5. Concitnnus. Tri. viridis; fronte, tania postoculari descen-
dente, rectricumque basi intus coccineis ; occipite carules-
cente, maculá laterali subtus flavá ; nuchá interscapulioque
olivaceis.
Psittacus concinnus. Shaw, Nat. Misc. pl. 87. Kuhl, Nova
Acta &c. vol. 10. p. 46. no. 70.
Psittacus australis. Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 104. no. 66.
Perruche à bandeau rouge. Le Vaill. Hist. des Perr. pl. 48.
Crimson-fronted Parrakeet. Lath. Gen. Hist. i. p. 151. no. 97.
* This species," Mr. Caley observes, “is called by the natives
Coolich. It may be observed in large flocks sucking the Euca-
lypti flowers. Like the Blue Mountain Parrot itis subject to fits,
which generally prove fatal. It is but seldom kept alive. Its
breath, or some part about its head, emits a very sweet odour.
‘The
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 293
** The natives tell me it breeds in the hollow boughs of trees,
scraping out the decayed mould and making its nest of it. It
has two young ones. The eggs are green without spots.”
6. PusirLUs. Tri. viridis; fronte, guld, regione rostrali, rectri-
cumque basi intus coccineis ; lunulà nuchali olivaceo-brunned,
interscapulio olivaceo-viridi.
Psittacus pusillus. Lath. Ind. Orn. p.106. no. 71. Kuhl, Nova
Acta dc. vol. 10. p. 47. no. 71.
Perruche à face rouge. Le Vaill. Hist. des Perr. pl. 63.
Small Parrakeet. Whites Journ. pl. in p. 269. Lath. Gen.
Hist. ii. p. 194. no. 118.
‘“ The native name of this bird is Jerryang’. This, like
Coolich, is seen in very large flocks in the Eucalypti trees when
in blossom. ‘The natives now and then bring in the young ones,
but they seldom live long. I had three young ones for some
time, which used to huddle together and give outa very pleasing
note. ‘They all died strongly convulsed, and nearly at the same
time; the limbs were as stiff the moment life was extinct, as if
the body had become cold.—The natives tell me it builds in the
hollow limbs of trees, making no other nest than of the decayed
wood. It has four young ones. ‘The eges are white and without
spots."—Caley's MSS.
Mr. Caley adds, ‘that he has learned from the natives that
the nest of this species, of the Ground Parrot (N. pulchellus),
of the Dulang’ (Pl. Pennantii), and of the Coolich (Tri. concin-
nus), smell very strong and oftensive of their dung.”
Fam. CERTHIADE.
The true scansorial birds have been very sparingly found in
New Holland. Hitherto no species of the family of Picidæ has
been discovered in that vast continent; and of the present
family
294 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. Honsrrerp's Description of the
family of Certhiade a few Australian species only have as yet
heen sent home to us. It is however to be observed, that a
neighbouring family to the present, that of the Meliphagide,
of which a considerable variety of forms and a number of species
occur in Australia, possesses one of the grand characteristics of
the scansorial birds, a strong and lengthened hal/ua. And it
consequently becomes a question whether these birds, distin-
euished by such a peculiarity which separates them from all
the other honey-eating birds of the Old and the New World, may
not for the most part supply the place of the more typical climb-
ing birds in that fifth division of the globe. ‘The peculiar vege-
tation of the country, which seems to unite to so great an extent
the strength of the forest-tree with the blossoms of the shrub,
serves in some measure to strengthen such a conjecture, and to
account for this singular union of characters, as administering
at once to the purposes of the birds which represent the scan-
sorial and mellivorous tribes.
The following genus, which holds the same place in Australia
as the true Certhia fills in the ancient continent, and the nume-
rous group of Dendrocolaptes, Herm., in South America, is the
first which presents itself of this family. It possesses the strong
and lengthened shafts of the tail-feathers which support the
typical scansorial birds in climbing, and immediately connects
the whole group by a strong affinity with the Woodpeckers.
Ortuonyx. Temm.
1. Tgw MrNCKII. Orth. rufo-brunneus; capite, regione nuchali,
interscapulioque nigro-variegatis ; tectricibus nigris apice al-
bido; gutture, pectore, abdomineque medio albis.
Caput. rufo-brunneum nigro-lineatum, strigá laterali oculos in-
cludente griseâ. Guttur parce nigro undulatum. Nucha
interscapuliumque strigis latis nigris notatæ ; illius lateri-
bus
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 295
bus maculis nigris ad pectus ferè extendentibus utrinque
instructis. Remiges fusco-brunneæ, pogoniis externis hasi
albis, deinde fascia fusco-nigrá notaque ferrugineá approx-
imante instructis : subtus, fectricesque inferiores, brunnes-
centi-fusce. Rectrices brunneæ, rhachibus nigris ; subtus
brunnescenti-fuscz. Rostrum nigrum. — Pedes pallidè fusci.
Longitudo corporis, 775; ale a carpo ad remigem quin-
tam, 344; caude, 32; rostri ad frontem, +, ad rictum, +;
tarsi, A2:
In honorem Ornithologici celeberrimi, Domini C. J. Temmincx,
Societatis Linneane Socii. Peregrini, qui primüm hoc genus
characteribus illustravit, hec species nominatur.
M. Temminck in his ** Manuel” refers to a species which he
gives as the type of this genus, and which he describes as dark-
brown above with black spots, the male having a red throat
surrounded with black; the female with a white throat. We
suspect our bird to be the female of this species. M. l'emminck
has not named his bird ; and we consequently take this oppor-
tunity of assigning it the name of a naturalist, to whom we are
indebted for the characters of the group itself, and for many
other valuable additions to Ornithology.
The Society's specimen was presented to them by Mr. Brown,
who met with it near Hat Hill in the year 1804.
Genus. CrrMaAcTERIS*. Temm.
1. Prcuw Nus. C. fusco-griseus, alis macula humerali albidá,
remigibus maculis medid ferrugined subapicalique fusco-nierá
fasciatis ; subtus pallidior, abdomine strigis albidis fusco-mar-
ginatis lineato.
* [ take this opportunity of correcting an error in the 14th volume of these Trans-
actions (p. 459.), where I stated that the tail-feathers of the birds of this genus were
rigid, like those of the true Certhia. They are soft and pliant, as in the generality of
birds, —V.
Certhia
206 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HonsrrErp's Description of the
Certhia picumnus. = ///.
Echelet picumne. Temm. Pl. Col. 281. f. 1.
Mr. Caley informs us that ‘this bird is met with in the scrubs
at Paramatta, and may be seen running swiftly up the bodies
of trees, crying out pink, pink, like the Fringilla calebs of Eu-
rope _ Its irides are dark hazel-brown."
9. ScaN DENS. C. fusco-brunneus; remigibus fuscis, maculis me-
did ferrugined subapicalique fusco-nigrá fasciatis ; gutture
pectoreque albis, illo macula ferrugined postauriculari ; ab-
domine nigro, albo-strigato ; rectricibus griseis, in medio ni-
gro-fasciatis.
Fœm. Gutture albo, immaculato.
Climacteris scandens. Temm.
E'chelet grimpeur. Id. Pl. Col. 281. f. 2.
The two specimens in the collection were shot together by
Mr. Caley, running up a tea-tree. Their rides were light hazel-
brown. M.'Temminck informs us that the female is without the
ferruginous spot behind the ears.
Genus. Sirra. Linn. et Auct.
1. Curysoprera. S. cinerea, subtus albida ; alis caudáque
nigro-fuscis, remigibus aurantio-ferrugineo in medio fasci-
atis, tectricibus inferioribus maculd alba notatis, uropygio
rectricumque apicibus albis.
Sitta chrysoptera. Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. p. xxxi. no. 1.
Orange-winged Nuthatch. Jd. Gen. Hist. iv. p. 77. mo. 20.
pl. 63.
This species of Nuthatch, Mr. Caley informs us, is not unfre-
quent among the small trees about Paramatta. The irides are
cream-coloured.
The
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 297
The species of the Linnean group of Sitta, although few in
number, appear to be found in all parts of the globe. They
exhibit little differences among themselves in general characters.
Our New Holland species perhaps deviates from the type of the
genus, if we consider the S. Europea of Linneus to hold that
rank, more than any other species of the group. Its bill is more
slender, and its wings more acuminated. ‘The second quill-
feather is nearly as long as the third, fourth, and fifth, which
are almost equal, and it is longer than the sixth; whereas in
the European species the same feather is much shorter than the
third, and also falls short of the sixth. ‘The Javanese species,
S. frontalis, Horsf., approaches our bird most nearly in respect
to these characters of the bill and wings. While the North
American bird, S. Carolinensis, Briss., has nearly the same
formation of wing as our species, but has the stronger and more
lengthened bill of the European bird.
Fam. Cucuzrpz.
Genus. Cucuzus. Linn. et Auct.
* Alis acuminatis, caudá longiori, tarsis brevibus plumis
tibiarum tectis.
1. INonNATUs. C. cinereus, subtus pallidior, rectricibus fasciis
albis utrinque denticulatis.
Foem.? Saturatiori-cinerea ; nuchá, torqueque pectorali interrupto
fusco ferrugineo-luteo variegatis ; tectricibus albo et ferru-
gineo-luteo parce notatis.
Ale macula longitudinali humerali notatæ. Remiges fasciis
albis, usque ad tertiam partem longitudinis su, internè
marginatæ. Tectrices inferiores albidæ. — Rectrices utrin-
que maculis albis denticulatee. Rostrum nigrum, basi pal-
lidum. Pedes pallidi. Longitudo corporis, 121; ale a carpo
VOL. KV: 2a | ad
208 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HorsriEzD’s Description of the
ad remigem tertiam, 8; caudæ, 61; rostri ad frontem, 5,
ad rictum, 143, ; tarsz, 3.
Mr. Caley marks the two birds described above as male and
female of the same species, and we have accordingly given them
as such. ** The earliest period of the year," he remarks in his
Notes, * at which I have met with this species at Paramatta,
was September Oth, 1803. I have missed it in January. It
may be frequently heard and seen on the tops of dead trees on
the skirts of the woods, and such as have been left standing on
the cleared ground."
2. ALBO-STRIGATUS. (C. brunnescenti-cinereus, albo-strigatus,
remigibus rectricibusque utrinque albo-denticulatis.
Frons gulaque pallidè brunnescentes. Capitis, dorsi, scapula-
rumque plume basi pallide cineraceæ, apice marginibus-
que albæ, in medio fusco-brunnew. Tectrices superiores
apice albo, macula longitudinali humerali notatæ ; infe-
riores albidæ. — Remiges, prima excepta, pogonio externo
maculis albidis marginatæ ; omnes, pogonio interno fasciis
albidis denticulatæ, apicibusque albo-marginatæ. Rectrices
utrinque fasciis albis denticulatæ, fasciis internis grandiori-
bus. Rostrum pedesque flavi. Longitudo corporis, 1147, :
ale a carpo ad remigem tertiam, 743; ; caude, 635; rostri
ad frontem, 2, ad rictum, 1455 ; tarsi, 13.
3. CiNERACEUs. C.capite dorso guláque cineraceis, corpore sub-
tus tectricibusque inferioribus ferrugineis, rectricibus fusco-
nigris utrinque albo-denticulatis.
Foem. abdomine transversim fusco-undulato.
^
Ale macula longitudinali humerali alba. Remiges brunnnes-
centi-cineraceæ ; pogoniis internis maculà alba in medio
notatis, fasciam albam, remigibus clausis, subtus exhiben-
tibus.
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 299
tibus. Tectrices inferiores ferrugineæ. Rectrices cineraceo-
nigræ, apicibus albo-maculatæ ; due externæ albo-fasci-
ate ; cæteræ utrinque marginibus albo-denticulatæ ; tertia
maculis tribus albis, quarta macula unica alba in medio
notate. Rostrum nigrum; mandibulá inferiore basi pal-
lida. Pedes flavi. Longitudo corporis, 10433, ; ale a carpo
ad remigem tertiam, 52; caude, 51; rostri ad frontem, 3,
ad rictum, 52; ; farsi, 35.
Barred-tailed Cuckoo? Lath. Gen. Hist. iii. p. 310. no. 65.
4. Incertus. C. brunnescenti-cineraceus, subtus ferrugineo-
albido fasciatus ; tectricibus inferioribus albidis fusco-fasci-
atis; rectricibus maculis ferrugineis utrinque margine denti-
culatis.
Gula gutturque fusce, albido-maculate. Pectus ferrugineo-
albido fasciatum. Abdomen albido-fasciatum. Ale ma-
culà humerali longitudinali alba notatze. | Remigum pogo-
nia interna maculá sordido-albá in medio notata, fasciam
sordido-albam, alis clausis, subtus efformantia. Tectrices
inferiores albidæ, fusco-fasciatæ. Rectrices ferrugineo, den-
tium more, ad margines maculatæ ; externæ pogonio interno
fascia alba denticulato. Pedes fusco-flavi. Longitudo cor-
poris, 91; ale a carpo ad remigem tertiam, 545; ; caude, 51 ;
rostri ad frontem, 2, ad rictum, 1; tarsi, 2.
Mr. Caley in his Notes seems to consider this bird as the
young of the last species. It differs much in the ground-colour
of the upper parts, and in the fascie of the lower; while the
spots on the tail are ferruginous instead of being white. These
however are differences which may be easily supposed to take
place in the different stages of growth: our own Cuckoo differs
nearly as much in its early and adult ages. But there is one
character in which the two birds before us differ, and which is
292 seldom
300 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HonsrrErp's Description of the
seldom found to vary at different times in the same species ; that
is, the colour of the under wing-coverts. ‘These are ferruginous
in C. cineraceus, and white fasciated with fuscous in the bird
now before us. We are therefore inclined to keep the birds
separate, until future observation in their own country deter-
mine the point; expressing at the same time Mr. Caley’s and
our own doubts on the subject
* Alis rotundatis, caudá breviori, tarsis magis nudis elonga-
tisque.
5. VanrioLosus. (C. fusco-cineraceus pallido-ferrugineo varie-
gatus, subtus albescens fusco-variegatus ; rectricibus pallido-
ferrugineo utrinque denticulatis, apice albo.
Caput fusco-cineraceo et pallido-ferrugineo strigatum. Dorswm
tectricesque pallido-ferrugineo maculatæ. Scapulares eodem
colore fasciate. Remiges fusco-cineracee, tenia gracili
pallido-ferrugineà prope apicem marginatæ ; pogoniis in-
ternis in medio albo-maculatis, maculis, remigibus clausis,
fasciam albam subtus efformantibus. Corpus subtus albi-
dum: gula gutturque pallido-ferrugineo fuscoque varie-
gate ; pectus abdomen femorumque tectrices fusco-fasciatæ.
Rectrices externæ pallido-ferrugineo fasciatæ, fasciis apica-
libus in album vergentibus; cæteræ maculis pallido-fer-
rugineis utrinque denticulate. Rostrum pedesque pallide
flavi. Longitudo corporis, 7 ; ale a carpo ad remigem ter-
tiam, 42 ; caude, 34; rostri ad frontem, +, ad rictum, 4 ;
tarsi, 2.
The specimen now described has much the appearance of a
young bird; and we find that Mr. Caley in his Notes seems to
think it belongs to our two last species, which we have already
stated that he fancied were the same. Upon inquiring, however,
further
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 301
further from that gentleman, we find that his suspicions were
founded merely on the circumstance of his having met with all
these birds in the same place and at the same period. Although
we have some doubt respecting our C.incertus being a distinct
species, we have little respecting the present bird, which seems
to belong to a different section of the genus from that in which the
preceding species are included. The wings are shorter and more
rounded, the tail also shorter and less graduated, and the tarsi are
more naked and more elevated. ‘There are six or seven species
of Cuculus belonging to Australia and Africa, which form part of
the same section of the group, and which differ from the bird
before us only in their colours being bright and metallic. It is
the want of these colours chiefly that causes us to consider the
specimen before us as a young bird. In its general structure
it has the characters of the birds to which we allude, and which
in their young state are also without the shining tints of the
adult birds, although perhaps not so decidedly so as our present
species. |
Mr. Caley informs us that he met with the three last-described
species in the neighbourhood of Paramatta. ‘They frequented
the green wattle-trees which were of low growth. They made
their appearance on the approach of winter; and it was Mr. Ca-
ley’s opinion that they migrated southerly at the commence-
ment of spring.
6. Lucitpus. C. cupreo-viridi nitescens, subtus albidus cupreo-
viridi fasciatus, abdomine medio albo; rectricibus externis
maculis albis quatuor utrinque notatis.
Fom.? virescenti-fusca, subtus albida irregulariter fusco-fasciata.
Cuculus lucidus. Gmel. Syst. i. p. 421. no. 47.
Shining Cuckow. Lath. Gen. Hist. iii. p. 299. no. 49. pl. 56.
Coucou éclatant. Temm. Pl. Col. 102. f. 1.
Mr.
302 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. Honsrrgrp's Description of the
1
Mr. Caley met with these birds but sparingly, and after the
interval of some years. He conjectured that the period of their
migration into the colony was not regular, or that few arrived.
The species was first discovered in New Zealand, whence they
probably migrate into the adjoining continent.
7. Merazzicus. C. suprà viridi-cupreus, subtus albus viridi-
brunneo fasciatus ; rectricibus externis maculis albis quinque
utrinque notatis.
Caput geneque saturatiores. Gula, corpus subtus, tectricesque
inferiores albæ, viridi-brunneo fasciate. — Remigum, tribus
primis exceptis, pogonia interna in medio albo-notata, fas-
ciam albam obliquam, alis clausis, subtus exhibentia. Rec-
trices externæ maculis quinque albis, ferrugineo parce va-
riegatis, utrinque notat: : secundarum pogonia interna fas-
ciis alternis fusco-nigris ferrugineisque instructæ ; cæteræ,
mediis exceptis, leviter eodem more notat: ; mediz fascia
fusca vix conspicuá prope apicem notate. Rostrum pedes-
que nigri. Longitudo corporis, 43. ; ale a carpo ad remi-
gem tertiam, 3-3, ; caudae, 212; rostri ad frontem, 2, ad
rictum, +; farsi, 13
2 0
The chief difference between this bird and the preceding
species lies in the colours of the upper parts inclining more to
a metallic red than to green, in the head and adjacent parts
being more saturated, and the fascie on the abdomen being less
brilliant; while the marks of the tail-feathers also are distinct.
In C./ucidus the outer feathers have four white spots on each
barb, while in the present species they have five white spots
marked with ferruginous. "The other tail-feathers of the latter
bird are also alternately fasciated with fuscous and ferruginous,
while those of C. /ucidus are free from spots, except a single
fuscous
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 303
fuscous band near the apex. We have met with many specimens
of C. lucidus, all of which accorded in these markings with the
bird in our collection: but we have not seen any other speci-
men of the C. metallicus besides the bird before us. This bird
differs also from C. chalcites, Ill., which has been described as a
New Holland Cuckoo, in having the abdomen fasciated, which in
both sexes of the other bird is pure white and free from mark-
ings*.
Genus. Evupynamyst.
Rostrum crassum, subelongatum, culmine rotundato, a basi ar-
cuato, lateribus subcompressis : mandibulá superiore apice
subemarginatà, inferiore gonyde ascendente conspicuá:
naribus subgrandibus, patulis, ovalibus, subobliqué positis,
suprà membrana partim tectis.
Ale subbreves, rotundatæ ; remigibus tertià quartà et quintà
fere æqualibus longissimis, primá brevi undecime æquali :
pogoniis integris.
Pedes robusti, nudi; acrotarsiis ad latus externum compressissi-
mis, in scuta quatuor grandia divisis; paratarsiis in medio
compressis, in scutula plurima divisis.
Cauda elongata, patula, rotundata.
The true Cuckoos, or that portion of the present family of
Cuculide which constitutes the genus Cuculus, Auct., is distin-
guished from the remaining groups of the family by the compa-
rative weakness of the bill, in which the nares are small and
rounded, and situated on an elevated membrane; by the wings
being strongly acuminated, the primary quill-feathers consi-
derably exceeding the secondary in length ; and by the feeble-
ness of the legs and toes, the former of which are plumed
beneath the knee, and are generally covered by the thigh-
* See Temm. Pl. Col. 109. f. 2. + Ev bene, and 2wapas potentia.
feathers.
304 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. Honsrrgrp's Description of the
feathers. The group which we have just characterized deviates
from these characters, which may be considered typical in the
family, by the greater strength of all these members. The bill
is powerful, the under mandible more particularly, which is
marked by a strong ascending gonys. The nostrils are wide and
oval, and covered only on the upper part by a membrane. The
farsi and feet are particularly strong: the former are much
compressed on the external side, exhibiting by this conforma-
tion a nearly flattened surface in front. ‘The wings also are
much. rounded, and comparatively shorter than in the typical
Cuckoos. In many of these particulars the group agrees very
nearly with the neighbouring genera Centropus, ll., and Pheni-
cophaus, Vieill., which have equally been separated from the
typical species of the family. But it may at once be distin-
euished from Centropus by the absence of the lengthened nail
to the hallux ; and it will be seen equally to differ from Phænico-
phaus in its stronger, shorter and less arcuated bill; in the
wings being longer, and the tail rounded, not graduated. The
compressed formation of the sides of the farsi in our group is
also wanting in Phenicophaus. The species of this genus seem
very widely distributed over the East. The Cuculus punctatus,
Linn., the Coucou tacheté des Indes Orientales (Pl. Enl. 771.),
appears to be referable to this group.
1. OnrENTALIs. Eud. metallicè niger, rostro flavescente.
Cuculus orientalis. Linn. 1. 168. no. 2.
Coucou des Indes Orientales. Pl. Enl. 274. f. 1.
Eastern black Cuckoo. Lath. Gen. Hist. iii. p. 282. no. 26.
Foem. supra nitidè virescenti-fusca albo-maculata, rectricibus albo-
fasciatis ; subtus albida, virescenti-fusco transversim undu-
lata.
Cuculus Mindanensis. Linn. i. 169. no. 3.
Coucou
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 305
Coucou tacheté de Mindanao. Pl. Enl. 277.
Mindanao Cuckoo. Lath. Gen. Hist. ii. p. 283. no. 27.
These birds, which now generally are considered the sexes of
one species, appear to be but accidental visitors in the colony.
At least Mr. Caley informs us that he never met with more than
two individuals of the male and one of the female. The male
specimen in the Society’s collection seems to be a young bird
changing to the adult plumage. It has several pale ferruginous
feathers on the lower parts of the body, and it has a single fer-
ruginous feather striated with black among the secondary quill-
feathers of the right wing, which forms a striking contrast with
the deep black of the rest. ‘The corresponding feather on the
left wing was lost, as Mr. Caley tells us, by the shot striking
the wing. This bird had berries of Cassytha in its stomach.
The native name of the male is Cowhat'; of the female, Be/-
linging.
2. Fcinpersti. Lath. MSS. Eud. suprà brunnescenti-fusco
nitescens ferrugineo-luteo variegatus, capite ferrugineo-luteo,
sincipite strigdque pone subtusque oculos nigro-nitescentibus ;
subtus ferrugineo-luteus, fasciis gracilibus fuscis undulatus.
Caput ferrugineo-luteum ; sincipite, strigà postoculari ad sca-
pulares descendente, strigáque suboculari gulam utrinque
marginante nigro-nitescentibus. Dorsum, scapularesque ni-
tidè brunnescenti-fuscæ, ferrugineo-luteo parc’ punctate
fasciateque. Tectrices fasciis latis ferrugineo-luteis notatæ.
Remiges utrinque ferrugineo-luteo fasciatæ, fasciis internis
apice albidis. Rectrices lunulis ferrugineo-luteis fasciate.
Gula, pectus, abdomen, femorum tectrices, uropygiumque
ferrugineo-luteæ, fasciis gracilibus parce undulate. — Ros-
trum, pedesque fusci, illo apice pallido. Longitudo corpo-
VOL. XV. 2R ris,
306 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HorsrirEzn’s Description of the
ris, 16; ale a carpo ad remigem tertiam, 81; caude, 81;
rostri ad frontem, +, ad rictum, 145; ; farsi, 11.
Flinders’s Cuckoo. Lath. Gen. Hist. iii. p. 308. no. 63.
Genus. Cenrropus. Jil.
1. Puastanus. Cent. rufo flavo nigroque variegatus: capite,
collo, gulà, jugulo, pectore, abdomineque nigris; caudd nigrá
nat E
supra fasciis albidis interruptis punctata.
Cuculus phasianus. Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. p. xxx. no. À.
Polophilus phasianus. Leach, Zool. Misc. pl. xlv.
Pheasant Coucal. Lath. Gen. Hist. ii. p. 240. no. 2.
2. VanrEGATUs. Cent. rufo flaco nigroque variegatus; dorso pos-
tice nigro; cauda nigra supra transversim variegato-fasciatá.
Polophilus variegatus. Leach, Zool. Misc. tab. li. .
Variegated Coucal. Lath. Gen. Hist. iii. p. 250. no. 15.
Fam. RaAMPHASTID-E.
Genus. Scvrmnnors. Lath.
1. Nove Horrawprür. Scyth. suprà plumbeo-cinereus, capite
collo corporeque subtus pallidé griseis; caudd fascia latd nigra
subapicali, apice albo.
Scythrops Nove Hollandiz. Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 141.
Psittaceous Hornbill. Phillips, Bot. Bay, pl. in p. 165.
Anomalous Hornbill. /Vhite’s Journ. pl. in p. 142.
Scythrops présageur. Temm. Pl. Col. 200.
Australasian Channel-Bill. Lath. Gen. Hist. ii. p. 300. pl. 32.
The native name of this bird is Curriay gun. ‘The specimen in
the Society’s collection was shot by Mr. Caley in the woods at
a short distance from Paramatta. He was directed to it by a
native who discovered the bird, of which Mr. Caley was long in
search, by its loud screaming noise. ‘The same native informed
him
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 307
him that the bird was only seen in summer, that he knew nothing
of its nest, but that it fed upon figs at the Flats. These birds
had also been pointed out by the natives to Mr. Caley in their
flight; at which time he observed them very high in the air, and
wheeling about with great swiftness. That gentleman adds, that
the present individual had two large caterpillars and some of the
gold beetles (Anoplognathus viridi-æneus, &c., Leach) in its sto-
mach at the time he shot it. Seeds of the red gum and pepper-
mint trees have also, as we are informed*, been found in the
crops of these birds. Like the South American genera Ram-
phastos and Pteroglossus, which in conjunction with the present
group compose the family of Ramphastide, they may probably
be considered to be omnivorous.
Tribus. TzwurnosTREs. Cuv.
Fam. MrrirnacriDpz.
The chief groups which compose the tenuirostral Tribe of the
Insessores, or that assemblage of birds which derive their main
nourishment from the suctorial powers of their tongue, are
distinguished not only by their geographical distribution, but
by striking peculiarities which point out their greater or less
accordance with the typical characters of the Tribe. The most
prominent indication of typical pre-eminence among them is
exhibited in the superior developement of those organs or
powers which contribute to the purposes of feeding by suction
on the wing, and the consequent deficiency of those members
which are suited for functions of a different nature. And in
determining the different stations of the various groups of the
‘Tribe, we are thus guided to the central or typical assemblage
by detecting the superior powers of flight exhibited in the wings
and tail, and the accompanying weakness of the bill and legs.
* See Latham’s Gen. Hist. i. p. 301.
2g&2 In
308 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HonsriErp's Description of the
In these characteristic peculiarities of the T'enuirostral Birds,
the Trochilide or Humming-Birds of America display the greatest
perfection. In them the wing is long, strongly acuminated, and
formed for a rapid and constant flight. ‘The tail also exhibits
all the varieties of structure which we are accustomed to observe
in those birds whose habits are aérial. On the other hand,
the bill is feeble, and apparently of service only in forming a
sheath to defend the tongue. ‘The legs also are diminutive, and
peculiarly weak, apparently of little use but to assist the bird in
supporting itself when at rest; while the characteristic delicacy
of those members conspicuously unfolds itself by the downy
plumage descending from the thighs, with which covering na-
ture seems to have provided them as a means of warmth and
defence.
The nearest approach to the Humming-Birds is found in the
Cinnyride of the Old World. A line of distinction, however, is
drawn between the two families by the comparatively greater
strength of conformation in both the bill and legs of the latter
group. ‘The wings also, although still formed for a suspended
flight, lose the strongly-marked length and acumination of those
of the Trochilus: they are more rounded, and the first quill-
feather is short, almost indeed spurious. We do not observe,
moreover, that varied form of the tail which adds apparently so
much to the purposes of flight among birds: in some species,
indeed, the middle tail-feathers are elongated beyond the late-
ral, but hitherto we have seen no approach to the forked con-
formation. ‘These two families however, although they may
thus be distinguished from each other, may yet be united to-
gether as forming the Normal Group of the Tribe. In comparison
with the remaining families which form the Aberrant subdi-
vision of it and lead off to other neighbouring Tribes, they pos-
sess a generally weaker conformation ; and their mode of taking
their
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 309
their food, unlike that of the other families, is represented as
being exclusively on the wing. By the brilliancy again, and
varying lustre of their colours, these ‘ gay creatures of the ele-
ment” evince their separation from the neighbouring groups,
and indeed from every other race of birds, of which the manners
are less aérial than their own, and the food less sublimated than
the nectar of flowers.
In the New World again, a third group appears, the family
of Nectariniade, in which a comparative strength of bill and legs
is exhibited, nearly equal to that which is found in many of the
more typical species of the Insessores. ‘The wings are generally
shorter than those of the Cinnyride, and differ in their structure
also from them, the first quill-feather being long, almost equalling
the second in length, while that of the Old World family is short,
and, as before observed, nearly spurious. The tail in all the spe-
cies we have met with is even. "These birds, distinguished by
their stronger conformation from those of the Normal Group, are
distinguished also by their habits. They do not feed exclusively
on the wing, but explore the nectaries of flowers as they hop
from branch to branch*. By their colours also they may be set
apart from the typical families. These, although in most spe-
cies bright and vivid, are decided colours, and not changeable in
different lights.
In addition to these groups Australia furnishes another im-
portant accession to the Tenuirostres. No species of the before-
mentioned groups has hitherto been found in that country ; and
their place seems to be occupied by a group of considerable
extent, which preserve the same habits of feeding on vegetable
juices, but deviate from the typical character of the Tribe even
still further than the Nectariniade. In the birds to which I
allude, or the family of Meliphagide, the wings and tail show
an evident deficiency in the powers of flight, compared with
* See these Transactions, vol. xiv. p. 464.
the
310 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. Honsrrrrp's Description of the
the Trochilide. The former members are short and rounded,
the four first quill-feathers gradually exceeding each other in
length, and those which succeed by degrees decreasing. The
tail also in the typical species of the family is long and gra-
duated. On the other hand, the ¢arsi and feet are endowed
with much strength, and the powers of the hind-toe in parti-
cular are conspicuously developed. We have already observed
the great deficiency of true climbing birds which prevails in
New Holland; and this peculiarity of the strong scansorial hal-
lux may enable the Meliphagide in some measure to supply
that deficiency. ‘The prevalence also of this character, which
they hold in common with the neighbouring family of Certhiade,
with which they are also united by the character of the extensile
tongue, points out the continuance of the chain of aftinities
which connects the neighbouring Tribes of Scansores and Te-
nuirostres together; and adds another to the numberless in-
stances of the harmonious disposition of nature.
Besides the characters which thus indicate that the Melipha-
gide are placed at the extremity of the ‘Tribe of Tenwirostres,
there are one or two particulars which separate them from the
more typical Honey-feeding groups. ‘Their tongue is divided
at the apex into several filaments ; while that-of the Trochilide is
bifid only at the end. We have not at present suflicient data to
determine the general character of the tongues of the other
Tenuirostral families, and shall therefore make no comparison
with them on a point on which we could speak only partially.
One more character must be observed as peculiar to our New
Holland group. "Phe nares, which in all the other families of
the tribe are situated at the base, and are more or less rounded,
are here longitudinal and linear, forming a lengthened slit
extending in some instances nearly to half the length of the bill,
and partially closed above by a longitudinal membrane. "This
character prevails so far in the family as to be almost the only
external
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 311
external mark of distinction which separates some of the more
slender-billed species from the conterminous species of the Cin-
nyride.
In addition to the numerous species of this family which
decidedly exhibit most of its typical characters, and which in
their general slenderness of form coincide with the other groups
of the Tenuirostres, there are many species, in which great
size and strength of form is discernible, which have been
ranked as Meliphagous in consequence of the alleged filamen-
tous conformation of their tongue. Many of these, from their
external characters, might be referred at once to the power-
fully constructed groups of Corvide and Merulide. Of some of
these species we can say with confidence that they are Meli-
phagous, from our having examined the tongue. But we have
much doubt as to a similar construction of tongue existing in all
the species. We consider it, however, the most eligible plan
to enumerate all these species at the end of the present family ;
stating our doubts on the subject, and leaving the question to be
decided by those naturalists who may have the opportunity of
inspecting the birds in their native haunts.
Genus. MrrrPuAGA*. Lewin et Auct.
* Cauda rotundatà, rostro longiori subgraciliori.
1, Novm Horrawprx. Mel. nigra, subtus alba nigro-striata ;
superciliis maculaque aurium albis, remigibus in medio eaterné
flavo-
* The species of the family of Meliphagide appear very numerous, and every
arrival from New Holland and the Australian islands brings an addition to their num-
ber. At the same time the species themselves are but ill-defined; and in the present
imperfect state of our knowledge, and while information is daily increasing, we consider
it unadviseable to attempt more than a rude sketch of this interesting family. The
group which we have selected above as representing the Meliphaga of Lewin and
Authors,
312 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HorsrirzDp’s Description of the
flavo-marginatis, rectricibus bast externè flavis, apice internè
albo-maculatis.
Certhia Nove Hollandiæ. Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 296. no. 49.
New Holland Creeper. Whites Journ. pl. in p. 186. 3. 297. P .
Lath. Gen. Hist. iv. p. 171. no. 17.
Heorotaire tacheté. — Vieill. Ois. dor. ii. p. 91. pl. 57.
Mr. Caley thus observes on this species.—** This bird is most
frequently met with in the trees growing in scrubs, where the
different species of Banksia are found, the flowers of which I
have reason to think afford it a sustenance during winter. In
the summer I have shot it when sucking the flowers of Leptosper-
mum flavescens. In the scrubs about Paramatta it is very com-
mon."
M. Vieillot's Heorotaire noir (pl.71.), which seems accurately
Authors, is the only assemblage of these birds of which we can speak with any satis-
faction to ourselves. The species accord in their general characters; and in their
habits and the structure of their tongue they are represented as agreeing most perfectly.
They exhibit five prominent modifications of form, according to the variation chiefly of
the characters of the bill and tail. At present we wish to consider these types of form
as sections only of the group, which we name provisionally the genus Meliphaga.
W hen the species become more known, the present sections may justly be considered
genera, and the higher group may be denominated the subfamily Meliphagina. When
this subdivision takes place, the section which stands first in our test may be considered
the true Meliphaga. "The Mel. Nove Hollandie will form the type. It may thus be
characterized.
Genus. MELIPHAGA. Lewin et Auct.
Rostrum subgracile, subelongatum; culmine arcuato, ad basin subcultrato; naribus
longitudinalibus, linearibus, perangustis, membrana supra tectis, rostri medium
longitudine superantibus.
Lingua ad apicem setis plurimis instructa.
Ale mediocres, subrotundate ; remige prima brevi, secunda tertià et quarta que est
longissima gradatim longioribus; tertià et quintà, secunda et sexta æqualibus :
tertiæ ad septimam inclusam pogoniis externis in medio latioribus.
Cauda subelongata, rotundata.
Pedes subfortes; halluce subelongato, forti ; acrotarsiis scutellatis.
to
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 313
to agree with the female of this species figured in IVhite’s Journal,
is considered by that gentleman as a distinct species. This is a
point which can only be decided on the spot; and Mr. White’s
observations must have great weight until they are proved to be
incorrect. We mention the circumstance, in order that those
voyagers, who may have opportunities of making observations
on the subject, may pay attention to it. We suspect that the
investigation may lead to the discovery of many distinct species
in the group, in which a great similarity of colouring seems to
prevail.
2. AUSTRALASIANA. Mel. nigricans; strigá superciliari, abdo-
mine, guläque albis, hac graciliter fusco-striatd ; remigum
rectricumque pogoniis eaternis in medio flavis.
Certhia Australasiana. Shaw, Gen. Zool. viii. p. 226.
L'Heorotaire noir et blanc? Vieill. Ois. dor. ii. p. 89. pl. 55.
This seems a very distinct species. We do not feel quite
certain that it accords with M. Vieillot's bird, although his
figure is referred to by Dr. Shaw.
9. MEraANors. Mel. fusca; fronte, abdomineque albis ; fascia
suboculari ad latera pectoris extendente utrinque nigra.
Certhia melanops. Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. p. xxxvi. no. 4.
Heorotaire mellivore. Vieill. Ois. dor. ii. p. 124. pl. 86.
White-fronted Honey-Eater. Lath. Gen. Hist. iv. p. 173. no. 20.
This bird was caught on board ship by Mr. Brown, off the
South coast of New Holland, February 5th, 1802.
** Cauda rotundata, rostro subbreviori, subfortiori.
à. Aurtcomis. Mel. olivaceo-viridis ; vertice, corpore subtus,
: MN Mo
maculaque paroticá flavis ; strigd per oculos nigra.
VOL. XV. 2s Muscicapa
314 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HonsrrErp's Description of the
Muscicapa auricomis. Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. p. xlix. no. 1.
Heorotaire à oreilles jaunes. — '?eill. Ois. dor. ii. p. 123. pl. 85.
Tufted-eared Honey-Eater. Lath. Gen. Hist. iv. p. 191. no. 56.
Mr. Caley first observed this species in some high trees in the
neighbourhood of Paramatta ; but did not meet with it for many
years afterwards. The birds however frequented the trees in the
brush along the upper part of Duck River, in great abundance,
although it was at a late period of his residence in the colony
that he met with them at that place. He imagines that their
coming to Paramatta when he first saw them was accidental.
5. Curysoris. Mel. supra olivaceo-viridis, subtus pallidior, ca-
pile grisescente, maculd auriculari ovali flavá, regione peri-
ophthalmicá nigrescente.
Meliphaga chrysotis. Lewin, Birds of New Holl. pl. 5.
Certhia chrysotis. Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. p. xxxviii. no. 10.
Heorotaire gris? — Vieill. Ois. dor. ii. p. 122. pl. 84.
Yellow-eared Honey-Eater. Lath. Gen. Hist. iv. p. 195. no. 54.
We have some doubt as to this species being the same as that
of M. Vieillot: the blackish marking round the eye in our spe-
cies being wanting in the figure in the “Oiseaux dorés.”
6. Leucoris. Mel. corpore suprà abdomineque flavo-olivaceis ;
capite, gutture, pectoreque nigricanti-griseis; macula auricu-
lari alba.
Turdus leucotis. Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. p. xliv. no. 26.
White-eared Honey-Eater. Id. Gen. Hist. iv. p. 186. no. 41.
One of the specimens of this species in the Society's collec-
tion was procured by Mr. Brown at Shoalwater Day in 1802.
The species, as well as the next, are noticed by Mr. Caley as
being by no means uncommon: but he has made no remarks
upon their manners.
*** Cauda
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 315
*** Cauda æquali, rostro breviori, fortiori *.
7. Curysops. Mel. supra olivaceo-fusca, subtus pallidior ; tenia
per oculos flavá, suprà subtusque nigro-marginatd.
Sylvia Chrysops. Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. p. liv. no. 5.
Black-cheeked Honey-Eater. Id. Gen. Hist. iv. p. 196. no. 55.
8. LuNuraTa. Mel. viridi-olivacea, capite genisque nigris; lu-
nulà nuchali corporeque subtus albis, orbitis nudis rubris.
Certhia lunulata. Shaw, Gen. Zool. viii. p. 224.
Le Fuscalbin. — Vieill. Ois. dor. ii. p. 95. pl. O1.
Red-eyed Honey-Eater. Lath. Gen. Hist. iv. p. 205. no. 65.
“This bird," Mr. Caley says, “is called Golden- Eye by the
settlers. I shot it at Iron Cove, seven miles from Sydney, on
the Paramatta road.”—Specimens of the species now in the col-
lection were brought by Mr. Brown from Port Jackson.
9. IxpisriNcra. Mel. supra olivaceo-fusca, subtus sordidé al-
bida, remigibus flavescentibus.
This bird, which was found by Mr. Brown at King George's
Sound, on the South coast of New Holland, appears closely
allied to the last. It is however in very bad condition, and
scarcely admits of a description. ‘The dimensions appear nearly
the same as those of Mel. lunulata. It has much of the appear-
ance of a young bird.
10. Brevirostris. Mel. brunnescenti-fusca, subtus albida, dorso
virescenti, strigd postoculari albá, rostro subbrevi.
* This section of our group corresponds with the genus Melithreptus of M. Vieillot ;
at least the Mel. lunulata, one of the best known species in the section, is given as one
of the types of that genus. We do not know how far M. Vieillot meant to extend his
group; but it may be adviseable hereafter to restrict it to those species which will
arrange themselves in the present section.
2s2 Remiges
316 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HorsriEezp’s Description of the
Remiges fuscæ, subtus pallidiores, basi interne albescentes. Tec-
trices inferiores fulvescenti-albidæ. Longitudo corporis, 442 :
20°
ale a carpo ad remigem quartam, 217; caudæ,21; rostri, 2:
20%
tarsi, 2.
This bird is said to be common by Mr. Caley, and to be called
Cung leer by the natives.
*** * Cauda æquali, rostro breviori, graciliori *.
11. CanpnriNALIs. Mel. nigra; capite, dorso medio, uropygio,
gutture, pectore, abdominisque lateribus coccineis; tectricum
marginibus, abdomine imo, crissoque albis.
Certhia Cardinalis. | Gmel. i. p. 472. no. 38.
Certhia Australasiæ ? Leach, Zool. Misc. i. pl. 11.
Le Soui-manga rouge et gris. — Vieill. Ois. dor. i. p. 58. pl. 36.
Cardinal Honey-Sucker. Lath. Gen. Hist. iv. p. 199. no. 59.
pl. 71. fig. 2.
Mr. Caley informs us that he did not himself meet many birds
of this species, although he understood them to be plentiful :
his not meeting them probably arose, as he says, from their
being inhabitants of brushes. His researches were chiefly in
* This section forms an interesting subdivision of the present group, as marking the
passage to the Cinnyride. When the species become more known, and the whole
group becomes too numerous for remaining as a single genus, this type of form may be
generically characterized as follows, the Mel. cardinalis being the normal species.
Genus. MYZOMELA.
Rostrum breve, gracile ; culmine arcuato, ad basin subcultrato ; naribus longitudinali-
bus, linearibus, perangustis, membrana supra tectis, rostri tertiam partem longi-
tudine æquantibus.
Lingua, ale, pedesque iidem fere ut in Meliphagis veris.
Cauda subbrevis, æqualis.
Several new species of Honey-Eaters, lately brought home to this country from the
Sandwich Islands by Capt. Lord Byron, R.N., appear to accord with this group.
the
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 317
the forest scrubs, where his specimens were procured. The
colonists call this bird Little Soldier.
This division of the group of Meliphaga is that to which we
have alluded above as offering few external marks of distinction
from many of the Cinnyride, besides the form of the nostrils.
***** Cauda æquali, rostro graciliori, longiori.
12. Tenuirostris. Mel. supra cinerea; abdomine crissoque fer-
rugineis; regione interhumerali, maculáque jugulari sub-lunu-
lari brunneis; capite, pectoris lateribus, rectricibusque nigris;
harum duarum eaternarum apicibus, gutturc, juguloque albis.
Certhia tenuirostris. Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. p. xxxvi. no. 5.
Le Cap-noir. Vieill. Ois. dor. ii. p. 94. pl. 60.
Slender-billed Honey-Eater. Lath. Gen. Hist. iv. p. 194. no. 52.
pl. 72.
Mr. Caley observes that he has seen this bird both at Sydney
and at Paramatta.
13. Furvirgows. Mel. pallidè brunnescenti-fusca ; tenia su-
perciliari, gutture, pectore, abdomine medio, crissoque albis ;
fronte fulvo; strigà per oculos, pectorisque lateribus brunneis.
Var.? sincipite canescente.
Striga brunnea per oculos extendit regionem paroticam inclu-
dens, et ad latera pectoris descendens, ubi fasciam lunula-
rem brunneam interruptam ferè efformat. Interscapulium
brunneo-fuscum, pallido-fusco parcé striatum. Remiges
brunneo fuscæ externe albido graciliter marginatæ, pogo-
niis internis ad basin fulvo-marginatis: subtus pallide fusco,
fulvo, ut superne, notatæ. Tectrices inferiores fulvæ. Rec-
trices brunneo-fuscæ, subtus pallide fuscze. Rostrum, pedes-
que nigri. Longitudo corporis, 517; ale a carpo ad remi-
gem quartam, 3; caude, 24; rostri, 3 tarsi, =.
5 ?
One
318 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. Honsrrgrp's Description of the
One of the specimens of this species in the collection was
brought by Mr. Brown from Port Jackson, where he met with
it in August 1803. ‘The species comes very near the first sub-
division of this genus, having a stronger bill, and rather more
elongated toes than the birds of the present section. The shape
of its tail however, which is even, retains it in its present situa-
tion, but at that extreme of the section which joins the first sub-
division, and completes the circular succession of the whole
group.
This species bears some resemblance to M.Vieillot's Heorotaire
brun (pl. 65.), the Certhia fusca, Gmel.; but it is differently
marked on the throat and lower body; and as it belongs to a
different locality it may be considered distinct.
Genus. Myzanrua™.
Rostrum forte, subbreve, subrectum, ad apicem compressum,
culmine carinato, paululum arcuato ; maribus linearibus,
antice ovalibus, membrana suprà tectis, ad basin plumulis
confertis opertis ; mandibulá superiori leviter emarginata.
Ale mediocres, subrotundatæ : remige prima brevi, secundá du-
plo longiore, tertià pauló breviore quartà et quintà, qui
sunt æquales longissimæque omnium.
Pedes mediocres ; acrotarsiis scutellatis, paratarsiis integris.
Cauda subelongata, subrotundata.
Obs. Orbite nude.
This group approaches very nearly to the shorter- and stronger-
billed birds of Meliphaga, such as M. auricomis, Lath. ; but the
bill is considerably stouter at the base and less arcuated. The
nares also are not so linear, but become slightly oval towards
the anterior part. ‘The space round the eye is naked. We are
assured that the tongue of the first species is bristly towards the
* Mufaw sugo, and avbos flos.
point :
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 319
point: and indeed the general character of the group accords
exactly with that of the Meliphagide in general.
1. Garruta. Myz. grisea, fronte corporeque subtus albidis,
nuchá pectoreque leviter albo et cinereo fasciatis, pileo genis-
que nigris, strigd longitudinali alarum flava, remigibus rec-
tricibusque nigro-fuscis apicibus albis.
Merops garrulus. Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. p. xxxiv. no. 9.
Chattering Honey-Eater. Id. Gen, Hist. iv. p. 164. no. 9.
‘<The native name of this bird," observes Mr. Caley, ‘is
Cobaiy gin ;—it is a very common bird, and may be seen at all
times of the year. Its note is loud, and like a kind of laugh.
I once killed six of these birds at a shot, when on the wing
hovering over a part of a tree whence some substance had
exuded ; but they are not gregarious."
2. Fravirosrris. Myz. olivaceo-viridis, subtus flavescens ; ma-
culd utrinque anteoculari flava; fronte, plumulis capistralibus,
tenidque rictali saturate brunneis ; tectricibus alarum griseis.
Remiges fusce, exteriores pallido-griseo, interiores flavo-viridi
externè marginate ; subtus cinereo-fuscæ. Tectrices infe-
riores cinereo-fuscæ, ad humeros flavescentes. Rectrices
superne olivaceo-virides, subtus flavescentes. Rostrum pe-
desque flavi. Longitudo corporis, 81; ale a carpo ad remi-
gem quartam, 317; caude, 335; rostri ad frontem, 44, ad
ricbuim s. s Tars T.
Mr. Caley thus observes on this bird.—** Dell-bird or Bell-
bird. So called by the colonists. It is an inhabitant of brushes,
where its disagreeable noise (disagreeable at least to me) may be
continually heard ; but no where more so than on going up the
harbour to Paramatta, when a little above the Flats."
Genus.
320 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HonsrrErp's Description of the
Genus. ANTHOCHÆRA*.
tostrum elongatum, subattenuatum, subarcuatum ; culmine ad
basin subcarinato ; mandibuld superiori vix emarginatà ;
naribus longitudinalibus, linearibus, membrana supra tec-
tis, ad medium rostrum extendentibus ibique apertioribus.
Lingua ad apicem in setas plurimas divisa.
Ale mediocres, rotundatæ ; remige prima brevi secunda tertià
parte longiori, tertià gradatim longiori, quartà quintà et
sexta æqualibus longissimis; terti: ad septimam inclusam
pogoniis externis in medio gradatim latioribus.
Cauda elongata, rotundata, vix gradata.
Pedes fortes, longitudine mediocres ; acrotarsiis scutellatis, para-
tarsiis integris.
The strong, but at the same time lengthened and attenuated
bill of this group, added to the size and powerful conformation
of the species, distinguish it from the true Meliphaga. The
lengthened and subgraduated tail also serves as a strong mark
of distinction. "l'he chief external characters of the group asso-
ciate it with the Meliphagide, although upon a decidedly enlarged
scale; and the tongue of one of the species, now before us,
exhibits the filamentous formation peculiar to the Australian
Honey-Eaters. The genus is closely allied to the last; the same
general character pervades them: but the bill of the present
genus is longer and slenderer, and the tail lengthened and some-
what graduated instead of being even, as in Myzantha. There
is a general similarity of colours throughout the group, which
has led, as we suspect, to several species being confounded
together under one denomination.
M. Vieillot has referred this bird to a new genus of his, which
he names Creadion, and which he divides into two sections; one
* Avbos flos, and yaipw gaudeo.
represented
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 321
represented by the Sturnus carunculatus, Gmel., the other by the
bird before us. He places this genus in the vicinity of the
Sturnide; uniting it with one or two other forms, which are
chiefly distinguished by fleshy processes from their heads, into a
family under the name of Carunculati. As we consider our
present group to have no relation to the Sturnide beyond the
unimportant analogical one of having in common with two or
three species carunculated appendages to the head, we have no
hesitation in removing it from the genus Creadion; leaving the
Sturnus carunculatus (with which species however we must con-
fess that we are unacquainted) to represent that group.
1. CanuNcULATA. nth. dorso fusco-griseo albo-striato, capite
corporeque subtus albidis fusco-striatis; abdomine medio fla-
vescente ; remigibus rectricibusque fusco-nigris, apicibus albis,
illis in medio interne pellidè castaneis; lateribus colli carun-
culá cylindriced instructis.
Merops carunculatus. Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 276. no. 20.
Corvus paradoxus. Id. Ib. Supp. p. xxvi. no. 10.
Pie à pendeloques. Daud. Traité d'Orn. ii. p. 246. pl. 16. no. xxx.
Wattled Bee-Eater. Phill. Bot. Bay, pl. in p.164. White’s Journ.
pl. in p. 144. d. 145.9.
Wattled Honey-Eater. Lath. Gen. Hist. iv. p. 158. no. 3.
«<All my specimens of this bird,” says Mr. Caley, ** were shot
in Van Diemen's Land. I have met with it at Western Port in
the trees close to the sea-side. ‘Fo my knowledge it never
occurred about Sydney, although it is said by Mr. White to be
an inhabitant of the colony."
2. MELLIVvORa. Anth. fusco nigra superné subvirescens, albo
striata lunulataque; remigum rectricumque apicibus albis,
istarum pogoniis internis in medio leté castaneis.
VOL. XV. QT Certhia
322 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. Honsrrgrp's Description of the
Certhia mellivora. Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. p. xxxvii. no. 8.
Le Goruck? Vieill. Ois. dor. ii. p. 126. pl. 88.
Mellivorous Honey-Eater. Lath. Gen. Hist. iv. p. 101. no. 5.
Mr. Caley informs us that he called “this bird Cookaycock,
from its uttering a sound like that word. ‘Ihe natives call it
Coke'ran. It now and then may be seen in the scrubs about
Paramatta, always on trees ; but it is common in the neighbour-
hood of Sydney. It is what I should call an inhabitant of the
coast. lI have met with it at Western Port."
3. Purycia.* Anth. nigra, superné flavo, infra albo variegata ;
crisso albo; remigibus rectricibusque, harum duabus mediis
exceptis, externe flavis.
Meliphaga Phrygia. Lewin, Birds of New Holl. pl. 3.
Merops Phrygius. Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. p. xxxiv. no. Y. Shaw,
New Holl. Birds, p. 13. pl. 4.
Le Merle ecaillé. Le Vaill. Ois. d' Afr. ii. pl. 116.
Black-and-yellow Honey-Eater. Lath. Gen. Hist. iv. p. 165.
no. 10.
Genus.
* We take this opportunity of characterizing the following bird, which has been
generally considered the young of dnth. carunculata, but which appears to us to be
distinct. Besides some strong marks of difference in the colours of the two birds,
which appear too decided to indicate the difference merely of age, the shape of the
caruncle affords a strong ground for separation. In our bird this appendage to the
cheeks is short, flat, compressed, and suboval. In Anth. carunculata it is long, nar-
row and cylindric. The diflerence between the two birds is much too great to allow
us to refer them to one species, without authentic proof of their identity. Our bird
resembles the description of Merops chrysopterus, Lath.; but that bird is said to have
no caruncle on the cheeks, and to have the markings on the wings of a golden-orange
colour.
4. LEWINIT. Znth. supra Jusco-grisea. albido-striata, capite nigrescente albido
striatim lineato ; subtus pallidior, abdomine ftavescente ; remigibus rectricibusque
fuscis
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 323
Genus. TROPIDORHYNCHUS*.
Rostrum forte, subelongatum, culmine elevato, maximè cultrato,
arcuato; mandibuld superiori ad apicem vix emarginata ;
naribus prope medium sitis, subovalibus, apertis, perviis.
Ale longitudine mediocres, subrotundatæ ; remige prima brevi,
secundá tertià parte longiori, tertià quartà et quintà æqua-
libus longissimis, sexta his paulo breviori.
Cauda subelongata, æqualis.
Pedes fortes, longitudine mediocres ; acrotarsiis scutellatis, para-
tarsiis integris.
Caput plus minusve nudum.
The strong bill, with its elevated keel, and the nostrils oval,
pervious, and situated near the middle of the beak, offers a very
distinguishing character by which this group is known from the
more typical Meliphagide. We know not upon what authority
they are said to be Honey-Eaters ; but the above-mentioned
form and situation of the nares are so different from what is
fuscis ad apices albis, istis in medio interne pallide castaneis ; lateribus colli carun-
culá brevi subovali compressá instructis.
Genarum plumule a rictu sub oculos extendentes albæ, sericeæ, breves. Tectricum
remigumque plume albido marginate, harum pogoniis internis in medio castaneo-
marginatis, fasciam castaneam, alis clausis, subtus exhibentibus. Rostrum ni-
grum. Pedes flavescentes. Longitudo corporis, 11; ale a carpo ad remigem
quartam, 61; cauda, 6775; rostri ad rictum, 1%, ad frontem, 1; tarsi, 135.
In Museo Societatis Zoologice.
Memorie Domini JOANNIS GULIELMI LEWIN, peregrinatoris in Australiá seduli
sagacissimique, qui Meliphagidarum characteres primüm detexit et illustravit,
h«c avis sit sacra.
The Poe Honey- Eater of Dr. Latham, Merops Nove Zealandia, Gmel. ( M. concin-
natus, Lath.) may be referred to this group, of which it has the bill and the general
characters. In its tail only it differs, which is slightly rounded at the apex.
* Tpomis carina, and puyxos rostrum.
2T2 usually
324 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HonsrrErp's Description of the
usually the character of those birds, that we have much doubt
as to the actual situation of our group.
1. ConNicuraATUS. Trop. brunnescenti-griseus, subtus albidus ;
capite, collo superiori, gutturisque torque angusto atris, nu-
dis; mento, pectore, rectricumque apicibus albis, hoc graci-
liter fusco-lineato ; rostri carind ad basin conspicue tubercu-
lata.
Merops corniculatus. Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 270. no. 21.
Corbi calao. Le Vaill. Ois. d’Am. et des Indes, i. p. 69. pl. 94.
Knob-fronted Honey-Eater. Lath. Gen. Hist. iv. p. 161. no. 6.
Mr. Caley has the following observations on these birds.
* Friar.—A very common bird about Paramatta, called by the
natives Coldung’.—It repeats the words ‘poor soldier’ and
‘four o'clock? very distinctly.—1 have frequently seen three or
four of them flying after a hawk, which they seemed desirous of
attacking. It is a strong and sharp-clawed bird.”
2. Monacuus? Trop. supra brunnescenti-griseus, nuchá albo-
variegatá, subtus albidus; capite atro, nudo, sincipite plu-
mulis albis operto; rectricibus concoloribus; rostri cariná ad
basin subtuberculatá.
Merops monachus? Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. p. xxxiv. no. 10.
Knob-fronted Dee- Eater? WAite's Journ. pl. in p. 190.
Cowled Honey- Eater? Lath. Gen. Hist. iv. p. 102. no. T.
We have some doubt whether our bird is the same as Dr. La-
tham's species; or whether both may not be the young of the
Trop. corniculatus. ‘The specimen in our collection differs from
that species by being smaller; by the top of the head being
covered with short downy white feathers instead of being en-
tirely bare; by the knob of the base of the bill being less ele-
vated ;
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 325
vated ; and by the nuchal feathers being variegated with white.
But these are differences which may belong to the young bird,
and be lost in the adult. In such cases we can determine
nothing from the mere skins. ‘These points must be investi-
gated on the ‘spot. We must however observe, that the bird
which we at present refer to, came from a different locality to
that of Trop. corniculatus; having been procured by Mr. Brown
on the North coast in February 1803, while Mr. Caley’s spe-
cimens of the other birds were obtained in the neighbourhood
of Paramatta.
Mr. Caley also observes in his Notes upon Trop. corniculatus,
that he ** never shot a specimen of the species which had white
on the head, as figured in IVhite’s Journal."
3. CvaNorrs. Trop. supra olivaceo-viridis, capite nucháque atris,
jugulo pectoreque grisescenti-atris, lined suboculari a rictu
extendente, torque occipitali, corpore subtus, rectricumque
apicibus albis.
Gracula cyanotis. Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. p. xxix. no. 5.
Blue-cheeked Honey-Sucker. Lewin, Birds of New Holl. pl. 4.
Graculine Honey-Eater. Lath. Gen. Hist. iv. p. 166. no. 11.
*'This bird," says Mr. Caley, “is called Batz'kin by the na-
tives.— Whether it is migratory or not it would be hazardous
for me to say ; as I have only seen it occasionally, although in
different places.—I once observed several of them frequenting a
tree, where they were busy in obtaining something that appeared
to have exuded from a wounded part. I do not know what the
substance could be, otherwise than a kind of gum of a bitter and
astringent taste.
Genus.
396 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HonsrrErp's Description of the
Genus. SERICULUS. Swains.
1. CunvsocrEPuALUs.* Ser. sericeo-ater ; capite supra, nuchá,
fasciáque media alarum aureo-flavis.
Meliphaga chrysocephala. Lewin, Birds of New. Holl. pl. 6.
Sericulus chrysocephalus. Swains. Zool. Journ. vol. 1. p. 478.
Loriot Prince-Régent. Temm. Pl. Col. 320.
Golden-crowned Honey- Eater. Lath. Gen. Hist.iv. p. 184. n0.38.
The actual situation of this bird in the Order of Insessores
remains hitherto undetermined. Nothing has transpired re-
specting its habits or internal structure to make us either alter,
or retain with any confidence, the place originally assigned it
by Mr. Lewin.
Genus. Mimerat. King.
1. Vrripis. Mim. olivaceo-viridis, subtus albida, nigro guttatim
striata; alis caudáque nigro-fuscis, illis albido-marginatis, hac
apice albo.
* We insert the following characters of the female of this species, which we have
taken from a fine specimen in the collection of Mr. Leadbeater. A figure has been
given of it by M. Duperrey, in the 20th plate of the “Voyage autour du Monde.”
Fœm. brunnea, dorso pectoreque albido-lunulatis ; vertice, gulæ medio, torqueque nu-
chali nigris ; abdomine albido, brunneo-lunulato.
Frontis occipitisque plume pallidiori-brunnez, in medio albido-lineate. A/e brunneæ,
pogoniis internis fuscis ad basin albidescentibus ; subtus fuscescentes, pogoniis
internis pallido-flavo inarginatis. — Tectrices inferiores pallidè flavæ, fusco-brunneo
lunulatæ. Rectrices brunneæ, subtus subfusce pallidè flavescentes. Rostrum
pedesque nigri. Longitudo corporis, 10$ ; ale a carpo ad remigem quartam, 54;
rostri, V3; 5 cauda, A5; tarsi, 13.
A young male bird in the collection of Mr. Leadbeater, exhibits exactly the same
plumage as the female, with the exception of some golden-coloured feathers appearing
on the back part of the head, and the shafts of the secondary quill-feathers being of the
same colour.
+ We have taken the liberty of altering the orthography of this word from Mimetes
to Mimeta; the former word having been already appropriated by Mr. Brown to a
genus of plants in these Transactions (vol. x. p. 105).
Gracula
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 327
Gracula viridis. Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. p. xxviii. no. 2.
Mimetes viridis. King, Survey of the Intertropical Coasts of
Australia, vol. i. p. 419.
Green Grakle. Lath. Gen. Hist. ii. p. 168. no. 24.
2. FrAvo-ciNCTa. Mim. flavo-viridis, subtus pallidior, capite
dorsoque fusco-lineatis, alis caudáque nigris viridi flavoque
variegatis.
Mimetes flavo-cinctus. King, Survey, Sc. vol. i. p. 419.
The Society is indebted for this bird to Captain Philip Parker
King, R.N., F.R. & L.S., who first discovered the species, and
described it from this specimen. As far as can be judged from
the mere exuviæ of birds, where few specimens can be compared
together, this bird appears a very distinct species from Mm. vi-
ridis.
3 Mervtorpes. Mim. supra brunnescenti-olivacea, fusco-stri-
ata, subtus alba fusco striatim guttata ; tectricibus supernis
remigibusque secundariis pallido-rufo marginatis ; rectricibus
apice albis.
Capitis nucheque plume striis fuscis gracilibus, dorsi latioribus
in medio notatæ. Tectrices inferiores rufæ, fusco-variegatæ.
Rectrices fuscæ apicibus albis. Longitudo corporis, 105 ;
ale a carpo ad remigem quartam, 545; ; caude, 5 ; rostri ad
rictum, 12, ad frontem, 1; farsi, 13.
We have already alluded to the difficulty of determining the
limits of species by the skins only of birds, without the oppor-
tunity of examining the changes in their plumage from age or
season in their native countries. itis of course with hesitation
that we give the three foregoing species as distinct. A general
similarity in the disposition of their colours prevails throughout
the
328 Mr. Vicors’sand Dr. HonsrrEerp's Description of the
1 à
the group, as is indeed usually the case in what are called natu-
ral genera. But a decided difference in the colours themselves
is exhibited in these three alleged species ; and it is our custom
to keep all such apparent species distinct until they are proved
to be the same. Many mistakes will without doubt arise by an
adherence to such a rule. But these mistakes are easily acknow-
ledged and retrieved when proved to be such. When we cannot
represent Nature as she is, we must endeavour to represent her
as she appears to be. If we suspend our observations in appre-
hension of committing an error, we shall soon cease to represent
her at all.
As to the group itself, it is not in our power to add any in-
formation to that which Captain King has given in the Appen-
dix to his ** Survey."— he following extract from Mr. Caley's
MSS. contains all the knowledge we have of these birds. He
speaks undecidedly ; but what he says is against the opinion that
they are meliphagous. ‘* These are birds of passage. I think I
once saw a flock of them in Government Garden, and that the
gardener complained of their destroying the figs. One of my
specimens, to the best of my recollection, I shot in a green
wattle-tree close to Government House."
Genus. Psormuoprs*.
Rostrum forte, breve, subrectum, subcompressum ; culmine vix
carinato, subarcuato; mandibulis integris; naribus basalibus,
ovalibus, plumulis setisque frontis opertis; rictu vibrissis
fortibus incumbentibus instructo.
Ale brevissimæ, rotundatz ; remigibus prima brevi, secunda ter-
tia et quartà gradatim longioribus, quinta ad nonam in-
clusam fere æqualibus, longissimis.
Cauda elongata, gradata.
* Pogos crepitus.
Pedes
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 329
Pedes subfortes, subelongati; acrotarsiis scutellatis, paratarsiis
integris.
This form offers one of the greatest difficulties to the inves-
tigator of affinities. The birds that exhibit it are said to be
Honey-Eaters. This we much doubt. They are found among
the flowers of the Eucalypti ; but this circumstance may arise as
well from their being in search of the insects abounding in these
flowers, as of the honey contained in them. It is strange that
we have never been able to examine a tongue of these birds,
although the skins are common. Their general appearance
indicates much of the Shrike. The strong bristles of the rictus
suggest the idea of their food being animal, and indeed originally
induced Dr. Latham to place them with the Linnean Muscicape.
The integrity of the margins of the bill, on the other hand, seems
to militate against this supposition. The extreme shortness and
roundness of the wing again, and the long and graduated tail,
are additional characters that demand consideration. In these
characters, as well as in the length and softness of the feathers
on the back, they approach the long-tailed American Thamno-
phili. On the whole these birds form an interesting object of
research to the naturalist, who may have the opportunity of de-
termining their exact station in the Order, by observation of
their habits and characters in their native country. Until these
points are ascertained, we leave them at the extremity of this
family, to which they are usually referred.
1. CngPrTANS. Psoph. olivaceo-brunneus, subvirescens ; capite
cristato, jugulo pectoreque nigris; tænià latà utrinque sub
oculos, rectricumque apicibus albis ; abdomine albo-variegato,
femoribus rufescentibus.
Muscicapa crepitans. Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. p. li. no. 10.
Coach-whip Honey-Eater. Id. Gen. Hist. iv. p. 187. no. 43.
VOL. XV. 2v Mr.
330 Mr. Vicors’s and Dr. HorsriezD’s Description of the
Mr. Caley informs us that ** this bird is more often heard than
seen. It inhabits brushes. "Phe loud cracking whip-like noise
it makes (from whence the colonists give it the name of Coach-
whip) may be heard from a great distance.”
Genus. Powaromurwus. Horsf. in Linn. Trans.
1. TEwPORALIs. Pom. cineraceo-fuscus, subtus fulvescenti-fus-
cus; fronte, temporibus, gutture, pectoreque albis; teniá gra-
cili super alteráque subtus oculos, caudáque nigris, hác apice
albido.
Caput in medio pallide fuscum, fronte, temporibusque albis. Re-
miges externe pallide fusce, ad apicem saturatiores. Tec-
trices inferiores pallide ferrugineo-fusce. Rectrices nigræ,
omnes, mediis exceptis, ad apicem albee. Rostrum nigrum,
ad frontem albescens. Pedes nigri. Longitudo corporis,
101; ale a carpo ad remigem quartam, 41; caude, 43 ;
rostri ad frontem, 1,3,, ad rictum, 11; éarsi, 13.
Dusky Bee-Eater. Lath. Gen. Hist. iv. p. 146. no. 31.
This species was found by Mr. Brown at Shoalwater Day,
August 1802.
2. SUPERCILIOSUS. Pom.brunnescenti-fuscus; tania supercili-
ari ad nucham extendente, gulá, pectore, abdomine anteriori,
caudáque apice albis.
Frons, loraque nigro-notate. — Remiges fusce, subtus pallidiores.
Tectrices inferiores pallidè brunnescenti-fuscæ. Abdomen
imum crissumque brunneo-fusca. Rectrices brunneo-nigræ,
omnes, mediis exceptis, ad apicem albæ. Rostrum pedesque
nigri. Longitudo corporis, 744, ; ale a carpo ad remigem
quartam, 345, ; caude, 31; rostri ad frontem, 12, ad ric-
tum, 155; farsi, 145.
This
Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society. 331
This bird was procured by Mr. Brown on the South coast of
New Holland in 1802.
These two species very closely accord with the Javanese spe-
cies of Pomatorhinus, P.montanus, described in these 'l'rans-
actions. The short and rounded wings, the somewhat length-
ened and rounded tail, and the elevated tarsi, at once point out
the affinity. The bills of the New Holland birds are not so
much arcuated as those of the Javanese; nor is the develope-
ment of the nares so conspicuous. But the general accordance
is so great, that we feel no hesitation, in the present imperfect
state of our information at least, in referring all these species to
the same group. ‘The structure of the tongue of these birds, as
well as the nature of their food, is as yet unknown : and as they
evince in some points a very striking accordance with the
scansorial family of Certhiade, we have some doubts whether
they may not be more justly referred to that group than to the
Meliphagide. Their nares, on the other hand, indicate an affi-
nity to the latter family, where we leave them provisionally for
the present. To whichever of the two groups they will even-
tually be ascertained to belong, they will be found, we make no
doubt, to stand at the extremity of it, and to form the passage to
the other.
(End of Part I.)
2u 2 X. Notice
X. Notice of a Species of Ursus from Nepaul. By Thomas
Horsheld; MD, LIS and. GS:
Read June 20, 1826.
I vaxx the liberty to offer to the Society a concise description
of the skin of a Bear from India, probably belonging to a new
species, which was lately presented to our Museum by H. T.
Colebrooke, Esq. This skin was forwarded from the Nepaul
mountains agreeably to a particular request; and it is to be
regretted that, notwithstanding every necessary instruction given
by the correspondent of Mr. Colebrooke, it was considerably
injured by the process of preparation, and the skull was entirely
removed. ‘The front teeth, however, remain perfect in both jaws :
they agree in all points with the character of the genus Ursus,
as now defined.
The entire length of the skin, from the tip of the nose to the
extremity of the tail, is 3 feet 10 inches; across the middle of
the abdomen and back it measures 2 feet 3 inches. Judging
from the teeth and claws, the skin appears to have belonged to
an adult animal. The fur on the top of the head, neck and
shoulders, is lengthened, shaggy and curled; on the flanks and
on the abdomen and extremities it is short and closely applied.
The thighs are partly covered with more rigid, bristly hairs.
The claws on the fore-feet are small, obtuse, thick, strongly
rounded above, and almost straight; on the posterior feet they
have the same general character, but are considerably smaller :
they
Dr. HonsrrELD on a Species of Ursus from Nepaul. 333
they are on both feet covered, and partly concealed at the base,
by thick bristly hairs, closely applied and directed forwards.
The general colour of the hairy covering of the specimen
presented to the Society is tawny, or very pale reddish-brown,
with an obscure tint of dirty yellow, verging to isabella. It is
almost uniform on every part. On the top of the head, tufts of
a lighter colour, almost white, are mixed with the rough curls
covering these parts. ‘The under parts of the neck appear to
have been of a darker hue; but the muzzle is scarcely different
from the posterior parts of the head. The tail is about an inch
long. ‘The relative proportion of the extremities and of the
body and neck cannot be ascertained with accuracy ; and as
the skin is not sufficiently perfect for being set up, several other
characters remain for future inquiry: the chief of these are,
the form of the head, the character of the nose and lips, the
situation of the eyes, the vibrissæ, and the length and proportion
of the ears.
Our animal is of a habit decidedly different from that of
several species of Ursus from the same part of the world, which
have recently been added to the systematic Catalogues, namely,
the Ursus Tibetanus, the Ursus labiatus, and the Ursus Malay-
anus. All these have a jet-black fur, a semilunar mark of a
white colour on the breast, and other peculiarities affording
types of subgenera, among which Prochilus and Helarctos
have been defined. Our animal, on the contrary, appears to
resemble the European Bears in its structure, as far at least as
can be determined from the parts which have been preserved
in the specimen. Among these, the claws afford the best means
of comparison ; they are small, obtuse, and straight, while those
in the Asiatic Dears above-mentioned are large, strongly-curved,
acute, and fitted for climbing.
The colour of our animal appears to be peculiar, and its size
is
334 Dr. HousrriELD on a Species of Ursus from Nepaul.
is somewhat less than that of the Brown Bear of Europe as
described by M. Cuvier in the 4th volume of the ** Ossemens
Fossiles :" but to determine the peculiarities with perfect pre-
cision, more accurate notices regarding its form are required.
The specific name isabellinus is proposed for our animal, and
the following concise character serves to discriminate it from
the other species of Ursus hitherto described.
Ursus ISABELLINUS.
U. sordide fulvus nitore isabellino, pilis colli dorsique elongatis,
molliusculis. crispatis ; ad latera rigidis, adpressis: ungui-
bus brevibus, rectis, obtusis.
XI. Some Account of a Collection of Cryptogamic Plants from
the Ionian Islands. By Robert Kaye Greville, LL.D. F.L.S.
WD cro ed OF
Read February 7, 1826.
Ux»zn the impression that the smallest contribution towards a
more complete knowledge of the botany of the Grecian Isles
would not be unacceptable to the Society, I have drawn up the
following brief account of a collection of cryptogamic plants
recently brought from thence by the Right Honourable the Earl
of Guilford. It was placed in my hands by Mr. David Don,
Librarian to the Society.
The number of species contained in the collection is but
small: and it is necessary to observe, that many of the spe-
cimens are in too imperfect a state to admit of minute exa-
mination; these I have omitted, preferring to give a shorter
list than run the hazard of adding to the number of the errors
with which cryptogamic botany is already so much incumbered.
There are still, however, several plants of great interest, and some
new species.
BYSSOIDEA
(Filamentous plants, referred by most authors to the Linnean
Order Fungi).
Genus 1. TRICHOTHECIUM.
1. T.roseum. Link in Mag. der Gesell. Naturfor. Freunde zu
Berlin, iii. p. 18. Nees. Syst. t.3. f. A1.
VOL. XV. 2 x Genus
356 Dr. GnEviLLE's Account of a Collection of
Genus 2. SrororricHum. (Collarium.)
1. S. badium, thallo cæspitoso, badio ; filis tenuissimis, confer-
voideis, implexis; sporidiis concoloribus, ovalibus; acer-
vulis distinctis, coacervatis.
On moist wood in a state of decay.
The aspect of this little plant is very much that of Conferva
arachnoidea. The threads are jointed, and two or three lines in
length. It belongs to the genus Collarium of Link in Magaz. der
Gesell. Naturfor. Freunde zu Berlin; but that genus has been
subsequently reunited by him to Sporotrichum, under which it
is also found in Persoon's Mycologia. "Vide Link in Jahrbuch
der Gewächskunde, i. p. 163.
GASTROMYCI
(Part of the Linnæan Order Fungi).
Genus 3. Cyatuus.
1. C. Crucibulum. Pers. Syn. Fung. p.238. Grev. Cr. El. t. 34.
Genus 4. SCLEROTIUM.
1. S. gyrosum, parvum, nigrum, erumpens, plano-convexum,
sulcis gyrosis rugosum, intus albidum. ‘Tam. III. f. 1.
On dead leaves of some monocotyledonous plant.
Entire plant not more than one or two lines in breadth, more
or less circular, sometimes ring-like, from the centre being
unoccupied. "The surface is very similar to the shields of some
species of Gyrophora.
FUNGI.
to
(C
126
Cryptogamic Plants from the Ionian Islands. 331
FUNGI.
Genus 5. Prziza.
. coccinea. Jacq. Aust. t. 163. Grev. Cr. Fl. t. 171.
ALGE.
( Diatomee.)
Genus 6. Dratoma.
. fasciculatum. Ag. Syst. Alg. p. 3.
Genus 7. GLOIONEMA.
. paradoxum. Ag. Syst. Alg. p.11. Echinella paradoxa.
Lyngb. Tent. Hydrophyt. Dan. p. 211. t. 10. Grev. Cr.
El. 4:25.
(Confervoideæ.)
Genus 8. BaxcraA.
.atro-purpurea. Ag. Syst. Alg. p. (6. Conferva atro-pur-
purea. Dillw. Conf. t. 103.
Genus 9. CowrEnvaA.
. catenata. Roth. Cat. ii. p.210. Ag. Syst. Alg. p. 119.
eorolitera.. Roth, Car. 1^ pi 182. 1.5. f.-25 er di. p. 213.
Ag. Syst. Ala. p. 119.
. trichotoma. Ag. Syst Alg. p. 121.
Genus 10. CERAMIUM.
diaphanum. Roth. Cat. iii. p.154. Ag. Syst. Alg. p. 133.
Genus 11. Porysienonra. Grev. (Hutchinsia. Ag.)
Jp
fruticulosa. Grev. Hutchinsia fruticulosa. Ag. Syst. Ale.
p.158. Fucus fruticulosus. Turn. Hist. Fuc. t. 227.
262 2. P. fila-
- -
338
Dr.GRreEvILLE’s Account of a Collection of
2. P. filamentosa. Grev. Hutchinsia filamentosa. Ag. Syst.
Alg. p. 159.
Genus 12. Ecrocarpus.
. E. siliculosus. Lyngb. Tent. Hydrophyt. Dan. p. 131. t. 45.
Ag. Syst. Alg. p. 101.
Genus 13. SPHACELLARIA.
.scoparia. Lyngb. Tent. Hydrophyt. Dan. p. 104. t. 31.
Ag. Syst. Alg. p. 167.
(Ulvacee.)
Genus 14. Bryopsts.
. plumosa. Ag. Syst. Alg. p.178. Ulva plumosa. Huds.
Angl. p. o
Genus 15. SOLENIA.
. compressa. Ag. Syst. Alg. p. 186. Ulva compressa. Linn.
Sp. Pl. p. 1632. Engl. Bot. t. 1739.
(Floridee.)
Genus 16. CHoNprrA.
. obtusa. Ag. Syst. Alg. p. 209. Fucus obtusus. Turn.
Hist. Fuc. t. 21.
Genus 17. SPHÆROCOCCUS.
. Teedii. dg. Syst. Alg. p. 225. Fucus Teedii.. Turn. Hist.
Fuc. t. 205.
.corneus. Ag. Syst. Ale. p. 225. Fucus corneus. Turn.
Hist. Fuc. t. 951.
S.S GOIL-
Cryptogamic Plants from the Ionian Islands. 339
3. S. confervoides. Ag. Syst. Ale. p.232. Fucus confervoides.
Turn. Hist. Fuc. t. 84.
4. S. acicularis. Ag. Syst. Alg. p.237. Fucus acicularis. Turn.
Hist. Fuc. t. 196.
Genus 18. DeELESSERTA.
1. D. tenerrima, fronde tenuissimá, aveniáà, lineari, dichotomá,
roseá, apice obtusa ; soris sporidiorum sparsis. ‘T'as. ILI.
io.
In the sea, attached to shells, corallines, and marine plants.
Root, a very minute callous disk, giving rise immediately to
several very delicate fronds, which are from 2 to 4 inches in
length, and regularly divided many times in a dichotomous
manner, the segments divaricated, linear, 1—3 lines in
breadth, obtuse at the apex, the margin entire. The reti-
culation is very irregular, similar to that of D. punctata.
Colour a most delicate and beautiful pink, acquiring a
brownish tinge towards the base; but in decay becoming
almost colourless. J have not observed any capsular fruc-
tification, but the sor? (as Agardh calls the clusters of seem-
ingly naked granules) are scattered without any particular
order over the frond.
It is now two years since I received excellent specimens of this
highly beautiful plant, collected in Devonshire by my esteemed
friend Mrs. Griffiths : as few persons are so well acquainted with
the actual vegetation of marine A/g@, her opinion in favour of
its being an undescribed species must be allowed to have great
weight. Besides however studying the preserved specimens, I
had an opportunity of examining some in their native place of
growth at Torquay a few weeks ago, and thus am enabled to add
my opinion to hers in support of their distinctness.
At
340 Dr. Grevitter’s Account of a Collection of
At first sight it has a near resemblance to some states of
Spherococcus bifidus, but the discovery of the fructification proved
it to belong to a different genus. In texture and delicacy as
well as fructification it is nearly allied to Delesseria punctata,
but the constant dichotomous, linear, smaller frond, and very
divaricated segments, keep it sufficiently apart.
The specimens in the present collection are smaller and not
fertile; yet I think there cannot be a doubt of their being the
same species.
(Fucoidee.)
Genus 19. SCYTOSIPHON.
1. S. foeniculaceus. Lyngb. Tent. Hydrophyt. Dan. p. 63. t. 14.
Ag. Syst. Alg. p. 258. Fucus subtilis. Turn. Hist. Fuc.
t. 234.
Genus 20. HarrisEnrs.
1. H. polypodioides. Ag. Syst. A/g. p. 9202. Fucus membrana-
ceus. Stackh. Ner. Brit. p. 13. t.6. Turn. Hist. Fuc.
t. 87.
Genus 91. ZOoNARIA.
1. Z. rubra, fronde reniformi, planá, subintegerrimá, fragili, ni-
tidà, rubra, lineis minutissimis longitudinaliter densissimè
notatà. "lan. III. f. 3.
In the sea, about the roots of Zostera marina.
Frond dull pinkish red, half an inch to one inch in breadth,
roundish reniform, nearly plain, the margin entire or
very slightly lobed; surface glabrous, somewhat glisten-
ing, densely reticulated, the reticulations minute, arranged
in close parallel convex longitudinal lines, scarcely per-
ceptible to the naked eye. ‘There are also a few transverse
corrugations.
bo
Cryptogamic Plants from the Ionian Islands. 541
corrugations. Beneath, the frond is hoary with a pale
tomentose covering.
Genus 22. CysrosEIRA.
. C. Abies marina. Ag. Syst. Alo. p.282. Fucus Abies marina.
Turn. Hist. Fuc. t. 249.
. C. granulata. Ag. Syst. Ale. p. 282. Fucus granulatus.
Turn.Hist. Puc; t. 251:
Genus 23. SARGASSUM.
S. pallidum. Ag. Syst. Ale. p. 307. Fucus pallidus. Turn.
Hist. luc. t: 00.
HEPATIC.
Genus 24. Rrccra.
. R. crystallina. Linn. Sp. Pl. p. 1605.
Genus 25. ANTHOCEROS.
. A. levis. Linn. Sp. Pl. p. 1605.
Genus 26. JUNGERMANNIA.
J. epiphylla. Linn. Sp. Pl. p. 1602. Hook. Jung. t. 47.
J. inflata. Huds. Angl. p. 511. Hook. Jung. t. 38.
J. pusilla. Linn. Sp. Pl. p. 1602. Hook. Jung. t. 69.
. J. complanata 6. minor. Hook. Jung. t. 81. f. 17.
Dr. Hooker in his account of this species has noticed that the
smaller lobes of the leaves throw out radicular fibres at the
folded edge of the leaves, and he quotes the observation of
Wahlenberg: ‘in ejus pagina inferiore versus oram inferiorem
papilla protuberat, primüm viridis, dein fuscescens et radicans."
In the specimens before me I find this description to be very
correct.
342 Dr. Grevitte’s Account of a Collection of
correct. This papilla is worthy of particular notice, as being
always present, and near the fold of the leaf, but still quite on
the plane surface. ‘Though it sometimes throws out radicles, it
more frequently produces a foliaceous expansion from its apex,
of various forms, often circular like a little cup. I have
observed the same kind of papilla in an exotic species. Of
J. complanata, as far as regards this part, I have seen no cor-
rect figure.
5. J. dilatata. Linn. Sp. Pl. p. 1000. Hook. Jung. t. 5.
MUSCI.
* Seta terminalis.
Genus 27. "Tonrura.
1. T. rigida. Turn. Musc. Hiber. p. 43. Hook. et Grev. in
Edin. Journ. of Science, i. p. 289.
2. T. muralis. Hedw. Sp. Musc. p. 123. Hook. et Grev. in
Edin. Journ. of Science, i. p. 292.
3. T. Northiana, caule brevi, simplici ; foliis erecto-patentibus,
lineari-lanceolatis acutis, siccitate tortuosis; thecà sub-
cylindrica. Tan. III. f. 4.
(No particular station given. It probably grows on banks.)
Stem from 3 lines to half an inch in length, simple. Leaves pale
bright green, whitish at their base, linear-lanceolate, erecto-
patent, straight, acute, the margin slightly waved, entire ;
nerve strong, running to the point. In a dry state they are
tortuose. Fruitstalk an inch in length, pale, slender. Cap-
sule nearly cylindrical, slightly curved, with a subulate
lid.
I have
Cryptogamic Plants from the Ionian Islands. 343
I have to regret, in describing this species, that the fruc-
tification is too young to exhibit anything besides its general
form. This prevents me from ascertaining the nature of the
peristome, which probably resembles that of T. subulata, to
which moss our species is most nearly allied. In the leaves,
however, there is much greater length and narrowness, with
almost the entire absence of an apiculus.
I have bestowed the specific name in honour of the illustrious
individual by whom the collection was brought home.
4. T. fallax. Swartz. Musc. Suec. p. 40. Hook. et Grev. in Edin.
Journ. of Science, 1. p. 299.
Genus 28. Werssta.
1. W. pusilla. Hedw. Sp. Musc. p. O4. Hook. et Tayl. Musc.
Bri. ty 1s.
Genus 29. Dicranum.
1. D. bryoides. Roth. Germ. ili. p.181. Hook. et Tayl. Musc.
Brit. t. 10.
2. D. varium. Hedw. Sp. Musc. p. 133. Hook. et Tayl. Musc.
Brit. dr.
Genus 30. Dirpymoponx.
1. D.trifarium. Swartz. Musc. Suec. p. 28. Hook. et Tayl. Musc.
Brit. t. 90.
Genus 31. Funarta.
1. F. hygrometrica. Hedw. Sp. Musc. p. 319. Hook. et Tayl.
Musc. Brit. t. 20.
2. F. hibernica. Hook. et Tayl. Musc. Brit. t. 20.
I have not access to Wahlenberg's plate and description in Act.
Holm. 18006, of F.calcarea, which, according to Swartz, is the same
as Hooker's P. hibernica. Thus, in order to avoid uncertainty, I
have been obliged to keep up the more recent name.
VOL. XV. 2 y Genus
344 Dr. Grevitte’s Account of a Collection of
Genus 32. Bryum.
1. B.carneum. Linn. Sp. Pl. p. 1587. Hook. et Tayl. Muse.
Brit. t. 29.
2. B. argenteum. Linn. Sp. Pl. p. 1580. Hook. et Tayl. Muse.
Brit. t. 29.
3. B. capillare. Linn. Sp. Pl. p. 1586. Hook. et Tayl. Musc.
Brit. t. 29.
4. B. cæspiticium. Linn. Sp. Pl. p. 1580. Hook. et Tayl. Musc.
Brit. t. 29.
5. B. nutans. Schreb. Lips. p. 81. Hook. et Tayl. Musc. Brit.
(.99. Webera nutans. Hedw. Sp. Musc. p. 168.
6. B. elegans, caule breviusculo, innovationibus elongato-ramo-
so; foliis ovatis, laxe reticulatis, acutis integerrimis, con-
cavis, margine apicem versus incurvato, nervo percurrente :
thecà obovatà, inclinatà ; operculo convexo. Tas. HI. f. 5.
On the ground in moist places.
Stem less than half an inch in height, but elongated by innova-
tions to above an inch; the innovations slender and deli-
cate. Leaves erecto-patent, pellucid, ovate, acute, concave.
entire, with the margin so much incurved towards the point
as to be almost involute, reticulated with lax, large, elon-
gated cellules, and furnished with a slender percurrent
nerve : those of the innovations are rather distantly placed,
of a pale bright reddish brown below, the upper ones of a
pale pleasant green. — Fruitstalk about an inch in length,
red. Capsule rather large, obovate, inclined, reddish brown,
when very old, somewhat pyriform.
Some of the outer teeth of the peristome were perfect; but
the inner ones were too much damaged for examination.
In
Cryptogamic Plants from the Ionian Islands. 345
In every point of view this moss seems sufficiently distinct.
The leaves are very strikingly vascular, and in this respect
resemble those of an unpublished Nepalese species in my pos-
session.
7. B. Donianum, caule breviusculo robusto, innovationibus bre-
vibus ramoso ; foliis densis summitate præcipuè agerega-
tis, erecto-patentibus, obovatis, acutis, marginatis, apice
denticulatis, nervo excurrente ; seta elongatà ; theca cla-
vata pendula ; operculo brevi, conico. ‘Tan. III. f. 6.
On the ground? (No station given.)
Stem about half an inch in height, robust, covered with brown
tomentose radicular fibres, branched with very short inno-
rations. Leaves few on the lower part of the stem, densely
crowded and somewhat spreading at the top: they are
rather broadly obovate (those of the innovations narrower),
pointed, slightly concave, denticulate towards the apex, the
margin decidedly thickened: nerve strong, and running
more or less beyond the point, but never hair-like or trans-
parent. The colour of the lower leaves is reddish ; that of
the upper ones a dull green, which is much brighter under
the microscope, their base being moreover frequently of a
beautiful deep pink. The nerve and thickened margin are
also often reddish. "Phe reticulation is small, the cellules
roundish, except at the base, where they are elongated.
Fruitstalk nearly two inches long, dark red. Capsule pen-
dulous, brownish-red, large, clavate, the /id shortly and
obtusely conical; this part, however, I have not seen in a
mature state. Inner peristome equal in length to the outer
one, each tooth composed of from 3 to 5 ribs terminating in
a point, and connected by transverse bars. I could not
perceive any alternating clie.
2v2 This
346 Dr. GrevizLe’s Account of a Collection of
This fine Bryum, which T have named after a naturalist daily
rising in public estimation (Mr. David Don, Librarian to the
Society), has at first sight the aspect of short specimens of
B. ventricosum, especially in the character of its fruit; but the
much broader leaves, the very thickened margin, excurrent
nerve, and quite different kind of innovationary branches, are
abundant marks of distinction. I am not aware of any other
species with which it is likely to be confounded.
. B. ligulatum. Schreb. Lips. p. 84. Hook. et Tayl. Musc. Brit.
t. 30.
co
Genus 33. BARTRAMIA.
1. B. pomiformis. Hedw. Sp. Musc. p.164. Hook. et Tayl. Musc.
Brit. t. 23.
(Seta lateralis.)
Genus 34. Lrucopon.
1. L. Morensis. Schwegr. Suppl. i. 2. p. 2. et Suppl. ii. t. 25.
Genus 35. PrTERnOoGONIUM.
1. P. gracile. Swartz. Musc. Suec. p. 26. Hook. et Tayl. Musc.
Brit. t. 14.
2. P. Smith. Swarts. in Schrad. Journ. ü. p.173. — Hook. et
Tayl. Musc. Brit. t. 14.
Genus 36. FowTiINALIs.
|. F.squamosa. Linn. Sp. Pl. p.1571. Hook. et Tayl. Musc.
Bm. te LT
Genus 37. Hypnum.
1. H. riparium. Linn. Sp. Pl. p. 1595. Hook. et Tayl. Musc.
Brit. t. 24.
, H. confertum. “Dicks. Crypt. jase, av. p. 11. 4:193. 4.
Hook. et Tayl. Musc. Brit. t. 26.
to
$9. H, te-
ex
Cryptogamic Plants from the Ionian Islands. 347
H. tenellum. Dicks. Crypt. fasc. iv. p. 16. t. 11. f. 19. Hook.
et Tayl. Musc. Brit. t. 24. H. Agirianum, Brid.
H. illecebrum. Hedw. Sp. Musc. p. 252. t. 66. LAB:
Sm. Fl. Brit. ii. p. 1814. Engl. Bot. t. 2180.
H. rutabulum. Linn. Sp. Pl. p. 1590. Hook. et Tayl. Musc.
Brit. t. 96.
H. prelongum. Linn. Sp. Pl. p. 1591. Hook. et Tayl. Musc.
Brit. t. 25.
H. cupressiforme. Linn. Sp. Pl. p. 1592. Hook. et Tayl.
Musc. Brit. t. 91.
H. Leskea, caule inferné denudato, ramis fasciculatis ; foliis
ovatis acuminatis apice serratis, margine basi reflexo, nervo
ante apicem evanescenti ; theca ovato-cylindrica, suberectà ;
operculo conico, rostrato. Tas. HI. f. 7. |
(No station given.)
Stem erect, naked for about half an inch, then dividing into à
number of slender fascicled sub-erect branches. Leaves
closely imbricated when dry, but spreading when moist,
numerous, ovate, acuminate, serrated towards the point,
concave at the base, where the margin is also reflexed ;
nerve vanishing below the point. Perichetial leaves erect,
imbricated, more acuminated, scarcely serrated at the point,
the nerve disappearing lower down. Colour deep green.
Fruitstalk nearly an inch in length. Capsule sub-erect,
ovato-cylindrical. Lid conical, with a short acute beak.
Teeth of the inner peristome with linear lacunæ or perfora-
tions down the middle, with very short alternating cie.
LYCOPODINEZÆ.
Genus 38. Lycoprpopium.
1. L. denticulatum. Linn. Sp. Pl. p. 1569.
EXPLA-
( 348 )
EXPLANATION OF TAB. III.
Sclerotium gyrosum. Fig. 1. Plant, nat. size. a. Plants mag-
nified, one of them divided vertically.
Delesseria tenerrima. Fig. 2. Plant, nat. size. a. Portion of
the frond. b. Portion of the frond with fructification ;—
magnified.
©
Zonaria rubra. Vig. 5. Plant, nat. size. a. Portion of the frond
magnified.
Tortula Northiana. Fig. 4. Plants, nat. size. a. A leaf. b. Cap-
sule ;—magnified.
Bryum elegans. Fig. 5. Plant, nat. size. a. Portion of one of
the innovations. 6. A leaf. c. Capsule. 4. Two of the
teeth of the outer peristome ;—magnified.
Bryum Donianum — Fig. 6. Plant, nat.size. a. Leaf. 6. Por-
tion of the summit of a leaf. c. Capsule. d. Teeth of
the outer peristome. | e. ‘Teeth of the inner ditto ;—mag-
nified.
Hypnum Leskea. — Fig. 7. Plant, nat. size. a. Leaf. 6. Peri-
chætial leaf. c. Capsule. 4. Teeth of the outer peri-
stome. e. Teeth of the inner ditto ;—magnified.
XII. De-
Trans. Linn Joc Vol AV Zab. 3. p
Fig 5
D. Greville del? C Fox sadp*
e
“eo
( 949 )
XH. Description of a new Genus belonging to the Natural Family
of Plants called Scrophularine. By Mr. David Don, Libr. L.S.
Read March 21, 1826.
"T ux discovery of new generic forms is always a subject of great
importance in a natural system, as they tend to throw light on
the affinities of those groups already known to us, and conse-
quently to give us more enlarged views of the beauty and ad-
vantages of the natural classification. What renders the pre-
sent genus still more interesting is its partaking of the characters
of two very distinct natural orders. Possessing all the essential
marks of the Scrophularine, it agrees also with Jacaranda, a
genus belonging to the Bignoniacee, in the form and covering
of its seeds. This new genus I propose to denominate Lopho-
spermum, a name compounded of 2ogos a crest, and ezegue seed,
in allusion to the form of its seeds. It consists at present of
only two species, both natives of Mexico, where they were dis-
covered by the Spanish botanists Sessé and Mocinno, in whose
herbarium the one is marked Besleria scandens, and the other
Scrophularia physalodes,—names, no doubt, vaguely given them
at the time of collecting by the discoverers, of whose zeal and
knowledge ample testimony is afforded by the extensive collec-
tions which they made in that interesting country. In a natural
series our genus must be placed near to Maurandia and An-
tirrhinum. Its affinity to the former is shown by its calyx and
capsules ; but its compressed, tuberculated, winged seeds, and
the
350 Mr. Don’s Description of a new Genus belonging to
the form of its corolla, essentially distinguish it from both these
genera. Both Maurandia and Antirrhinun have their seeds
covered by a thick spongy testa, which is very much wrinkled,
and resembles in a remarkable degree the testa of the curious
cruciferous genus Parrya of Mr. Brown. ‘This character is also
met with in all those genera which are intimately allied to dAn-
firrhinum; and it appears to me to be of sufficient importance
to warrant their being regarded as a separate section, which may
be denominated Antirrhinee. Chelone, on account of its flat
seeds and foliaceous cotyledons, will constitute another section
of the order, forming the link of affinity between it and Bignoni-
acee, from which it principally differs in the direction of its
seeds, and in the presence of albumen. — Sesamum corresponds
with the latter family in the absence of albumen ; but in the
form and direction of its seeds it is closely allied to Chelone,
from which it is however essentially distinguished in the struc-
ture of its capsule, the absence of albumen, and by having the
cells of its anthers parallel. It may therefore be considered as
forming, together with Martynia and Craniolaria, a distinct na-
tural eroup, as has already been suggested by Mr. Brown.
In Scrophularia the upper lip of the corolla is so much more
developed than the lower one as to give the flower the appear-
ance of being resupinate. ‘The anthers of this genus differ very
materially in structure from those of every other genus of the
order; they are unilocular, and open by means of a transverse
fissure, and the cell is attached along its whole length to the
summit of the filament, in which particular it recedes from the
usual form of the one-lobed anther.
A number of other scctions equally distinct might be indi-
cated, the adoption of which would greatly facilitate a know-
ledge of the genera of this extensive order. In a practical
point of view, the advantages arising from the division of
extensive
the Natural Family of Plants called Scrophularine. 351
extensive orders and genera into sections cannot, I think, be
doubted.
In concluding this part ef my subject, I beg leave to offer a
few remarks on the use of the terms contrary and parallel as
applied to the position of the dissepiment of bilocular fruits ; as
without such explanation, that part of the following description
which relates to the position of the dissepiment would be liable
to be misunderstood. I use the term dissepimentum contrarium
to express such dissepiments as have their flat side facing the
stem, or, more properly speaking. contrary to the axis of the
tlower, without regard to the compression of the valves ; and dis-
sepimentum parallelum, to denote such as are perpendicular to the
axis of the flower, having their edge opposed to the stem. ‘The
distinction between the parallel and contrary dissepiment having
been hitherto so vague and uncertain, the adoption of the pre-
ceding mode of applying the terms will be found very advan-
tageous. In order to point out more clearly the inconvenience,
if not absurdity, of the manner in which these terms have been
hitherto applied, I need only mention, that in the greater part of
Scrophularinæ the dissepiment is said to be parallel, and contrary
in Pedicularis and some other genera, merely because the valves
happen to be more compressed : for the fact is, its position is
precisely similar. In all bilocular fruits having really a parallel
septum, the dehiscence takes place at the margin of the valves.
LOPHOSPERMUM.
Syst. Linn. Didynamia Angiospermia. Prope Maurandiam.
Onp. Nar. Scrophularine. Brown. Sect. 2. Antheris bilobis
muticis, seminibus testd coriaceo-spongiosd corrugatá «v. reti-
culatim scrobiculatà preditis. Antirrhinee. Nob.*
* | have found it necessary to modify in some degree the character of the section,
from observing the differences assumed by the seeds of certain species of Linaria.
*
VOL. XV. 9 z Car.
352 Mr. Dow's Description of a new Genus belonging to
Cuar. Essent. Calyx 5-partitus. Corolla campanulata : limbo
5-lobo, subæquali. Capsula bilocularis, irregulariter dehis-
cens. Semina imbricata, membranaceo-alata.
Descr. Calyx amplus, membranaceus, reticulato-venosus, 5-
partitus : segmentis latis, ovatis. Corolla magna, campanu-
lata, calyce dupló longior, basi tubulosa, fauce dilatata,
limbo 5-loba, subæqualis : /obis latis, rotundatis, in æstiva-
tione imbricatis. Stamina 4, didynama, fertilia, ime parti
tubi inserta, corollà pauló breviora : filamenta anguste line-
aria, compressa, superne glandulosa, basi angulo acuto ar-
cuata, quasi stipite lævi compresso lateralitèr suffulta, ad
flexuram glandulis capitatis munita, atque squamulis suc-
culentis linearibus obtusis, exsiccatione ramentaceis, co-
piosè prædita: anthere biloba, biloculares, muticæ, nu-
dæ : loculis divaricatis, longitudinaliter dehiscentibus, de-
mum explanatis. Ovarium globosum, biloculare. Stylus
longissimus, filiformis, glaber, infernè crassior. Stigma
simplex, emarginatum. Capsula sphærica, styli basi per-
sistente coronata, bilocularis, subbivalvis, irregularitèr rum-
pens, polysperma. Dissepimentum transversum, latere (nec
margine) ad caulem verso, completum, basi dilatatum. P/a-
cente 2, magne, oblong, scrobiculatæ, e septo ortum du-
centes. Semina crebra, imbricata, adscendentia, compressa,
membrana scariosà erosè crenulatá cincta, apice truncata,
basi hilo depresso instructa: festa crassa, coriacea, extüs
corrugato-plicata et tuberculata. Albumen copiosum, ovoi-
deum, cartilagineum, pallide luteum. Embryo teres, erec-
tus, ferè albuminis longitudine, lacteus : cotyledones brevis-
simæ, rotundate: radicula crassa, recta, obtusa, cotyle-
donibus dupló longior, centripeta.
Herbæ v. Frutices (Mexicani). Folia alterna, serrata. Flores
avillares, solitarii, pedunculati.
1. L. scan-
the Natural Family of Plants called Scrophularine. 353
1. L. scandens, foliis cordatis acuminatis inciso-serratis, pedun-
culis ebracteatis, caule herbaceo.
Besleria scandens. — Sesse et Mocinno Mss.
Habitat in Mexico. Sesse et Mocinno. y . (v.s.in Herb. Lamb.)
Planta formosissima, scandens, herbacea. Rami cylindracei,
pilis mollibus articulatis viscidis copiose vestiti. Folia fere
Campanule Trachelii numerosa, alterna, petiolata, cordata,
acuminata, inciso-serrata, hirsuta, 5-nervia, 3—4 uncias
longa, 2 v. 3 lata. Petioli semiteretes, villosi, bipollicares.
Flores penduli. — Pedunculi axillares, solitarii, uniflori, tere-
tes, villosi, ebracteati, petiolo feré dupló longiores, cum
foliis uno latere versi. Calyx hirsutus, profunde 5-parti-
tus: segmentis ovatis, acuminatis, integris v. hinc inde dente
parvo instructis ; duobus exterioribus latioribus. Corolla mag-
na, speciosa, purpureo-violacea ?
This is truly a most magnificent plant. Its climbing stems,
copiously adorned with leaves and large, campanulate blossoms,
render it a very desirable object It is necessary to observe,
that the character and description of the genus are constructed
principally from this species, because in the following there are
some important points, particularly with respect to the ripe fruit
and seeds, still remaining undetermined.
2. L. physalodes, foliis lanceolatis acutis denticulatis scabris,
pedunculis bibracteatis, caule fruticoso.
Scrophularia physalodes. — Sesse et Mocinno Mss.
Habitat in Mexico. Sesse et Mocinno. x . (v.s. in Herb. Lamb.)
Caulis erectus, fruticosus. Rami teretes, rigidi, papilloso-scabri.
Folia alterna v. nunc (præsertim suprema) subopposita, sub-
sessilia, lanceolata, acuta, denticulata, aculeis minutissimis
callosis scabra, sesqui- v. bi-pollicaria. Pedunculi axillares,
222 solitarii,
394
Mr. Don’s Description of a new Genus of Plants.
solitarii, uniflori, teretes, scabri, foliis breviores, ultra me-
dium bracteis 2 approximatis lanceolatis asperis muniti.
Calyx asper, reticulatus, inflatus, 5-fidus: /obis semi-ovatis,
acutis, integerrimis. Corolla ampla, sordide violacea ? præ-
cedente multó brevior. Filamenta omninó glabra. Anthe-
rarum lobis longioribus, superne confluentibus, basi tantüm
divaricatis. Stigma simplex. Ovarium globosum, bilocu-
rare. Semina nondüm vidi.
XIII. On
—
Co
Or
Or
7
XIII. On Boswellia and certain Indian Terebinthacee. By Henry
Thomas Colebrooke, Esq. F.R.S. and L.S.
Read April 4 and 18, 1826.
A pescriPriox of the tree which yields the Indian olibanum,
(a gum-resin apparently undistinguishable from Arabian frank-
incense, though possibly the production of a different plant.)
was inserted in the Asiatic Researches* under the name of Bos-
wellia serrata: and another species of the same genus, Boswellia
glabra, which likewise affords a resin burnt as incense in Hindu
temples, and employed with vegetable oil for the more useful
purpose of marine pitch, has been described by Roxburgh in
his third volume of Indian Plants*. In neither instance was
the conformation of the seed particularly noticed. ‘To supply
that omission and furnish the carpology of this interesting genus,
a full description of the fruit of the first-mentioned species is
here subjoined. It is chiefly derived from the same source :
that is, from my lamented friend Dr. Roxburgh's observations
in aid of my own.
As the dissection of the germ shows the natural number of
each cell to be two, that part of the generic character, as ori-
ginally given, which specifies solitary seeds, may be modified ;
since they are single only by abortion. For this result is not to
be invariably expected in all situations ; though more than one
* Vol x:9n4977. + Part I. t. 207.
ripe
356 Mr. CorEgnnooxr on Boswellia
ripe seed in a cell have not hitherto been observed in either of
the described species.
The remarkable character of multifid and intricately folded
cotyledons, which will be noticed, recurs in certain other plants
of the same natural order, and especially in one which it is my
purpose to describe in this essay, and which exhibits three-lobed
contortuplicate cotyledons. It was first delineated solely from
the flower; the fruit not having ripened on the trees where I
observed the blossom. Dr. Wallich, having been more fortunate
than myself in this respect, has since furnished me with a par-
ticular description of the ripe fruit, and has proposed the name
of Bursera serrata for my plant. I had taken it, while unac-
quainted with its fruit, for an Adlanthus.
It certainly is akin to the Marignia of Commerson, which
Lamarck introduced into the genus Bursera, with the specific
name of obtusifolia* ; and which his continuator Poiret in one
place remarks to have much aflinity with Gærtner’s Dammara,
and in another says it appears to be the same’.
Gertner himself, identifying his plant, of which the specimen
was received from the Isle of Mauritius, with the Dammara ni-
gra of Rumphius, indigenous in the Molucca Islands, remarked
its near affinity to Amyris, and thought it possibly a genuine
species of that genus]. But it has the intricate foldings of the
cotyledons which are remarked in Bursera serrata.
As the two genera of Amyris and Bursera are at present con-
stituted, a botanist may well be still at a loss to which of them a
new plant of the family is to be referred. The variable features
of Bursera gummifera, and the early inaccurate descriptions of
it, have led systematic writers to assign an essential character to
the genus constructed on its type, which is very loose and uncer-
* Encycl. ii. 768. + Enc. Supp. i. 447 & 819.
Ÿ PFruct. et Sem. ii. 103.
tain :
and certain Indian Terebinthacee. 357
tain: viz. * Polygamous; Dioicous: % Cal. 3-, 4-, 5-toothed.
Cor. 3-, 4-, 5-petalled. Stam.6,8,10. Styl.O. Stigma 3-lobed.
Caps. 3-valved, 1-seeded. Seed arilled*." And it is further
remarked concerning that generic description, that ‘ the cap-
sule is 2-, 3-, 4-, or 5-seeded; and that the genus differs from
Amyris only in the sessile stigma and arilled seed *."
Yet Willdenow, whose remark it is, has annexed to Amyris
all the /cicas of Aublet, in every one of which the seeds are en-
veloped in proper arilliform pulp ; and the style is so obscure in
those, as in several other species referred to Amyris, (particularly
A. polygama, A. pentaphylla, A. acuminata, and A. nana, Roxb.),
that the stigma may well be deemed sessile in divers plants of
both genera.
The rest of the characters are not less indeterminate. Amyris
polygama, as the name imports, has unisexual flowers. ‘This in-
deed has been transferred to another genus (Schinus dependens of
Ortega). But Amyris Kataf of Forskal appears also to be poly-
gamous ; and so do A. acuminata and A. agallocha of Roxburgh.
While several Burseras exhibit no unisexual blossoms. Amyris
Zeylanica is described as hexandrous: and A. decandra, as the
specific name indicates, presents decandrous flowers; and so
does another which I shall describe, and which I take to belong
to the same family with the Amyrides, or at least with those of
Roxburgh. More than one of the plants which have been re-
ferred to this genus are variable, like Bursera gummifera, in the
number of stamina and their corresponding proportion of petals
and calycine divisions.
The berry of Amyris varies as much in respect of the num-
ber of mature seeds contained in it, as the capsule of Bursera.
Nor is the distinction of the pericarp, implied by those names,
well founded in this instance. They are alike coriaceous and
* Willd. Sp. Pl. iv. 1119. + Ibid. 1121.
pulpy,
358 Mr. CorgnnooxkE on Boswellia
pulpy, going to pieces when dry, but not opening by deter-
minate valves: they contain, in one or more cells, solitary
seeds; or, if all the ovules ripen, two, or possibly sometimes
three in each cell. In fact, throughout this family the fruit is a
berry, in which the natural number of cells, containing two, or
sometimes three ovules, agrees with that of the petals and caly-
cine divisions (sepala), and corresponds to twice as many stamina.
Exceptions are to be admitted, if the plants have been rightly
classed and described; for A. acuminata and A. simplicifolia of
Roxburgh, in which the germ exhibits but two cells, and A. Zey-
lanica of Retzius, in which osseous seeds coalesce and present a
trilocular nut. But all three should perhaps, on account of
these deviations from the natural structure, be removed from
their present place to other genera.
The staminiferous ring around the germ, which was assumed
for a distinctive mark of the Icica as a separate genus, is not
more characteristic according to Willdenow *: for it is found,
more or less conspicuous, in divers species of Amyris, as it like-
wise is in those of Bursera : and the insertion of stamina, as well
as petals, in it, is an important character pervading the whole
family.
In truth, as long ago remarked*, the three genera Amyris,
Icica, and Bursera, require to be thrown together and re-cast.
The whole group comprises nearly forty species, including seve-
ral yet unpublished ; and is likely to receive further accessions.
It may be expected to become unwieldy for a single genus ; and
it actually comprehends plants which do not assort well together.
It should therefore be subdivided, and moulded anew into distinct
genera. But for this purpose much the greater part of the spe-
cies requires re-examination, with a view to the distribution of
them by truly discriminative marks.
* Sp. Plant. i. 338. + Juss. Gen. Pl.371. Lam. Enc. i. 768.
If
and certain Indian Terebinthacee. 359
If the attempt is to be at present made, the most obvious
ground which could be immediately proposed, is that which was
rejected by Willdenow ; the presence and form of the nectary or
disk encompassing the ovary. In many species of Amyris it is,
as a nectary or glandular ring, wanting; being only shadowed
or represented by a fleshy receptacle or continuous podogynium
elevating the germ and receiving the filaments and petals in-
serted in its foot. In other instances the nectary is clearly pre-
sent, consisting in a glandular ring, which girds the base of the
germ, distinct from the receptacle beneath it, in which the sta-
mina and petals are inserted. It is discriminated from that by
a difference of form and appearance, or more simply separated
by a contraction or intermediate strangulation. In some in-
stances the annular receptacle of the germ or nectarial ring is
crenulate ; in others it is distinctly glandular; in a few it is
merely protuberant.
The total absence of a nectary, and consequent restriction of
the common receptacle of stamina and petals below and germ
above to a simple podogynium, might serve to characterize one
group in this family. Many species of Amyris belong to it:
among them may be enumerated several Indian sorts, as 4. nana,
A. acuminata, and A. pentaphylla of Roxburgh.
A crenulate ring occurs in Bursera serrata ; and this form of
the nectary intimates analogy with Boswellia, which has a crenu-
late fleshy cup, in the exterior margin whereof the stamina are
inserted. That analogy is strengthened by the examination of the
seed, which exhibits in both instances multilobed and intricately
folded cotyledons. "ihe presence of a crenulate nectary, there-
fore, might be taken for the discriminative mark of one more
group,—a link in the chain from the first-mentioned towards
Boswellia.
Intermediately occurs another, in which the nectary is present
VOL. XV. 3 4 but
360 Mr. Corgsnookr on Boswellia
but most entire. For instance, Amyris punctata, A. sumatrana,
and A. heptaphylla of Roxburgh. (‘This last is not to be con-
founded with Aublet’s Icica heptaphylla, which is the Amyris
ambrosiaca of Willdenow.) In all three the nectary is a large
fleshy receptacle, separated from the receptacle of stamina and
petals by a strangulation or contraction, which leaves an upper
protuberance to uphold the germ, and a lower to receive the
filaments and petals. ‘The mature fructification of two of these
plants has been observed and described. ‘The seeds have no
osseous covering, but a single tender integument. ‘Their coty-
ledons are simple; flat on the contiguous sides, and convex,
conform to the seed, on the outer surface.
Perhaps another division might be proposed for such plants
as have a nectary distinctly glandular. For example, Commi-
phore Madagascariensis of Jacquin, the same with Roxburgh's
Amyris Agallocha. Its nectary consists of as many glands as
there are stamina, situated at the insertion of these. But the
fruit of this species has not been yet inspected, nor even the
hermaphrodite flower. Roxburgh, as well as Jacquin, was
unable to find any besides male flowers.
It does not, however, appear in other instances, where the
complete fructification has been examined, that those differences
in the nectary precisely correspond with primary differences
observable in the mature fructification, on which, as I appre-
hend, reliance is to be ultimately placed for a main ground of
generic distinction. Yet it is material to attend to the nectarial
character in this group of plants. If the staminiferous disk be
connected, as in my view it is, with the germ rather than with
the calyx, it determines the hypogynous insertion of the sta-
mina ; and consequently shows the necessity of disjoining these
plants from the perigynous order of Terebinthaceæ, with which
they have been associated. In this remark I rely on the maxim,
that
and certain Indian Terebinthacee. 361
that the presence of a podogynium always indicates an hypogy-
nous insertion * : for the nectarial receptacle of the stamina seems
to me to be clearly a distinct podogynium.
I have weighed on this point, because a new plant (Pegia
nitida), which I am about to describe as belonging to the group
under consideration, has traits which induced a distinguished
botanist, Dr. Francis Buchanan Hamilton, whom I consulted
shortly after making the delineation of it, to refer it to Chal-
cas, (a genus which might be revived for the reception of this
plant) ; and because I perceive an aflinity with it in a number
of species which Roxburgh placed under Amyris, and likewise
in one which Dr. Hamilton considered to be a Bergera, but
which appears on minute examination of the germ and mature
fruit, to be distinct from that genus and allied to Roxburgh’s
Amyrides. For the sake of rendering this quite evident, I shall
subjoin a particular description of the fruit of the true Bergera
(Kænig’s) copied from Roxburgh’s manuscripts ; the carpology
of that genus being yet unpublished. It will be seen that they
belong to distinct natural orders.
BuRSERA SERRATA. Wall.
Tape ly: Pues.
A very large tree, native of forests bordering on Bengal, near
Gwalpara and the Garrow hills; whence it was introduced by
seed into the Botanic Garden at Calcutta in 1808 by Dr. F. Bu-
chanan Hamilton ; and young plants in 1810 by Mr. R. Kyd.
The timber of this species is close-grained and hard ; and is
much esteemed and used for furniture by the inhabitants of
Asham. It is as tough as oak, and heavier.
Its vernacular name is Najor or Neyor.
* 4. Richard, Elem. Bot. 935.
9-442 The
362 Mr. CorEnnooxr on Boswellia
The arilliform pulp has a pleasant subacid taste, and, like the
skin, a weak scent of anise, of which the young leaves likewise
partake.
Trunk arboreous, straight. Bark gray, scabrous, studded with
oblong ochraceous specks; bursting when old. Branches
scattered, spreading. Young shoots, petioles, pedicels and
calyces, downy.
Leaves alternate, decussate, unevenly pinnate. Leaflets 3—5
pairs, with an odd one; broad-lanceolate, obtusely acu-
minate, serrulate ; the largest 5 to 6 inches long, and 2 to 3
broad.
Petioles round, thicker at the base, pubescent.
Stipules none.
Panicles axillary, shorter than the leaves, open.
Flowers very small, yellowish-green.
Bractes at the base of pedicels, solitary, ovate.
Perianth inferior, flattish, five-toothed, downy. Toothlets ob-
tuse.
Petals five, ovate to lanceolate, spreading, exteriorly downy,
longer than the stamina.
Nectary a crenulate, narrow fleshy ring, girding the base of the
germ.
Filaments ten, subulate, alternately shorter, inserted below the
nectarial ring. Anthers ovate, two-celled.
Germ ovate, downy, obsoletely five-angled, five-celled, with one
to two ovules in each cell, attached to the upper part of the
axis. Style very short. Stigma five-cornered.
Berry globular, obtuse, sitting on the enlarged pedicel: purple
with white dots: size of a damson: 1—3-celled.
Partition thick, dilated in the middle into a short, fleshy pla-
centa.
Pulp
and certain Indian Terebinthacee. 363
Pulp fibrous, arilliform, closely adherent to the shell of the py-
rene, especially to the umbilical chink.
Pyrene single in each mature cell, size of a cherry-stone, round-
ish, with gibbous back and flat belly ; greenish-yellow.
Shell stony, thick: swollen at the umbilical chink.
Seed solitary, oblong, concave on one side, convex on the
other.
Integument single, crustaceous, white: barely marked with the
rhaphe.
Perisperm none.
Embryo inverse, slightly bowed, greenish-white, brittle amy gda-
loid.
Cotyledons foliaceous, thin, intricately folded, chrysaloid. — Ra-
dicle superior, cylindric, obtuse, thick.
Plumule obscure.
Seminal leaves of the germinating plantule, ovate, three-lobed,
denticulate.
BoswELLIiA sERRATA. Rorb. C. As. Res. ix. p.377, cum tab.
Tas. V. Fig. 1.
=]
Germ superior, conical, three-sided, three-celled, with two ovules
in each cell attached to the top of the axis.
Style cylindric. Stigma three-lobed.
Capsule three-sided ; sides oval, three-celled, three-valved, open-
ing spontaneously at the edge ; valves smooth, hard, brown.
Seeds solitary ; the second ovule in each cell being abortive :
broad-cordate, with a fine membranaceous wing all around.
Perisperm none.
Embryo conform to the seed, inverse, pale-yellow. Cotyledons
intricately folded, multifid. Radicle superior, short, co-
nical.
PEGIA
304 Mr. CoLEBROOKE on Boswellia
Pecra C.
Essenr. Car. Cal. five-parted. Cor. pentapetalous, spread-
ing. Berry one-seeded.
Pecia niripa. C.
Indigenous in Silhet, where it blossoms towards the close of
the cold season, and ripens its seed in the middle of the hot. Its
name, in the vernacular dialect of the province, is Pégt.
Stem shrubby, said to be scandent ?
Leaves alternate, unevenly pinnate. Leaflets five to seven pairs,
with an odd one, gradually larger, subopposite, cordate,
acuminate, remotely serrate, chiefly on the anterior mar-
gin; posterior lobes small, entire. Young leaves covered
with down on both surfaces. Length of leaflets 2 to 3 inches :
breadth 1 to 11.
Petioles channelled on the upper edge, thickening at the base ;
villous. Petiolules very short.
Stipules none.
Panicles axillary and terminal, branched, ovate.
Peduncles villous.
Bractes at the base of pedicels, solitary ; ovate, villous.
Flowers pale green, with an agreeable odour; numerous, very
small.
Perianth inferior, five-parted, minute, persistent. Segments
round,
Petals five, oval, spreading.
Nectary a plano-concave, fleshy ring encompassing the germ,
and surrounded by the stamina inserted in its base.
Filaments ten, nearly the length of the corol, alternately shorter,
subulate. Anthers round, two-lobed.
Germ
and certain Indian Terebinthacee. 365
Germ superior, round, half immersed in the nectary. Séyle
short, conical. Stigma simple.
Berry globular, sitting on the permanent calyx ; black, size of a
currant, one-celled.
Pyrene solitary, oval, compressed, of a honey-colour, wrinkled.
Shell bony, fragile.
Seed solitary. Integument membranaceous, thin.
Perisperm none.
Embryo conform to the seed, white, inverse. Cotyledons oval,
turgid, large, almond-fleshy. adicle superior, minute,
roundish.
AMYRIS HEPTAPHYLLA. Rovb.
Tas. V. Fig. 2.
Native of mountains bordering on Silhet. Its leaves when
bruised smell strongly of anise.
Stem shrubby. Branches suberect. Bark smooth, dark-coloured.
Leaves alternate, unevenly pinnate. Leaflets alternate short-
petioluled ; three to four pairs, with an odd one : obliquely
lanceolate, entire, marked with transparent dots.
Panicles terminal ; ramifications trichotomous, divergent.
Flowers numerous, small, whitish-yellow.
Perianth inferior, small, five-toothed.
Petals four, oval, spreading, concave, inserted by claws in the
base of the nectary.
Nectary fleshy, contracted in the middle; the lower swelling
receiving the petals and stamina, the upper supporting the
germ.
Filaments eight, enlarged below, concave according to the con-
vexity of the nectary and germ, shorter than the corol.
Anthers oval.
Germ nearly square, crowned with four round glands, four-
celled,
366 Mr. CorrgsnookrE on Boswellia
celled, containing two ovules in each cell attached to the
axis. Style length of the stamina. Stigma truncated.
Berry oblong, pale straw-colour, marked with minute, greenish
glandular dots, one-celled.
Seed solitary, conform to the berry. IJntegument single, thin,
white.
Perisperm none.
Embryo inverse, straight. Cotyledons conform to the seed, pale
yellow, marked with small greenish dots. — Plumule two-
lobed Radicle oval, superior. — Rorzb. Mss.
AMYRIS PUNCTATA. Rovb.
l'as Ve Freed:
Native of Chittagong.
Trunk arboreous. Branches spreading. Bark smooth, ferru-
ginous.
Leaves alternate, unevenly pinnate. Leaflets alternate, short
petioluled; ten to twenty pairs, with an odd one ; obliquely
oblong, crenulate, marked with glandular dots: the largest
leaflets in the middle of the common rachis, 3 to 4 inches
long, 1 broad.
Stipules none.
Petioles and petiolules round, somewhat scabrous and hairy.
Panicles terminal, oval, erect. Peduncle and its subdivisions hairy.
Dractes minute.
Flowers numerous, small, white.
Perianth inferior, small, four-toothed.
Petals four, oval, spreading, concave, inserted by claws in the
base of the nectary.
Nectary, a large, fleshy receptacle, contracted at the middle,
receiving the petals and filaments inserted in the lower
swelling, and supporting the germ with the upper.
Filaments :
and certain Indian Terebinthacea. 367
Filaments eight, much enlarged below, concave within, accord-
ing to the convexity of the nectary and germ, shorter than
the corol. Anthers oval.
Germ four-sided, four-celled, with two or three ovules in each
cell, attached to the top of the axis. Style thick, four-
sided, straight, length of the stamina. Stigma truncated,
obsoletely four-pointed.
Berry oblong, size of a field-bean, smooth, dotted, of a pale
straw-colour, one-celled.
Seed solitary, conform to the berry.
Integument single, white, thin, tender.
Perisperm none.
Embryo inverse. Cotyledons conform to the seed, green, often
unequal, Plumule two-lobed, hairy. Radicle hemispherical,
hairy, inferior.—Roxb. Mss.
BERGERA INTEGERRIMA. Buch.
Indigenous in countries east of the Megna River in Bengal.
Trunk arboreous. Branches numerous.
Leaves alternate, unevenly pinnate. Leaflets subalternate, short-
petioluled, obliquely lanceolate, entire, waved, acuminate,
smooth above, villous underneath : exterior largest, 6 inches
long, 2 broad.
Petioles round, villous.
Corymbs terminal, decompound.
Flowers short-pedicelled, erect, numerous, white, emitting a
strong offensive smell.
Bractes very minute.
Perianth five-toothed.
Petals five, lanceolate, expanding.
Nectary a tleshy receptacle elevating the germ.
Stamina ten, alternately longer.
VOL. XV 3 B Germ
368 Mr. Corgnnooxr on Boswellia, $c.
Germ above, oval, five-celled, with two ovules in each cell,
attached to the upper end of the axis. Style clavate. Stig-
ma subrotund.
Berry size of a large pea, oval, yellow. rarely more than two-
seeded.
Seed solitary (sometimes two or more ripen) conform to the
berry.— Rob. Mss.
BrnGEna Kaowicrr. Linn. Mant. p. 5638. Roxb. Corom. ii.
p. 9. t. 112.
Tape V. Pag. 4.
Germ oval, a little compressed laterally, two-celled, containing
one ovule in each cell, attached from its middle to the
middle of the partition: a cellular enlargement above con-
taining a limpid liquid.
Berry obliquely oval, smooth, size of a black currant, purple.
marked with numerous pellucid cells ; one-celled, by abor-
tion of the second.
Seed solitary, conform to the berry. Integument single, white,
rather thin.
Perisperm none.
Embryo inverse, green. Cotyledons conform to the seed, notched
on the external side below the summit, and there united
with the neck of the embryo by the bottom of the fissure.
Plumule two-lobed. Radicle superior, cylindric, villous.—
Rorb. Mss.
EXPLA-
DIDAMDE (OHAAM e)
/ (Il.
We
\ - V "m qe A |
UA
=
CH Wy QUI AX LU VOS ume uma]
=
nte
Tu.
al xs
erie ZIMMER €)
J ( T
é
606
eot WE WL AY 2 veg MAT “sunt,
Figd
trans. Linn. Soc Nol XV. lab Vp. 369, 1
Méduelto se
— e . e
( 369 )
EXPLANATION OF THE FIGURES IN TAB. IV.
Fig. 1. Bursera serrata. |
a. Front view of a flower.
b. Back view of ditto.
c. À peduncle with ripe berries.
d. Transverse section of a three-seeded berry, exhibiting an
entire seed, a divided one, and the rudiment of a third.
e. A one-seeded berry, with part of the skin removed to
show the arilliform pulp.
f. Two pyrenes, exhibiting the external umbilicus.
2. Vertical section of a seed ;—natural size.
h. The same, magnified.
^.
Seed with its integument and rhaphe.
Embryo viewed from the lateral and ventral sides.
Aspect of the embryo from the ventral side ;—1magnified.
Germinating seed.
m. The same more advanced.
eM aS.
. : .
EXPLANATION OF THE FIGURES IN TAB. V.
Fig. 1. Boswellia serrata.
a. lransverse section of the germ ;
b. Vertical section of ditto ;
c. 'The entire capsule.
} both magnified.
d. A transverse section of the same.
e. A seed ;—the natural size.
f. The same, with the integuments of one side removed.
g. Vertical and transverse sections of the seed, exposing the
embryo ;—magnified.
h. The young plant, with its many-cleft cotyledons ex-
panded, and converted into seminal leaves ;—natural
size.
322 Fig.
o
Fig.
Fig.
So &o
. Vertical section of the same ;
» A berry.
Explanation of the Figures, $c.
. Amyris heptaphylla.
. A young germ with the calyx ;
. Vertical section of the germ ; magnified.
Transverse section of the same ;
. A berry.
. Transverse section of the same.
. Embryo with one of the cotyledons removed to
the plumule.
. Radicle separate, surmounted by the plumule.
. Amyris punctata.
Transverse section of the germ ;
; : magnified.
Vertical section of ditto ; } =
show
A berry with part of the covering removed to show the
arilliform pulp.
moved to show the plumule.
. Radicle separate, surmounted by the plumule.
Bergera Kænigu.
Transverse section of a germ;
magnified.
The same divided transversely.
. A berry with a portion of the pulp and a cotyledon re-
A cotyledon to show the notch on its external side.
. Radicle separate, surmounted by the plumule.
XIV
. The
XIV. The Natural History of Oiketicus*, a new and singular
Genus of Lepidoptera. By the Rev. Lansdown Guilding, B.A.
F.L.S.
Read June 6, 1826.
I pecame acquainted with the animals here described on my
return to the West Indies in 1817 : but though these interesting
creatures have been attentively studied since that period, I have
only within a few days been enabled to complete their history.
There appeared so much of novelty in the structure of their
females, that I was unwilling to present any notice on the sub-
ject to the Linnean Society till all doubts had been removed.
The larvæ being common on many of our trees, a considerable
number were bred ; but I was always disappointed in my expec-
tations of discovering the female insect. ‘The male at the stated
period made its appearance; but I never dreamt that its un-
wieldy and almost motionless partner was to be searched for in
the puparium, which it was destined never to desert. Judging
from other insects, I hastily imagined that the female pupa had
not been fully developed in consequence of the attacks of para-
sitic Ichneumonide. It was only by accident that a specimen
uncased after the rupture of the thoracic carina, cleared up the
mystery. When the pupa has slept the appointed time, the
animal still resident within the habitaculum formed by the
larva, opens the carina by the motion of its head, and prepares
to receive the winged male. Here again, another difficulty pre-
sented itself. I was unable to ascertain how the sexual union
* Nomen ab vixyrixds, qui habitaculum querere solet.
could
372 Rev. L. Gurr prNc on the Natural History of Oiketicus,
could take place: for there was no appearance of an opening at
the extremity of the puparium (Kirby), nor could I detect the
reproductive organs in the thoracic portion of the body, which
might have been approached znter nuptias. While engaged in
pressing and examining the male organs under the micro-
scope, I discovered the extensile extremity of the penis, ad-
mirably adapted by its extraordinary length and flexibility for
the sexual intercourse, which appears to terminate in the de-
struction of the male. It is highly improbable that the perfect
insects have been seen in. Europe; for no sooner has the male
arisen from his pupal slumber, than he begins, even before the
full expansion of his wings, to flutter about with so much vio-
lence that his beauty has commonly disappeared before the en-
tomologist can secure him. It is well known to the European
naturalist, that the females of several Lepidopterous insects are
nearly apterous: but I believe all at present described possess
the rudiments of wings and antennz, with perfect feet. The
female of Phalena antiqua of Linn., which I have often collected
when a boy, not only quits the folliculus, but, copula juncta, en-
joys with its partner the pleasures of the open fields. Here,
however, we have an animal which in its adult state 1s for ever
excluded from the light, and never even beholds the mate to
which it is indebted for its progeny. After impregnation, the
female begins to fill the bottom of its puparium with her ova
closely packed in the down rubbed from her body ; and having
performed this duty, either presses herself through the thoracic
carina, reduced to a shrivelled morsel of dried and scarcely ani-
mated skin, or dies within the case.
The young soon force their way out of the puparium which
had served for the defence of the ova, and spreading about the
tree (an innumerable host), prepare themselves an habitation
before their first repast.
Ordo.
LUS
~
we
a new and singular Genus of Lepidoptera.
Ordo. "LEPIDOPTERA.
Tribus. NOCTURNA. Lat.
Genus. OIKETICUS.
Mas. Os simplicissimum, //ngua aut nulla aut omnino intra os
retracta.
Labium partitum, rami apice squamosissimi.
Abdomen extensile, elongatum.
Glans penis longitudine corporis, extensilis, non retrac-
tilis? spinulis recurvis sparsis.
Fœm. Imago semper pupicola, obesa, segnis, aptera.
Aures? due frontales, excavate, indistinctæ.
Os simplicissimum.
Lingua nulla.
Palpi nulli.
Antenne nullo.
Pedes spurii, brevissimi, apice truncati.
Unguiculi nulli.
Thorav vix distinctus, segmentis quatuor? cute perga-
menea tectus.
Ovarium ferè magnitudine abdominis.
Pupa subcoarctata, carind thoracicd superiori mox de-
hiscente ad marem recipiendum.
Larva obesa, pilis sparsis. Mandibule validissime. Ocelli plu-
rimi. Labrum emarginatum. Antennule setigeræ. Palpi
duo apice appendiculati. Pedes sex validissimi ad januam
claudendam (hostibus appropinquantibus). Propedes de-
cem, duobus analibus. Colus (instrumentum textorium)
extensilis, seta utrinque unicá, apice perforatus ; dum pas-
cit animal in fossulà gutturali reconditus.
Habitaculum
374 Rev. L. GurrpiNo on the Natural History of Oiketicus,
Habitaculum* cylindraceum, utrinque apertum, filis textum et
ramulis foliisque morsis munitum. Larva metamorphosin
subiens (apice semper aperto ad fugam imaginis masculæ,
et ad nuptias fæminæ), januam clausam filis ad ramum de-
ligat, capiteque prono somnum expectat.
Pupa mascula fronte productà adminiculis analibus duobus ma-
joribus incurvis: segmentis abdominalibus serie unica spi-
nularum incurvarum, unicá recurvarum.
Regio. India Occidentalis.
Genus affine Zeuzeræ? Lat.
Typus genericus. Oiketicus Kirbyi, Nobis.
Orketicus KinnByr.
4. O. ater purpureo-nitens, alis superioribus elongatis: infe-
rioribus angulo anali subproducto ; antennis dimidiato-
pectinatis apice serrulatis : tarsis rufescentibus : ore pal-
lido.
?. O. oculis rufescentibus : thoracis squamis corporisque squa-
mulis vitellinis: collo anoque brunneo lanuginosis.
Larva obesa pedibus atris latissimis, propedum musculus retrac-
torius apice ferrugineo, spinulæ prehensoriæ atre recurve.
Corpus parce pilosum segmentis duodecim, lateribus pro-
minulis: anterioribus tribus capiteque rotundato flavescen-
* The habitaculum or dwelling of the larva of insects must be distinguished from the
folliculus or cocoon, which is solely prepared for the defence of the pupa, and closed on
all sides. It is observed in the Tineadæ and other insects, but is commonly of a flat-
tened shape. In one Trichopterous ? species known to me it is flattened ovate, open at
the ends, and fixed to rocks in rivers. In a species of the family Botydæ which I have
lately detected in vast numbers in our mountain streams, it is flattened, irregular, and
attached by the margin and two pillar-like processes to the rocks below the surface of
the water. It possesses a semicircular janua for the escape of the imago, and is fenes-
trated on the margin. The larva of this curious moth breathes by tracheal branchiæ ! !
tibus,
a new and singular Genus of Lepidoptera. 375
tibus, brunneo pictis: reliquis obscuro-lividis. Trachee
ferrugineæ. | Raro Ichneumonibus infestatur.
Ovum rotundatum, parvum, flavicans.
Pullus caudà erectà, mox horizontali propter habitaculi pondus.
Ab ovo erumpens extemplo folia scindit, filisque emissis
domum format, formicas timens omnivoras feroces.
Habitaculum maximum, fcemininum majus.
Larva exterrita januam bursiformem mandibulis pedibusque ci-
tissime claudit, ac sic filis paucis suspensa tutam manet.
Pupa mascula elongata brunnea, segmentis abdominalibus fer-
rugineo circulatis, fronte subcarinata, dorso bisetoso.
Pupa feminina concolor, obesa, adminiculis analibus asperis,
segmento unico spinuloso, ceteris margine crenatis.
Habitat hortorum pestis in Terminaliis aliisque arboribus vorax.
In honorem amici Gi. Kirby, Soc. Reg. et Linn. Socii, Ento-
mologorum Angli: ducis indefessi, oculatissimi.
OrkEgrIcus MacrzEzaAYri.
3. O. niger, alis latis rotundatis; antennis totis pectinatis :
pene ferrugineo.
?. O. flavescens, flavo lanuginosa.
Larva cauda semper erecta: segmentis tribus anterioribus tho-
racicis, capiteque flavis brunneo pictis; reliquis obscuris,
verrucis elevatis pallidis sparsis.
Var. 8. pallidior.
Pupa mascula fronte productá, segmentis antice sordidè-rufes-
centibus.
Pupa feminina vitellina, fasciis quinque nigris, ano simplici.
Habitat larva inter ramos truncosque vetustos vix noxia: habi-
taculum spinulis lichenibus pulchré nonnunquam decorans.
l'ertia species ni fallor mox describenda.
VOL. XV. 9c Amico
376 Rev. L. GurzpiNG on the Natural History of Oiketicus.
Amico G°. S. MacLeay, Soc. Linn. Socio, nature scrutatori
doctissimo,—interpreti celeberrimo, hæcce species novi
generis meritó dicatur.
Fig. 1,
Fig. 2.
e
Mec
Qt
im
P
-
'ga 0e O9 08°
T
zi
ya
19.
m
4
-
^
enel KO
{
Fig. 1.
Fig. 1a.
EXPLICATIO TABULARUM.
Tas. VI.
Oiketicus Kirbyi mas paululum auctus. a. ‘Tarsus.
Penis glande longissimo, spinulis recurvis tectus ad
arctiorem copulam. 0. Penis lamella superne vise.
c. Penis corpus corneum. d. Penis infernè visus
cum lamellis. e. Lamella lateralis cum appendice
hirsuta.
Caput auctum palpis vi reclinatis. a. Antenna aucta.
Magnitudo naturalis.
Pupa mascula aucta. a. Pars auctus cum duplici
serie spinularum dorsalium.
Ale cum fibula humerali in situ.
Foemina magnitudine naturali. a. Caput. b. Oculus*.
Eadem ad latus visa. a. Pes auctus.
. 8.8.8. Oviductus.
Pupa fœminina. «a. Spinule. b. Carina thoracica.
c. Facies.
Puparii sectio ovis repleti.
Tas. VII.
Ova magnitudine naturali et aucta.
Ova immatura, ovario extracta
* In a single specimen something like the rudiments of antennæ were visible beneath
the eyes, as in this figure,
Fig.
Lansdown Gulding del*
ut
S
nmn
Lansdown Ourctding
tee
4f, %&
LUTEA
eA
AA
oR,
{ube
vexedp
p
72
CLP .
Ke
#
ta) À
m»
/ f
t ds "77 7f. /
QUEE.
Marley
Tiers Linn St
e V4 AV Tab dp 377.
Es eae
"1g. 4.
om
"ig. 6.
"
US
E Hj lH
Je
(je)
Je
Ge ge ge ge 0
~
ig. 9.
Ig. 10.
g. Lae
i». 12, 1
Explücatio Tabularum. 377
Larva junior aucta.
Eadem habitaculo nuper ædificato.
Habitaculum maris adulti ante metamorphosin ramo
filis arcté affixum.
Larva foeminina serpens.
Eadem nuda. a. Propes auctus cum musculo retrac-
torio. 6. Spinulæ ad latus vise.
Caput auctum. a. Ocelli. 6. Labrum. c. Anten-
nuke. d. Palpi. e. Colus. f. Mandibulæ.
Labrum auctum, abscissum.
Antennula abscissa.
Colus et (palpus a). 6. Coli articulus extimus tubi-
formis. c. Filum emissum.
3. Mandibulæ utrinque vise.
O1xeticus MacrEarvr.
Tas. VIII:
Mas paululum auctus.
Antenna cum dente unico abscisso.
Magnitudo naturalis.
Pupa mascula. a. Segmenta spinulosa. ^. Longi-
tudo naturalis.
Alæ cum fibulá in situ.
Pupa Fceminina aucta, utrinque visa.
Foemina natura aucta.
Larva junior.
Larva aucta.
Habitaculum auctum.
Idem clausum et suspensum, magnitudine naturali.
Ova magnitudine naturali, et aucta.
3 09 XV. Obser-
( 378 )
XV. Observations on the Trachee of Birds; with Descriptions
and Representations of several not hitherto figured. By William
Farrell, Esq:., FOES.
Read February 6, 1827.
Tue various qualities and powers of voice exhibited by birds
in general, and the diversity of structure known to exist in the
tracheæ or windpipes of different species in some particular
families, have justly excited the attention and remarks of several
writers. Dr. Latham, in the 4th volume of the Transactions of
this Society, has furnished descriptions and illustrations of the
peculiarities of this part in some of those species most remark-
able for their deviation from the common form ; and to his paper
I shall occasionally take the liberty to refer.
To other sources ornithologists are indebted for delineations
not included in the essay before mentioned: and the present
communication, accompanied by drawings of several tracheæ
not hitherto figured, will, 1 trust, be considered an acceptable
addition on this interesting subject.
The peculiarities in the form, as well as in the composition, of
the several parts of the windpipes of birds, having already been
described under the different names of the glottis, or superior
larynx; the tube; the bone of divarication, with its cross-bone
forming the lower end of the tube ; and lastly, the bronchia, by
which the bone of divarication is connected with the lungs ;—I
shall proceed at once to the descriptions of those new forms of
tracheæ which are the subject of the present communication.
The
Mr. Yarrect on the Trachee of Birds. 379
The Crested Pintado of Africa, the Numida cristata of Pallas,
described and figured in Dr. Latham’s General Synopsis, vol. iv.
p. 638, and in his General History, vol. viii. p. 148, exhibits
an extraordinary structure, to which I shall first advert. "That
part of the os furcula, or merrythought as it is more commonly
called, which in our common Guinea Fowl consists of a single flat
blade descending from the apex or junction of the two branches,
is in this bird double, one side appearing to extend from each
branch; it is also somewhat circular, and united at the edges
throughout the greater part of the circumference, forming a
socket or pouch. ‘The trachea, quitting the neck of the bird at
the lower curve of the cervical vertebræ, passes downward be-
tween the branches of the furcula, enters the pouch at the lower
part of the orifice, traverses the inner surface, and issuing from
the upper part, rises with a circular sweep, upward and forward
to the projecting anterior portion of the sternum, over which it
turns backward to pass into the body ; guided in its course by
two semi-transparent membranes, stretching from this projection
of the sternum to the head of each clavicle.
If a line be drawn from the commencement of the trachea, as
shown in the figure, to the bronchia, passing between the sca-
pulæ, it will describe the situation of the trachea in our common
domestic Guinea Fowl, and the variation of the crested bird will
appear the more extraordinary by comparison.
For the opportunity of figuring this singular structure, | am
indebted to the liberality of the Board of Curators of the Royal
College of Surgeons, and to the friendship of Mr. W. Clift, jun.,
for a beautiful drawing from a specimen in the Museum of the
College, the only one I ever had an opportunity of examining.
From that drawing the one now annexed is a close copy.
M. Temminck has described this bird in his Histoire Natu-
relle Générale des Pigeons et des Gallinacés, vol. ii. p. 448,
under
380 Mr. YARRELL on the Tracheæ of Birds.
under the name of Peintade Cornal, but does not mention the
anatomical structure.
Dr. Parsons has given a representation of the trachea of the
Demoiselle (Ardea Virgo of Linn:us) in the 56th volume of the
Philosophical Transactions, from which Dr. Latham copied his
figure: but as the true character of this trachea is less perfectly
understood by a detached figure, and as this figure moreover is
somewhat incorrect in the form of the bronchia, I have ventured
to add a drawing of the sternum of this bird with its trachea in
situ, the better to compare it with the structure of the same part
in the very rare bird that will follow. In the present instance,
the trachea, quitting the neck passes downward between the
branches of the furcula toward the anterior edge of the keel,
which is hollowed out to receive it; into this groove, formed by
the separation of the sides of the keel, the trachea passes, and is
firmly bound therein by cellular membrane. In the figure an-
nexed, a small portion of one edge of the keel is removed, to
show the depth of the insertion. The usual form of furcula
does not prevail in this bird: it is not here, as in most others, a
detached bone, but has the point of union of the two branches
firmly ossified to the keel, or may be considered as a prolonga-
tion of the keel itself, extended to the head of each clavicle, and
affording a firm support to the wing. ‘The peculiar formation of
the trachea, and its insertion within the keel of the sternum in
this bird, may be considered as exhibiting the commencement of
that structure, which, with some modification in a second spe-
cies, is carried to its greatest extent in the Cranes.
One example only of the rare bird above mentioned appears
to have been brought alive to this country; and this specimen
will be found described and figured by Mr. Vigors in the second
volume of the Zoological Journal, page 234, under the name of
Anthropoides Stanleyanus. It is fortunate for science, that the
notice
Mr. YARRELL on the Tracheæ of Birds. 381
notice of this new and interesting species should have been fur-
nished by a gentleman so eminently distinguished for his acquire-
ments as a naturalist and a scholar. Possessing as this bird does in
a great degree the external characters of the Demoiselle, it also
bears some resemblance to it in its anatomical structure. ‘The
trachea, quitting the direction of the vertebra of the neck at the
lower part, passes downward and backward between the branches
of the furcula till it reaches the anterior edge of the keel ; it then
turns upward into a groove formed for its reception, and being
suddenly reflected forward and downward, traverses the project-
ing portion of the sternum, and passes backward to the lungs, as
shown in the annexed representation. The furcula, it will be
observed, is similar to that of the Demoiselle.
Dr. Latham's figure of the sternum and trachea of the Com-
mon Crane (Ardea Grus) being referred to, and compared with
the same parts in the Demoiselle and the Stanley Crane, it will
be perceived, that the insertion of the windpipe in the latter bird
is upward, that of the Demoiselle principally backward, while
that of the Common Crane will be found to be a compound of
both, combining the upward inclination of the one with the
backward insertion of the other; and the depth of this insertion
within the keel appears to depend on the age of the bird rather
than the sex. In a very old female, of which I prepared the
bones, the insertion is carried to the utmost extent that the size
of the sternum will admit. In a second specimen of a younger
male bird, the insertion was not so deep as in that last men-
tioned, but still much more so than in the sternum represented
by Dr. Latham : and in the valuable and extensive collection of
Joshua Brookes, Esq., to which that gentleman very kindly
allows me access, there is a skeleton of the Common Crane,—
evidently a young bird by the state of the bones,—in which the
insertion is not carried so far as in the representation alluded to :
but
382 Mr. YAnRELL on the Trachee of Birds.
but in a male and female of the same age, the greater depth of
insertion may occur in the male, as stated in Dr. Latham's
paper. The furcula and bronchia also of the Common Crane
exactly resemble those of the Demoiselle and Stanley Crane, as
might be expected in birds so nearly allied. Before quitting
the subject of the AntAropoides Stanleyanus, it is necessary I
should state, that this very rare bird passed when dead into
the possession of Mr. Leadbeater, to whose liberality I am in-
debted for the opportunity afforded me of preparing and figuring
part of the bones, and to whom I with pleasure acknowledge
my obligations for many other interesting objects of investi-
cation. The Indian Crane, Ardea Antigone of Linneus, has the
same form of trachea and sternum as the Common Crane of
Europe, Ardea Grus.
The Black Swan of New Holland, the Anas Atrata of Lin-
nius and others, gives me an opportunity of showing a structure
intermediate between the two most admired species of the genus
Cygnus of Cuvier, the common mute Swan, the stately orna-
ment of our lakes and rivers, and our more scarce winter visitor
the Hooper.
In the Black Swan the trachea quits the neck at the bottom,
and descends to the centre circular portion of the furcula, to
which bone it is firmly bound by a tough membrane; tlie re-
maining portion then rises over the front of the breast bone
between the clavicles, and passes backward to the lungs, the
last portion of the tube immediately preceding the bone of
divarication being flattened horizontally. The form of the tra-
chea in our common Swan, in which it follows the neck without
deviation, being remembered, and Dr. Latham's figure of the
wild Swan referred to, it will be observed, that the Black Swan
exhibits an interesting link between the two, and has not, that I
am aware, been either described or figured.
The
Mr. YARRELL on the Trachee of Birds. 383
Two opportunities having lately occurred to me of examining
the structure of the Semipalmated Goose (Anas semipalmata)
of Dr. Latham, who in his Synopsis and General History has
given a figure of the bird and its trachea, I trust that the anato-
mical peculiarities I shall be able to exhibit as belonging to this
bird beyond those already described, will be a sufficient reason
for adding two representations of parts of both the birds above
noticed, with some observations on each; premising, that the
situation of the specimen referred to by Dr. Latham, that of a
preparation in the collection of Mr. Heaviside, and the addi-
tional circumstance of two male birds of the same species pre-
senting two decidedly different conformations of the same organ,
will sufticiently account for the difference in the two statements.
Tas. XIII. is an exact representation of the form of the
trachea in the first male of the two specimens I examined. It
was situated on the outside of the left pectoral muscle, under
the skin, and extended the whole length of the side, sufticiently
raised under the wing that respiration would not be impeded
when the bird rested with its breast on the ground; the parallel
tubes being firmly attached both to the muscle and the skin by
cellular tissue. These parallel tubes are placed in a more ver-
tical position in the drawing than when attached to the bird, in
order to bring the whole of them into view. The additional
peculiarity of structure to be observed in this bird is the diffe-
rent formation of one clavicle as compared with the other. The
clavicle on the right side of the bird is of the usual character ;
but that on the left is both shorter and wider, having an aperture
about the middle, the sides diverging, with a projecting point on
the inner side, to which the tube of the trachea is firmly attached
about two inches above the bone of divarication. The trachea
lying on the left side of the bird, the lower portion of the tube
in its passage to the lungs crosses the left branch of the fur-
VOL. XV. 3 D cula
384 Mr. YARRELL on the Tracheæ of Birds.
cula at a right angle; but becoming attached to this projec-
tion of the clavicle, receives from the point described its cen-
trical direction into the body. ‘The whole length of the wind-
pipe in this bird is 4 feet 8 inches.
T'as. XIV. is a representation of the trachea of the second
bird before referred to, and was also a male. It will be observed
to want part of the interesting character of the first specimen,
which the particular direction occupied by the leading portion
of the tube in this second renders unnecessary : but the enlarged
clavicle in this bird is on the right side, having a similar projec-
tion on its inner surface, forming a point of attachment for the
tube, and performing the same office as in the other instance.
It will remain for future investigation to show, whether in those
male birds possessing the extra convolutions of the trachea, the
enlarged clavicle is uniformly on the left side, and vice versá.
Four species of birds belonging to the Gallinaceous tribe have
been figured by Dr. Latham as possessing convolutions of the
trachea of various extent on the outside of the pectoral muscles :
the same parts have also been represented on a larger scale by
Mons. T'emminck in his Histoire Naturelle Générale des Pigeons
et des Gallinacés, and are described as possessing voices exceed-
ingly harsh and loud. In this particular the Semipalmated Goose
agrees perfectly ; and in those species of Cranes and Swans
already referred to, the power and depth of tone will be found
to increase with the elongation of the tube.
Of the true physiology of these variations in form and length-
ened convolutions little is known: that a connection exists be-
tween the sexual organs and those of the voice many proofs might.
be adduced ; and it is not the least singular property of these sin-
gularly formed windpipes, that the more complicated the struc-
ture of the tube, the more disagreeable is the sound of the voice,
the simple forms belonging to our most delightful song-birds.
The
Mr. Yarre wt on the Trachee of Birds. 385
The different species of Geese considered British, present
nothing remarkable in their tracheæ, the Egyptian Goose alone
excepted. ‘The male of this bird possesses a bony enlargement
at the bottom of its windpipe, in size equal to that marked (a) in
Tas. XV. Systematic authors seem to agree in placing this
bird at the bottom of the list of the Geese, where it appears to
occupy its proper situation.
Combining as it does some of the characters common to those
birds and the true Ducks, it becomes a very natural link between
them; and with a few observations on an arrangement of the
British species of the latter portion of this family, founded upon
internal as well as external conformation, I shall close this
paper.
'The first division of true Ducks will contain the Shielduck,
Muscovy, Wild Duck, Gadwall, Shoveler, Pintail, Wigeon,
Bimaculated Duck, Garganey, and 'Teal,——all of which will be
found to have the following characters in common. Externally
they exhibit considerable length of neck: the wings are also
long, reaching to the end of the tail ; the tarsi somewhat round ;
the hind-toe free, or having no pendent lobe. In habits they
may be stated generally as frequenting fresh-water, but passing
much of their time on land, feeding in ditches and about the
shallow edges of pools on aquatic plants, insects, worms, and
occasionally fish, taking their food at or near the surface ; pos-
sessing great powers of flight, but seldom diving, unless pur-
sued. Of their internal soft parts, the stomach is in the greatest
degree muscular, forming a true gizzard ; the intestines long, the
cecal appendages from six to nine inches in length in the larger
birds, and decreasing only in proportion to the size of the spe-
cies. Of the bones it may be observed, that the ribs are short,
extending but little beyond the line of the posterior edge of the
sternum ; the keel of the breast-bone deep, affording great ex-
3 D 2 tent
386 Mr. Y ARRELL on the Trachee of Birds.
tent of surface for the insertion of large and powerful pectoral
muscles ; the enlargement at the bottom of the trachea in all of
them is of bone only. ‘The Wild Duck may be considered the
type of this division.
The Eider Duck, King Duck, Velvet Duck, and Scoter, pos-
sessing some characters common to the preceding class, and
others belonging to that next in succession, appear to supply the
link between these two divisions. I regret that the extreme
rarity of three of the species last named has hitherto prevented
iny obtaining any examination beyond that afforded by the exter-
nal part of preserved specimens in collections ; and I am there-
fore unable to state their comparative structure.
The next division of true Ducks includes in the following or-
der the Red-crested, the Pochard, Ferruginous, Scaup, ‘Tufted,
Harlequin, Long-tailed, and Golden Eye; and their general
distinctions, internal as well as external, compared with those
of the birds of the first division, will be found of an opposite
character. Externally they exhibit the neck and wings short,
the latter only reaching to the origin of the tail-feathers ; the
tarsi short and compressed; the hind-toe lobated, and an ex-
tended web to the inner toe. They frequent the sea, or the
deep parts of the largest fresh-water lakes, and have been
called oceanic Ducks; seldom seen on land; their walk em-
barrassed from the backward position of the legs, but dive
constantly and with great facility, taking their prey at various
depths below the surface; their food finned and shell-fish, ma-
rine insects, but little or no vegetable production ; their powers
of flight moderate. Of their soft parts, the oesophagus is capable
of great dilatation; the stomach is a muscular gizzard; but
the internal cavity increases in size, those of the Long-tailed
Duck and Golden Eye most resembling the stomach of the
Mergansers ; the intestines and cæcal appendages are shorter,
the
Mr. YannELL on the Trachee of Birds. 387
the latter diminishing from six inches in the first to four and
a half in the Tufted Duck, three inches in the Long-tailed,
and but two in the Golden Eye. ‘The ribs of the birds of this
division are elongated; the keel of the breast-bone gradually
decreases in depth; the position of the wings is more forward,
the legs placed further back. The tracheæ of these Ducks
are particularly distinguished from those of the others by the
enlargement at the bottom of the tube being covered with a
delicate membrane, supported by slender portions of bone ; the
trachea of the Red-crested Duck (T'as. XV. e.) is an example
of this form, and may be considered the type of this divi-
sion. As the Egyptian Goose has in this arrangement been
considered the link between the Geese and the first division
of the true Ducks, from its possessing, with the characters
of the former, the bony enlargement of the trachea com-
mon to the latter; and the Velvet Duck, for similar reasons,
supplying the link between the two divisions of true Ducks,
possessing, among other characters, an altered form of the
bony enlargement of the trachea of one, with the lobated
toe of the other; so the Golden Eye, the last of the series,
appears to complete the arrangement, by exhibiting some of
the characters found in the Mergansers, which are next in suc-
cession. ‘The first point of similarity is in the elongated feathers
on the top of the head, forming a crest: they agree also in the
shape of the sternum, and a particular extension of its posterior
edge, becoming an ensiform process, the appearance of which
in the Goosander is represented in Tas. XV. marked (2):
and this extension of the edge of the breast-bone prevails in
the species of the genera Colymbus, Alca, and Uria; and with
the elongation of the ribs observable in all good salt-water
Divers, seems intended as a protection to the important viscera
of the abdomen, and enables them to resist pressure when below
the
388 Mr. YarRrELL on the Tracheæ of Birds.
the surface. In its stomach, intestines, and cæcal appendages,
the Golden Eye is also intermediate, the latter being only
two inches in length. In the Goosander these appendages are
three inches ; but the size of the bird being considered, reduces
them on a comparative estimate to less than two: in the Red-
breasted Merganser they are but one inch ; the Smew is without
any. In the form of its trachea, the Golden Eye more closely
resembles the Mergansers than that of any other Duck, by the
enlargement in the tube, and in the shape of the labyrinth, as a
reference to Dr. Latham’s representations will show. ‘Thus the
whole of the numerous species of the Anatidæ appear to descend
to the more perfect water-birds by gradations, but with well-
marked divisions throughout.
How far I am correct in an arrangement not strictly in ac-
cordance with the published systems of ornithologists, I must
leave to better judges to determine; assuming, however, that
an arrangement will be the more natural according to the pro-
portion in which it combines ascertained habits, external cha-
racters, and anatomical structure *.
* The following extract is made from the 68th number of Mons. Temminck's
Planches Coloriées, recently received in this country, Article 406.
HYDROBATES LOBATUS, Temm.
* Nous avons cru nécessaire de separer des canards proprement dits, et de réunir
sous la dénomination mentionnée, toutes ces espéces à doigt postérieur garni d'un
rudiment de membrane, vu que le squelette de ces oiseaux nous oflre des différences
marquées et constantes ; que leur maniere de vivre et le choix des alimens ne sont pas
les mémes que chez les canards à doigt postérieur lisse, et que des caracteres faciles à
saisir fournissent de trés-bons moyens pour établir la différence générique entre ces
o
deux groupes. Nous renvoyons tous les détails sur l'organisation et les mœurs à l'ar-
ticle contenant les généralités et l'Index du genre Hydrobate.”
The description of the generic characters and other peculiarities has not yet ap-
peared.
EXPLA-
eA supp EPA Dopey mper Diep ded Tg
OLE PPE URL AX 00d 009 UT suey
ff)
qu mnsüu PQ payers sy
Boye Loue à pp no LT
PUPA T
TEN
CULA
b mw d d {
Vern
vr SIM acm ome qom rms Sd e 1 T
"AA
D:
BB burercel t
( 389 )
EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES.
Tas. IX.
Sternum and ‘Trachea of the Crested Pintado ( Numida cristata
Linn.).
a. Portion of the tube of the trachea, passing downward to
the pouch and afterwards to b. the bone of divarication
from which the bronchiz arise.
c. c. The branches of the furcula. d. The pouch or socket.
e. The head of the clavicle. f. The junction of the scapula
with the clavicle, forming a cavity to receive the head
of the humerus. e. e. The scapule.
h. Projecting anterior portion of the sternum. 7.7.7.7. The
ribs.
k.k. Membranous portion of the sternum, common to the Gal-
linaceous tribe.
l.l. The keel or crest.
as. X.
Sternum and 'Trachea of the Demoiselle (Ardea Virgo Linn.).
a. A small portion of the keel removed, to show the depth of
the insertion.
LAB XI
Sternum and Trachea of the Stanley Crane (Anthropoides Stan-
leyanus Vigors). Male.
Pan; XLE
Sternum and ‘Trachea of the Black Swan (Anas atrata Linn.).
a. The depression in the tube, at the part preceding the bone
of divarication.
TAR:
390 Explanation of the Plates.
Tas. XIII.
Trachea and Clavicles of the Semipalmated Goose (Anas semi-
palmata Lath.), one-third less than the natural size.
Male.—a.a. Convolutions of the trachea not found in the second
specimen (tab. 14.). 6. Right clavicle, common form.
c. Left clavicle, enlarged.
d. Projecting point for the attachment of the tube of the
trachea.
e.e. Cavities to receive the head of each humerus. f. f. Aper-
ture formed by the junction of the furcula, clavicle and
scapula, through which passes the tendon of the second
pectoral muscle (levator ale) to be inserted on the upper
part of the humerus.
Tas. XIV.
‘Trachea and Clavicles of the Semipalmated Goose (Anas semi-
palmata Lath.), one-third less than the natural size.
Male.
a.d. Part of the sternum. 06. Left clavicle, common
form.
c. Right clavicle, enlarged. 4. Projecting point for the at-
tachment of the tube of the trachea.
e.e. Cavities to receive the head of each humerus. f.f. Aper-
ture formed by the junction of the furcula, clavicle and
scapula, through which passes the tendon of the second
pectoral muscle (levator ale) to be inserted on the upper
part of the humerus.
Tas. XV.
a. Part of the trachea of the Muscovy Duck (Anas Moschata
Linn.).
b. Free hind-toe of the Ducks of the first division.
c.d. Lower
Explanation of the Plates. 391
Lower portion of the trachea of the King Duck (Anas spec-
tabilis Linn.) in two points of view, taken by permission
from a specimen in the collection of Joshua Brookes,
Esq., not hitherto figured.
Trachea of the Red-crested Duck (Anas rufina Pallas), not
hitherto figured.
Lobated hind-toe of the Ducks forming the second di-
vision.
Ensiform process of the sternum in the Goosander (Mer-
gus Merganser Linn.).
. Trachea of the Goosander. "The representations referred
to by the letters a. e. and k. are one-third less than the
natural size. All the rest are of the natural size.
VOR. SV. 3E XVI. On
( 392 )
XVI. On two new Genera of Land Tortoises. By Thomas Bell,
Esq., F.L.S. Communicated by the Zoological Club of the
Linnean Society.
Read March 6, 1827.
Ix a monograph of the * Freshwater Tortoises having a move-
able Sternum,” published in the first volume of the Zoological
Journal, | took occasion to remark, that it is in the genus Terra-
pene, and especially in those species which had been confounded
by authors under the trivial name c/ausa, that we must look for
the intermediate affinities by which the Freshwater Tortoises are
connected with those which inhabit the land. These relations,
however, are such as to constitute them a group of the family
Emydidæ or true Freshwater Tortoises, notwithstanding their
habits and structure approach in a certain degree to those of
the Testudinide or Land Tortoises : and I sought in vain amongst
the known species of the latter family for the slightest approach
to such a similarity of structure as should point out a relation to
the former.
About two years since, however, I obtained a living specimen
of a new species of Tortoise (Kinixys castanea of the present
communication), which appeared to possess in several particu-
lars the relations of which I was in search. In the depressed
form and remarkable lateral expansion of the shell, it exhibits
an evident approach to the form of the shell in the genus Emys,
whilst the size of the openings for the passage of the feet indi-
cate an extraordinary facility and extent of motion. I find con-
sequently,
Mr. BELL on two new Genera of Land Tortoises. 393
sequently, that in accordance with this structure, its movements
are by far more active than those of any other Land Tortoise I
have seen; and that although the feet retain the clavated form
belonging to the Testudinide, yet this is so much modified as to
show a marked approach to the flattened, palmated conformation
of those of the Emydide, whilst the claws are observed to assume
somewhat of the length and sharpness which characterize the
Freshwater family. These evident affinities to the latter group
are remarkably strengthened by a peculiarity of structure in the
dorsum or upper bony shell, which is divided into two portions,
the posterior of which is moveable, and capable of being brought
into actual contact with the posterior margin of the sternum, so
as completely to protect the hinder feet and tail when they are
withdrawn within the shell; or, by relaxing the muscles which
had thus closed the box, to allow of its being opened to the ex-
tent of from one-half to three-fourths of an inch. This singular
capability of motion is produced by the absence of any bony
union between the fifth and sixth ribs, which are only connected
by means of an elastic ligamentous substance. I have since
become possessed of several shells of this species, in all the older
specimens of which, that part of the inferior margin of the upper
shell which is opposed to the edge of the sternum, is actually
eroded by the force with which it has been continually brought
into contact with it.
Although the situation of the hinge I have described, and the
part to which the office is assigned of closing the shell, are dif-
ferent in the two groups, there is still, in the fact of a peculiar
structure being formed for this specific purpose, a relation be-
tween them, which, conjointly with the other affinities of con-
formation to which I have alluded, appear to me to justify the
view I have taken of them, as forming the two links by which the
families are connected.
3E 2 Some
394 = Mr. Bezz on two new Genera of Land Tortoises.
Some time after I had received the living specimen of which
I have spoken, my friend Mr. J. E. Gray showed me two spe-
cimens of another species, very closely allied to the former, and
having exactly the same peculiarity of structure. These were
presented by Sir Everard Home to the British Museum, and
have received from Mr. Gray the specific name of Homeana. 1
have now in my collection a third specimen of the latter species.
To the genus thus constituted, I have applied the name Ki-
NIXYS, from zo£o moveo, and iévs lumbus.
The other genus, which it is the object of this paper to de-
scribe, possesses also one peculiarity which is interesting in a
similar point of view, as exhibiting a further aflinity, or possibly
only an analogical relation, to the Box Tortoises, although itself
strictly belonging to the terrestrial family. From a careful ex-
amination of the Tortoises with a moveable sternum, and a com-
parison of them with every other group, I was convinced that
wherever either of the transverse sutures of the bones composing
the sternum is exactly adapted to the transverse division of the
sternal scuta, there is no bony union of the two portions, and
the moveable sternum consequently exists; and that such a
structure could be thus ascertained, even in dried specimens,
where the parts had become completely fixed.
This opinion I was led for a time to consider erroneous, in
consequence of examining the shell of a new species of Tortoise,
evidently of the terrestrial form, and belonging therefore to the
Testudinide. This specimen had lost the anterior lobe of the
sternum ; and from the appearance of the fracture, it was obvi-
ous that the suture of the bone and the junction of the humeral
and pectoral plates had existed exactly at the same line: and as
no such structure as that of a moveable portion of the sternum
had ever been found to belong to any Tortoise of a similar ge-
neral conformation, I believed that this fact was probably fatal
to
Tivns. Linn. Noe. Vol. XV. Tah A7 yp IRD
Pvxis arachnoides
FDC Nowerhy del ef nnl].
Mr. BELL on two new Genera of Land Tortoises. — 395
to my former theory. ‘The possession at length of a specimen
of the same species, in which the sternum was uninjured, con-
firmed its truth, however, by exhibiting a perfect Jand Tortoise
with the anterior lobe of the sternum moveable, and capable of
as accurately closing the shell, as in any species of the fresh-
water Box 'Tortoises.
This peculiarity, so unexpected in the Land Tortoises, ap-
pears to be sufficiently important, connected as it is with a
remarkable modification of the muscular system, to require a
distinct generic appellation, which I propose to supply by the
name Pyxis.
The importance of such species as form a passage from one
group to another, and the aftinities of which serve to indicate
the relations whereby the different groups are connected, will
perhaps be a suflicient excuse for my having dwelt so long on
the minute circumstances connected with the history of those
species which form the subject of this paper; especially when it
is considered, that in the present instance they fill up a hiatus
which has long interfered with a perfect knowledge of the na-
tural arrangement of the order.
Ordo. Testuprnata, Merrem.
Fam. TEsTUDINID2.
Genus. PYXIS.
Pedes clavati?
Testa gibba.
Sterni lobus anterior mobilis, ligamento articulatus.
Pyxis ARACHNOIDES. Tas. XVI, Fig. 1. 2.
?
Habitat
Mus. nostr.
306 Mr. BErr on two new Genera of Land Tortoises.
Description. Shell gibbous, ovate, emarginate before, slightly
expanded over the hinder feet. Scuta striated, black, with
a few broad yellow radiations, which are narrower at the
area, increasing in breadth towards the circumference ; in
many of them a dentated yellow margin. The first vertebral
scutum pentagonal, broader than it is long, the lateral mar-
gins parallel, anteriorly truncate; the second, third, and
fourth hexagonal: the fifth irregularly quadrilateral: the
first costal scutum trapezoidal, very irregular; the second
and third pentagonal; the fourth quadrate : marginal scuta
24, consisting of 11 pairs, and an anterior and posterior
single one; the anterior small, linear, emarginate at the
apex; the posterior very broad, quadrate, inflexed. — Ster-
num of an uniform yellow colour, nearly as long as the
upper shell, and very broad; the anterior lobe, which is
covered by the gular* and humeral scuta, slightly emargi-
nate, very moveable, connected with the body of the ster-
num by a ligament, and capable of entirely closing the
anterior opening of the shell; when closed, the margin is
considerably within that of the upper shell: the abdominal
portion of the sternum very large; the sterno-costal suture
extending from the fourth to the seventh pairs of marginal
scuta inclusive; the anterior margin of the pectoral scuta
overlapping the posterior margin of the humeral, so as to
conceal the joint: the posterior lobe of the sternum broad
* [n order to avoid unnecessary repetition, and to render descriptions of these
animals more intelligible by a fixed nomenclature, I have applied to the six pairs of
sternal scuta the following names, expressive of their relative situation with regard to
the different parts of the animal. The first pair I have termed gular, the second hu-
meral, the third pectoral, the fourth abdominal, the fifth femoral, the sixth caudal. Of
the two pairs of scuta situated at the junction of the sternum with the upper shell,—I
have assigned to the anterior the name of post-humeral, and to the posterior that of
ante-femoral.
and
Mr. BELL on two new Genera of Land Tortoises. 397
and short; the caudal scuta truncate, in contact with the
upper shell, excepting a slight emargination for the passage
of the tail; the spaces for the hinder legs very small and
contracted.
As I have only seen the shell of this species, I am unfortu-
nately obliged to confine the description to that part.
I have in my collection two specimens of this Tortoise, which
differ considerably from each other both in colour and form.
In one, the ground-colour of the upper shell is deep black, the
radiations of a bright clear yellow, and the sternum of a light
yellow: the areæ of the dorsal scuta are quite flat, and the
hinder part of the back somewhat depressed. In the other, the
ground-colour is of a deep blackish-brown, the radiations very
obscure, and the sternum of a brownish-yellow colour, the ante-
rior lobe being the darkest part: the dorsal scuta are elevated
in the centre, and the back is everywhere evenly rounded, form-
ing nearly a semicircular outline. Notwithstanding these points
of dissimilarity however, which give at first sight a strikingly
different appearance to the two specimens, the essential charac-
ters both of marking and of structure are sufficiently preserved
to identify them as individuals of the same species.
Dimensions. Inches. Lin.
Length of the upper shell, following the curvature 7 0
Lengthün a direct line. 99. 39 9. 9 O
Breadth, following the curvature . . . . . . 6 3
Cireumterence 5. 9€ er cate e. coma coe lOO
Lateral diameter 3 6
Vertical diameter : 21:5
Length'ofthestemmm , 2. 3 =. st. c4 6
Length of the moveable lobe . . . . 1, 2
Breadth of ditto at its articulation 2 0
Genus.
398 Mr. BELL on two new Genera of Land Tortoises.
Genus. KINIXYS.
Pedes subclavati.
Testa expansa, subdepressa.
Dorsi pars posterior mobilis.
Spec. 1. Kinixys CcASTANEA. TaB.XVIT. Fig. 1.
Sterno anticé ultra testam superiorem prominente ; scutis margi-
nalibus 23.
Habitat in. Africá.
Mus. nostr.
Description. Head rather long, somewhat depressed. Leet
compressed, less clavated, and the toes more distinct than
in the other species of the family. Sell of a rich chestnut-
brown colour, the older specimens having patches of yellow
principally towards the lower margin of the costal scuta ;
broad-ovate, rounded and gibbous posteriorly, the anterior
and posterior margins projecting and somewhat reflected :
the marginal outline deeply denticulated. Dorsal scuta
strongly marked with concentric striæ, and a raised line
in the direction of each angle, radiating from the area:
the vertebral scuta slightly carinated ; the first pentagonal,
the anterior angle acute, the area having a sharp ridge ;
the second, third, and fourth hexagonal ; the fifth gibbous,
quadrangular, the base very broad, and forming the seg-
ment of a circle: the first costal scutum trapezoidal, elon-
gated, the inferior margin rounded ; the second and third
pentagonal ; the fourth trapezoidal. Marginal scuta 93 ;
viz. 11 pairs, and a posterior single one ; the anterior ones
turned up at the areæ, which are marginal, and have some-
what the appearance of being eroded ; the lateral and pos-
terior hollowed; the margin raised, projecting, and with the
areæ reflected. The moveable hinge or joint commences
immediately
Trans Linn Soc Vol XV Tah XVA p.401
liq €
Krnuxvs Homeana
L.C Sowerhy, ded et. soulp
Mr. Bezz on Two new Genera of Land Tortoises. 399
immediately behind the posterior sterno-costal ridge, and
is continued across the back between the fifth and sixth
ribs, and between the seventh and eighth marginal, the
second and third costal, and across the third vertebral
scuta. Sternum large; the general colour blackish, each
scutum having a yellow margin, especially in the older
specimens ; anteriorly bifid, projecting beyond the upper
shell; the inferior surface very concave: gulur scuta ex-
tending far within the shell, and affording a long and firm
support to the head and neck. ‘The anterior opening of
the shell extending far back on each side. The post-hu-
meral plates small. ‘The lateral connection between the ster-
num and ribs extending from the fourth to the seventh pairs
of marginal plates inclusive. Posterior opening of the shell
very wide, particularly at the sides, for the motion of the
hind legs. The ante-femoral plates very large. The ster-
num in contact with the inferior margin of the upper shell
when the moveable portion is closed.
I regret, that in consequence of the individual which had been
living in my possession having been after its death sent to be
stuffed, and suffered to become putrid, the notices of the animal
are necessarily so confined.
Dimensions of a remarkably large specimen.
Ft. In. Lin.
Length of the upper shell following the curvature O 11 5
Lensihin a direct Hne- |. ME mn VBOSO TO
Breadth following the curvature (ges
Circumference : de 3
Lateral diameter : 0.025
Vertical diameter . . . . . 0 4-0
Length of the sternum 0 28.58
VOL. XV. 3 F Spec.
400 Mr. Bert on Two new Genera of Land Tortoises.
Spec. 2. Kinixys Homeana. Tas. XVIT. Fig. 2.
Dorso posticè abruptè gibbo ; scuto marginali antico impari.
Habitat in Africà occidentali.
Mus. nostr. et Brit.
Testudo Homeana. Gray MS. in Mus. Br.
This species very much resembles the former in all its general
characters, not only of form but of marking: the outlines, how-
ever, are more strongly marked, the general appearance ruder,
and the shape more flattened and expanded. It is of a dull
brown colour, with yellowish blotches along the sides, and the
internal part of the marginal plates, where the head and extre-
mities pass, of a rich deep red. The gibbous projection of the
back is so considerable as to form a right angle. ‘The second,
third and fourth vertebral scuta are very irregularly hexagonal,
and the second and third costal as irregularly pentagonal, the
sides of each figure being extremely unequal. The anterior
marginal plates project to a greater extent than in K. castanea,
and the whole of the marginal scuta are more horizontal and
more expanded. ‘They are 24 in number, having, in addition
to those of the other species, a long, linear, pointed, single one
between the first pair. The joint which renders the hinder
part of the back moveable is similar in its structure and
situation to that of K.castanea, but is even more strongly
marked. ‘The anterior part of the sternum does not project,
as in that species, beyond the upper shell, nor is its bifid ex-
tremity so long and pointed.
Mr. Gray informs me, that the specimens which are in the
British Museum came from Sierra Leone, and were collected by
Lieut. M. C. Friend, R.N. He states, that according to that
gentleman's account the back part moved considerably when
the animal was alive.
Dimensions.
Mr. Brut on Two new Genera of Land Tortoises. 401
Dimensions. Ft. In. Lin.
Curvature of the upper shell longitudinally . . 0 10 0
Ditto laterally? s. 20. 229 x. 0ù 50
Circiamterence Me Wey oe mn de 2 dD? 0
Lensth in-a direct line 5. —- 4 o so x © 7 6
ageramdiameters vx Sais. V S Gels) MO v5: 8
Vertical diameter )-0 A 2204 c ou ulcus i OBES
Length of the sternum . . . . . . . . 0 6 8
3r2 XVII. Of
XVII. Of the Insect called Orsrros by the Ancients, and of the
true Species intended by them under this Appellation : in reply
to the Observations of W. S. MacLeay, Esq., and the French
Naturalists. To which is added, A Description of a new Species
of CurEnEBRA. By Bracy Clark, F.L.S., and Foreign Mem-
ber of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Paris.
Read November 19, 1826, and February 20, 1827.
Ix the 14th volume of the Transactions of the Linnean Society,
is a communication written by my friend W. S. MacLeay, Esq.,
intended to prove that the fly, intitled Oistros by the ancients,
was not the insect so named by Linn:eus, but that it probably
belonged to the present Linnean genus Tabanus.
Being of a contrary opinion, I am led once more to address
this learned Society, to lay before them the grounds on which it
is founded, that naturalists may not incautiously and too hastily
adopt the above conclusion, and that they may avoid the con-
fusion which change of names and counter changes always pro-
duce in science. I am also led to this undertaking in order to
vindicate Linnæus himself, our great master, and such distin-
guished naturalists as Vallisneri and Reaumur, with whose
views on this subject I wholly concur. Nor is the justification
of myself wanting as a motive to induce me to re-examine the
subject, having formerly sent to this Society a dissertation of
some extent on the genus Œstrus, unfolding some curious dis-
coveries
On the Insect called Oistros by the Ancients. 403
coveries in the characters and natural habits of this singular
race of insects*.
Disputations about the meaning of the ancients, and identi-
fying their descriptions with the modern species of natural
history, would perhaps, in a general way, be better avoided in
the valuable volumes of this Society, as leading to much desul-
tory and unsatisfactory discussion : practical subjects and didac-
tic facts would perhaps better maintain their reputation. As,
however, the Society have in this instance already admitted the
discussion, it is but fair and just to allow the reply in the same
channel, that the impression, if erroneous, may be removed.
W.S. MacLeay, in the paper alluded to, insists that the oivreos
of the ancients, and the Brize or Breeze of the old English poets,
is not the Œstrus of the moderns; and he infers this from the
anatomical characters which some of the ancient authors have
left us of their insect. Now, besides the anatomical descriptions
to be found in the works of philosophers, there is another mode
of identifying the insect; and that is, by the description of the
effects it produces upon cattle, and which are so singular, that
they have afforded incidents to most rural poets, ancient and
modern: and the truth seems to be, that the poets in describing
these effects have been true to nature; while the philosophers,
being presented with a wrong insect, have only involved the
subject in error.
That it is an Italian insect we have the authority of Valli-
sneri of Padua, who appears to have been the first naturalist
who bred the true (Œstrus Bovis from the grubs found in the
backs of the cattle; and for the first time, as far as we possess
any record of the subject, saw with certainty the identical object
that created so much commotion among them. He applied
* Published in the 3rd volume of the Society’s Transactions.
correctly
404 Mr. Bracy Crank on the Insect
correctly enough the passages of the ancients which he thought
had allusion to this insect. Reaumur followed Vallisneri in
these researches, and bred with great difficulty one imperfect
specimen of the true Œstrus Bows. Linneus next followed ;
but not having ever seen the insect, and not daring to describe
from figures merely, or the descriptions of others, he took the
large Horse Bot for it,—the Œstrus Equi of my enumeration.
This error is continued through all the editions of the Systema
Nature, intending all the while, and referring to Vallisneri and
Reaumur for, the true Œstrus Bovis. Thus, like some of the
ancients, he also described a spotted-winged insect for the Œstrus
Bovis; whereas the true insect has perfectly spotless wings. The
true fly cannot be caught in the act of oviposition, from the
violent running of the cattle, and the terror they are in at the
approach of their enemy.
‘This makes it more than probable, nay, almost certain, that
if Aristotle, “lian or Pliny described an insect with spotted
wings, or with a trunk or proboscis, &c., they knew nething
about the true Œ. Bovis, and had been deceived as to the real
object of their research. It was indeed much more easy for
them to have been presented with one of the numerous host of
flies that infest the backs of cattle and lodge on them, than the
true Œ. Bovis. Their fly may have been a Tabanus or an Asilus,
a Conops, or a Culex, or any other with spotted wings; for as the
true fly cannot be caught in the act of oviposition, it was next to
impossible they should have discovered, or been made acquainted
with, the true object of such disturbance. Indeed, during these
commotions it would be dangerous to approach the cattle, or
to remove any thing from their back ; and if an insect was caught
under any other circumstance, how could it be known that it was
the genuine cause of this agitation ?
It is in vain now to inquire what precise fly these ancient phi-
losophers
called Oistros by the Ancients. 405
losophers might have been presented with, as their testimonies
are various, and militate against each other; but none are de-
scriptive of the true fly, which we now fully know. Surely such
a conclusion is more natural and just, than to suppose these
conflicting descriptions true, and that the poets and common
observers were false witnesses.
I now proceed to give what Virgil says respecting the name
of it among the ancients, and the tumult it occasions; and of
which no sweat-sucking Tubanus, Conops, or modern Asilus,
can in any way be the cause. |
« Est lucos Silari circa, ilicibusque virentem
Plurimus Alburnum volitans, cui nomen Asilo
Romanum est, CEstron Gran vertére vocantes :
Asper, acerba sonans: quo tota exterrita sylvis
Diffugiunt armenta, furit mugitibus Æther
Concussus, sylræque, et sicci ripa Tanagri.”
GEORG. lib. ii. v. 146.
From this admirable description, it is clearly manifest that
Asilus was the Roman name for the fly which agitates the
cattle; and it is equally clear that Œstros was the Greek name
for it.
Not much weight is due to the observation, that Homer's in-
sect was not the modern (Œstrus, because he mentions the spring
as the season of its appearance, since he also adds, in the same
line, ore 7 Zjure exem rérovres, ‘when the days are long ;" nor
that Shakespeare did not use the word Brize for the same insect,
merely because he has assigned its appearance to the month of
June, when it more often appears now in July. Indeed the al-
teration of style will account for this difference. But the same
poet uses the word in another place, where the allusion is too
distinct to be mistaken :
«The herd hath more annoyance by the Brize,
Than by the Tiger.” Troilus and Cressida.
And
406 Mr. Bracy Crank on the Insect
And again in an old Play, quoted by Archdeacon Nares in his
Glossary, the following use of the word occurs,
“J will put the Brize in’s tail, shall set him gadding presently.”
Now if MacLeay or Latreille, who entertains a similar opi-
nion, had ever been as much among cattle on the heaths, as my
pursuits have led me, they would have long since obtained a
practical acquaintance with the effects produced by these insects,
and would not have been led to suppose that the Tabani, Co-
nopses, or Culices, were the object of poetic description, or have
made any mistake between the effects of one and the other.
When the Tabani and Conopses have come and settled in great
numbers on the back and sides of the animal, he would, as I
have often witnessed, scarcely regard them. A toss of the head,
perhaps, towards the part, if they sucked a little too vigorously ;
or, if they were still more importunate, a lash of the tail, was in
general all the notice he would condescend to take of them. But
if an Œstrus approached, the consternation was indescribable,
and the agitation most remarkable; and the object attacked,
however lazily he might be disposed from the heat of the weather,
or a full belly, would become suddenly as agile as a young deer,
and canter away, holding out his tail, and running with a sort of
undulatory movement of the back (thereby endeavouring, per-
haps, to disappoint the touch and designs of his enemy), till he
had obtained his accustomed retreat in the water, or the fly had
quitted him,—
sos eed es Tossing the foam
They scorn the keeper’s voice, and scour the plain,
Through all the bright serenity of noon ;
While from their labouring breasts a hollow moan
Proceeding, runs, low-bellowing, round the hills.
THOMSON.
Assuredly no Tabanus can produce any effects like these. Un-
able
called Oistros by the Ancients. 407
able to account for this extraordinary agitation, I had formerly
given way to the notion of some very painful infliction by the
Œstrus : but 1 am now led to question this opinion, inasmuch
as I can discover no instrument by which this effect can be pro-
duced. ‘The shrill sharp sound, which Virgil describes, was, I
dare say, not stated without some real ground; and a friend of
mine actually informed me, that he was standing in a farm-yard
one day near some cattle, when one of these flies entered and
approached them, and that he distinctly heard this shrill sound.
In confirmation of this account we may remark, that the wing-
scale, covering the halteres, which has been supposed by Keller
to be the organ of sound, is particularly large in this insect ;
but further than this we dare not assert, but leave the point
for future investigation. We know from Linnæus's own ac-
count, that the Œstrus Tarandi, or Rein-deer Bot, very simi-
lar in all respects to the Œ. Bovis, makes no sound while de-
positing its egg; which again brings me into doubt upon this
matter.
We next have to observe, in confirmation of the peculiar
effects of these insects upon the animals they infest, that those
of the Œstrus of the Rein-deer, are equally singular and re-
markable; and this fact we have from the indefatigable re-
searches of our immortal leader, Linnzus himself. He says,
speaking of the Œ. Tarandi, in his Lapland Tour, that as he
was in bed early one morning, he perceived a very ungrateful
smell, and when day-light appeared, **there were standing about
the cot a thousand of these Rein-deer, driven by old men, boys,
dogs, and women, who milked these animals. They appeared
to be under the apprehension of some invisible attack : the ani-
mals carried their heads aloft, their ears pricked up and ex-
tended, beating the ground, and kicking in the air with their
VOLS XV. 3G feet
408 Mr. Bracy Crank on the Insect
feet, as though by enchantment. Then for a while they would
be quiet: then, again, they were seen most furious, and this
with so general and regular a movement, that no army would
have surpassed their exercises in uniformity."
Linnæus further states, in the Lachesis Lapponica, respecting
the effects produced by this sort of Œstrus, that in passing after-
wards into the Lapland alps he observed a Rein-deer, which was
loaded with his own package, frequently to stop short and
become perfectly quiet and motionless as a pillar of stone, or
one suddenly struck with catalepsy ; the head held straight out,
the ears upright, the eyes fixed; nor could he by any ill treat-
ment be induced to proceed; but in a little while he would
again resume his march. Where, I would ask, is the T'abanus,
or Conops, that could produce effects like these? or what natu-
ralist, at all acquainted with the operations of Nature herself,
could confound the dissimilar effects produced by these several
insects ?
Linneus further says, that in the Rein-deer fly he saw the
egg held out **like a white mustard-seed" at the end of the
abdomen, which, if true, fully confirms the supposition that
there can be no infliction.
The Œstrus hemorrhoidalis and Œstrus Ovis, in performing
their oflice of ovi-deposit, are also equally irritating and pecu-
liar, as I have shown in the paper above alluded to, in the 3rd
volume of the Society's Transactions.
I avail myself of this opportunity in conclusion, to state, in
addition to my former remarks on this genus, that it appears to
me, as there is no aculeus or weapon of infliction at the end of
the abdomen of the female of the Œstrus Bovis, that the egg is
simply thrust down among the hair, till it meets the skin, and
that then it is affixed to it by a glutinous liquor secreted at the
same
called Oistros by the Ancients. 409
same time; and that the ege being hatched, the young grub
insinuates itself into, and finally through the skin, forming an
abscess beneath it. In a somewhat similar manner it is that the
ichneumon flies deposit their eggs on the sides of living cater-
pillars of the Lepidoptera, and hatching, perforate their skins,
and entering within, live on the parenchyma or pulp of their
bodies till matured and fully grown, when they make their way
out again and change to the chrysalis.
I may also remark of the (str, that they appear to be won-
derfully kept from such an increase as would be fatal to the
animals they feed upon, by the difliculties and imminent hazards
they are exposed to in the act of depositing their eggs. "The
teeth of the horse must destroy, one should imagine, nine-tenths
of the CE. Equi, hemorrhoidalis, and salutiferus. The GZstri seem
however, in the hands of Providence, to make a double recom-
pense for the sufferings they occasion; first, by keeping the
animals on the alert during hot weather, when they would be
often too idly disposed for their welfare; while the few larvæ
which succeed in getting into their bodies, appear to benefit
them by their local irritations, stimulating the stomach to a
quicker digestion of their watery food, and diverting diseases by
their counter irritations of the skin and frontal cavities,—thus
producing the effect of issues or vesicatories, which are powerful
remedies in relieving and in preventing diseases.
I apprehend that I have now sufficiently shown that the
Œstrus of the ancients could have been no Tabanus, and that
it is clear Olivier, who appears to have originated this notion,
and who was followed by Latreille, was mistaken.
A very extensive enumeration of this genus is seen in a late
ingenious publication, the Systematische Beschreibung of J. W.
Meigen. It is however in some instances not correct ; for on
carefully examining the Œstrus lineatus of this writer, intro-
3G 2 duced
410 Mr. Bracy Crank on a new Species of Cuterebra.
duced from Villers, it would appear to be that stumbling-block
of systematists in entomology, the G!. Bovis of my enumeration *,
and not of Linneus, as he states, who, as we have repeatedly
said, described the (E. Equi for this species. ‘The (E. pictus
of this author, beautifully figured by Curtis in the British Ento-
mology, no. xxvi. t. 100, I rather suspect to be the faucial bot
of the Stag.
As the species of the new genus Cuterebra were taken for
(stri till I separated them, and are closely allied to them in
their habits, 1 have ventured at the close of this paper to com-
municate to the Society a new and undescribed species lately
received from America, along with some other insects sent me
by my nephew, Joseph Clark, from the Illinois.
CUTEREBRA FONTINELLA.
C. thorace atro, lateribus albis; abdomine violaceo, ultimis seg-
mentis albis, nigro-punctatis.
White-tailed Cuterebra, or Blue Rabbit Fly.
Habitat in llinoe Americe Septentrionalis, cuniculos infes-
tans.
Dzscn. Cuterebrá Cuniculi dimidio minor; atra, subcylin-
drica, cum capite parüm latior. Frons insuper atra et
circa oculos lucida, infra albida, pilosa, utrinque puncto
elevato atro. Oculi picei. Thorax insuper ater, late per
* The lines on the thorax, and tbe figure of Villers, undoubtedly confirm it. Mei-
geu's (EZ. Bovis is the Q7. Bovis of my enumeration, under which this should have come
as a synonym.
+ I may here observe, that a few days since, in visiting the British Museum, 1
was shown the insect Dr. Leach has called Œstrus Clarkii, and find it only a variety,
and scarcely that, of the Œstrus veterinus of my enumeration.
medium
Mr. Bracy Crank on a new Species of Cuterebra. 411
medium et ad latera pilosus, albus, punctis tribus nigris
utrinque notatus. Ale obscure nigro-fuscæ, sulcis valdè
puculatæ et rugosæ, corpore longiores ; ad basin squamulá
foliaceà erectà, magna: tympanum halterem tegens mag-
num, convexum, marginatum. Abdomen breve, atrum, lu-
cidum, superne violaceo resplendens; segmentis duobus
postremis hirtis, albidis, punctisque variis atris elevatis,
glabris. Anus utrinque quasi forcipe prehensorio armatus.
Pedes atri.
XVIII. A
( 412 )
XVIII. A Review of the Genus Combretum. By Mr. George
Don, A.Lss.
Read March 21, 1826.
Tue rapid increase of new species has rendered monographs
absolutely necessary, as the only sure means of determining the
peculiar characters of each. Perhaps no genus affords a more
striking example of this rapid increase than the genus Com-
bretum. ‘The latest general work, namely, Sprengel’s Systema
Vegetabilium, contains only six, while in the following mono-
graph the number amounts to forty-one, exclusive of four doubt-
ful ones, recorded in the Hortus Bengalensis, some of which are
most probably identical with some of those here described.
As few plants surpass Combreta in the brilliancy and elegance
of their blossoms, so their species have become great favourites
with collectors. The Combretum purpureum has long been one
of the greatest ornaments of our stoves ; but some of the species
lately introduced are likely to outvie it in beauty. ‘The species
of the genus, and indeed of the whole order, with the exception,
perhaps, of Combretum nanum from Nepal, are exclusively con-
fined to tropical countries ; but the largest proportion is peculiar
to Africa.
In order to facilitate a knowledge of the species, I have
divided the genus into divisions and sections, which will be
found separately characterized in their respective places.
COMBRETUM.
Mr. G. Don’s Review of the Genus Combretum. 413
COMBRETUM. Lefl., Linn., Juss.
Syst. Linn. Ocro-Decanpria Monocynta.
Ord. Nat. ComBrerace®. Brown.
Cuar. Essent. Calyx: Limbo 4—5-dentato, deciduo. Pe-
tala 4—5 summo calycis inserta. Fructus 4—5-alatus.
Cuan. Grn. Calyx superus, tubulosus, vel turbinato-campanu-
latus, intùs villosus : limbo 4—5-dentato, deciduo : dentibus
æqualibus, erectis. Petala 4 vel 5, limbo calycis inter lobos
ejusdem inserta, æqualia. Stamina 8 vel 10, limbo caly-
cino duplici vel rarissime simplici serie inserta, exserta,
quorum 4 aut 5 petalis opposita et breviora. Anthere bi-
loculares, dorso affix, longitudinaliter dehiscentes. Ova-
rium uniloculare, 4—5-angulatum. Ovula plura (2—5),
pendula. Stylus exsertus. Stigma acutum. Fructus 4—5-
alatus, unilocularis, abortu monospermus. Semen 4—5-
gonum, apice attenuatum. ‘Testa simplex, membranacea.
Albumen nullum.
Frutices aut arbores, v. rarissimó herb. — Caules sepé scanden-
tes. Folia opposita, terna, aut quaterna, nunc rariùs sparsa,
simplicia, integerrima. | Stipulie nulle. Spice solitaric vel
gemine, simplices, axillares et terminales, opposite, terne. s.
qualerue, sæpè in paniculis terminalibus digeste. Flores
bracteati, sessiles, v. rarius pedicellati, coccinei, albi, v. rarius
aurantiaci: bracteis sæpè deciduis.
CowsPECTUS SPECIERUM.
Divisio I. Calyx 4-dentatus. Corolla 4-petala. Stamina 8.
Fructus 4-alatus.
Sectio a. Calyx campanulatus. Spice arillares et terminales.
Flores secundi.
| se
414
]5
co
C.
Mr. G. Don’s Review of the Genus Combretum.
secundum, scandens, glabrum ; ramulis subquadrangula-
ribus, foliis ovato-lanceolatis, calycibus ovariisque resi-
noso-punctatis, petalis squamiformibus ellipticis mucro-
natis cucullatis, staminibus longissimis.
.oxypetalum, scandens, glabrum ; ramis subquadrangula-
ribus, foliis oblongis membranaceis utrinque attenuatis
subtùs calycibusque resinoso-punctatis, petalis squami-
formibus obovato-lanceolatis acuminatis, staminibus lon-
gissimis.
C. formosum, scandens ; foliis oblongo-ellipticis acuminatis
subtüs resinoso-punctatis ; junioribus calycibusque rufo-
lanatis, floribus confertis, petalis squamiformibus cune-
ato-lanceolatis acuminatis.
. grandiflorum, subscandens, hirsutum ; foliis cordato-ellip-
ticis cum rachi calycibusque villosis, petalis dilatatis spa-
thulatis obtusis.
5. C. macrocarpum, fructu maximo, alis apice profunde cordatis.
Sectio b. Calyx tubulosus. Flores fasciculato-umbellati, termi-
nales.
6. C. leucophyllum, erectum, fusco-villosum; foliis oblongis mu-
cronatis ; floralibus bracteisque linearibus mucronatis ni-
veis, petalis lanceolatis obtusis calyce 4-pló longioribus.
7. C. lanuginosum, erectum ? foliis orbiculatis emarginatis, flo-
ribus fasciculatis, petalis ovalibus crenulatis calyce pauló
longioribus.
Sectio c. Calyx tubulosus. Spice avillares, nec terminales.
8. C.eatensum, scandens, glabrum ; foliis oblongis obovatisve
coriaceis, spicis gracilibus brevibus solitariis conferti-
floris, petalis ovatis acutis calyce brevioribus.
9. C. her-
Mr. G. Don’s Review of the Genus Combretum. 415
9. C. herbaceum, humile, simplex; foliis alternis lanceolatis
mucronatis subtüs sericeo-villosis suprà demüm glabris,
spicis geminis sparsifloris, petalis ovatis acutis calyce
pauló longioribus, staminibus mints exsertis.
Sectio d. Calyx turbinato-campanulatus. Racemi avillares et
terminales, paniculati.
10. C.paniculatum, scandens; folis oblongis obtusis levibus.
paniculá terminali ramosissima hirsutà, calycibus pube-
scentibus, bracteis brevissimis, floribus pedicellatis.
11. C.aculeatum, spinosum ; foliis suboppositis ovatis pubes-
centibus, floribus pedicellatis.
12. C.spinosum, erectum, glabrum ; ramis spinescentibus, foliis
longe petiolatis ovalibus membranaceis, floribus pedicel-
latis, dentibus calycinis ferè obsoletis, petalis ovatis ob-
tusis, staminibus minus exsertis.
13. C. Smeathmani, scandens, hirsutum; folis ellipticis acu-
minatis; floralibus flavicantibus, bracteis amplissimis.
racemis elongatis, floribus pedicellatis.
Sectio e. Calyx turbinato-campanulatus. Spice axillares et ter-
minales, sepe panicule modo disposita.
14. C.farinosum, scandens, glabrum; foliis elliptico-oblongis
obtusis subcoriaceis basi rotundatis subtüs farinosis,
spicis geminis multifloris, petalis squamiformibus, sta-
minibus longissimis.
15. C. frangulifolium, scandens, glabrum ; foliis ellipticis utrin-
que lepidotis, spicis solitariis rariàüsve geminis, bracteis
oblongis acutis villosis, petalis crenatis subflabellatis.
16. C.laxum, scandens, glabrum; foliis ovatis, spicis erectis
laxifloris, calycibus pubescentibus, petalis subrotundis
calyce brevioribus.
VI. Xy. 3 H 17. C. mexica-
416
19.
(8i
C
C.
Mr. G. Don’s Review of the Genus Combretum.
. mexicanum, humile, glabrum ; ramulis novellis compres-
siusculis, foliis ellipticis membranaceis basi subcordatis,
paniculà polystachyá, spicis brevibus multifloris ferru-
gineo-tomentosis, petalis subreniformibus calyce brevio-
ribus.
. pulchellum, scandens, puberulum ; foliis elliptico-oblon-
gis subtüs fuscescentibus, paniculà polystachyà, calycibus
pedunculisque fusco-villosis, petalis subreniformibus re-
flexis.
.racemosum, scandens, glabrum; foliis ovato-oblongis
acutis nitidis, paniculà polystachyá, spicis elongatis
apice comosis, petalis lanceolatis obtusis.
albidum, scandens, glabrum; foliis longe petiolatis ob-
longis obtusis aut suborbiculatis suprà punctatis viridi-
bus subtüs albidis, panicula polystachya, spicis conferti-
floris, calycibus pubescentibus, petalis parvis.
. nanum, erectum, humile ; foliis oblongis ovatisve obtusis
glabris, spicis simplicibus v. nunc basi ramosis, calycibus
pubescentibus, petalis ovatis obtusis.
. Roxburghii, scandens, glabrum; foliis ovatis obtusis, pani-
culà polystachyá, spicis sparsitloris, calycibus pubescen-
tibus.
. odoratum, scandens ; ramulis puberulis, foliis oblongis v.
obovato-oblongis apice rotundatis subemarginatis coria-
ceis glabris, paniculà polystachy4, spicis confertifloris,
petalis reniformibus.
Sectio f. Calyx turbinato-campanulatus. Spice aaillares, nec
terminales.
24. C. tomentosum, scandens, fusco-tomentosum ; foliis ovalibus
mucronatis ; adultis suprà nudiusculis, spicis sparsifloris,
petalis ovalibus obtusis calyce pauló brevioribus, stami-
nibus abbreviatis.
25. C. mi-
Mr. G. Don’s Review of the Genus Combretum. 417
25. C. micranthum, erectum ; ramulis pubescentibus, foliis ob-
longis obtuse mucronatis ; adultis glabris, spicis tenuibus,
petalis lineari-cuneatis dentibus calycinis 4-pló longio-
ribus, staminibus minus exsertis.
26. C. molle, scandens ? villosum; foliis oblongo-lanceolatis acu-
minatis basi cordatis, spicis elongatis, dentibus calycinis
brevissimis, petalis exiguis obovatis? staminibus pauló
exsertis.
27. C. latifolium, scandens, glabrum ; foliis amplis coriaceis ob-
longis acuminatis interdüm rotundatis, spicis brevibus
confertifloris, calycibus pubescentibus, petalis obovato-
oblongis obtusis, staminibus pauló exsertis.
28. C. chinense, scandens, ferrugineo-lepidotum ; foliis ellipticis
utrinque acutis suprà viridibus, spicis laxifloris, petalis
exiguis, staminibus pauló exsertis.
Divisio II. Calyx 5-dentatus. Corolla 5-petala. Stamina 10.
Fructus 5-alatus.
Sectio a. Calyx tubulosus. Spice axillares et terminales, spé
panicule modo disposite.
29. C. comosum, scandens; ramulis pubescentibus, foliis ellip-
ticis acutis basi subcordatis ; adultis glabris, spicis apice
comosis, bracteis lanceolatis acutis, petalis ligulatis ob-
tusis.
30. C. intermedium, scandens; ramulis pubescentibus, foliis el-
liptico-obovatis mucronatis ; adultis glabris, spicis apice
comosis, bracteis ovatis mucronatis, petalis ligulatis ob-
tusis.
31. C. pilosum, scandens ; foliis oblongo-lanceolatis acuminatis
basi auriculatis, spicis brevibus, calycibus pedunculisque
fusco-pilosissimis, petalis obovato-oblongis ciliatis.
302 32. C. ovale,
418 Mr. G. Don’s Review of the Genus Combretum.
32. C. ovale, erectum ; foliis ovali-oblongis obtusis subtüs albidis :
adultis glabris ; novellis cum ramulis calycibusque pu-
bescentibus, spicis laxifloris brevibus, petalis obovato-
oblongis obtusis.
. alternifolium, scandens, glabrum ; ramis spinescentibus,
spinis recurvis, foliis alternis oblongis glabris suprà niti-
dis, spicis brevibus confertifloris, petalis lanceolatis ob-
tusis calyce dupló longioribus.
34. C. Pavonii, scandens ; ramulis pilosis, foliis oblongis v. ova-
tis acuminatis mucronatis basi subcordatis subtüs ferru-
gineo-villosis, spicis elongatis sparsifloris, petalis lan-
Oo
C3
e
ceolatis.
Sectio b. Calyx tubulosus. Panicula polystachya, spicis secundi-
Jloris.
35. C. purpureum, scandens, glabrum : foliis lanceolatis acutis
atro-viridibus nitidis, spicis laxifloris, petalis elliptico-
oblongis obtusiusculis.
36. C. Afzelii, scandens: foliis oblongis ; adultis glabriusculis,
spicis axillaribus terminalibusque, calycibus pubescenti-
bus, petalis obovato-oblongis obtusis.
Sectio c. Calyx turbinato-campanulatus. Spicæ numerose, ter-
minales, paniculæ modo disposite.
37. C.decandrum, scandens, fusco-pubescens; foliis oblongis
acuminatis; floralibus flavicantibus, spicis numerosis
confertifloris, petalis ovatis mucronatis, staminibus mints
exsertis.
38. C.puberum, scandens, glabrum; folis oblongis coriaceis
basi subcordatis suprà nitidis, spicis numerosis con-
fertifloris, rachi calycibusque ferrugineis, staminibus
brevibus.
39. C.squa-
Mr. G. Don’s Review of the Genus Combretum. 419
39. C. squamosum, scandens, lepidotum ; foliis ovatis acuminatis
coriaceis subtüs calycibusque ferrugineis, spicis laxitloris.
petalis exiguis, staminibus brevibus.
40. C. trifoliatum, scandens ; foliis ternis oblongis acutis, spicis
laxifloris, floribus secundis, rachi calycibusque pubes-
centibus, petalis exiguis calyci subzequalibus.
Sectio d. Calyx turbinato-campanulatus. | Spicie. axillares, nec
terminales.
41. C.sericeum, suftruticosum, erectum ; foliis suboppositis lan-
ceolatis obtusiusculis subtüs sericeo-villosis, spicis con-
fertifloris, rachi cum ovariis calycibusque villoso-tomen-
tosis, petalis calyci subæqualibus, staminibus pauld ex-
sertis.
*Species sequentes non sufficienter noto, sed evi-
denter distincte.
49. C. obtusifolium, foliis obovatis obtusis glabris, floribus pa-
niculatis.
43. C. rotundifolium, foliis subsessilibus rotundatis mucronatis.
44. C. ferrugineum, foliis breve petiolatis lanceolatis acuminatis
glabris basi attenuatis subtüs ferrugineis, spicis axilla-
ribus terminalibusque.
45. C. cordatum, foliis breviter petiolatis amplis subrotundo-cor-
datis; novellis pubescentibus, panicula spicata terminali.
DESCRIPTIONES SPECIERU M.
Divisio Prima.
Sectio a.
1. C. secundum, scandens, glabrum ; ramulis subquadrangula-
ribus, foliis ovato-lanceolatis, calycibus ovariisque resi-
noso-punctatis, petalis squamiformibus ellipticis mucro-
natis cucullatis, staminibus longissimis.
- C. secundum.
420 Mr. G. Don’s Review of the Genus Combretum.
C.secundum. Jacq. Amer. p. 103. t. 176. f. 30. edit.
Pict: pe53. 1. 260: 7. 20.— Dinni Sp. -Ploed. 8. p. 490.
Lam. lllust. t. 282. f. 1. Willd. Sp. Pl. ii. p. 319.
Pers. Synops. 1. p. 411. Spreng. Syst. i. p. 331.
C. elegans. Kunth Nov. Gen. et Sp. Pl. vi. p. 109. Syn. in.
p. 398.
C.laxum: Aubl. Gau.d-p. 201v 1. 137.
Habitat in Guiana (Aublet et Martin), in Insulà "Trinitatis.
Lochead, Lockhart.» . (v.s. in Herb. Banks. et Lamb.)
Frutex scandens, glaber : ramulis subquadrangularibus, fusces-
centibus. Folia opposita, breviter petiolata, ovato-lanceo-
lata, aut elliptica, acumine brevi obtuso, glabra, subtüs resi-
noso-punctata, suprà viridia, 4 vel 5 uncias longa, 2 ad 24
uncias lata. Petioli semiteretes, ferrugineo-lepidoti. Spice
axillares et terminales, confertifloræ, solitariæ, 3—4-un-
ciales. Flores magni, secundi. Ovarium quadrangulare,
ferrugineo-lepidotum. Calyx campanulatus, externe ferru-
gineo-lepidotus. Peta/a parva, rotundato-oblonga, mucro-
nata, cucullata, squamiformia, lutea, dentibus calycis pauló
breviora. Stamina 8, coccinea, ferè uncialia, simplici serie
inserta. Anthere oblongae, bilobæ. Stylus longitudine sta-
minum. Fructus magni, 4-alati, brevissime pedicellati
2. C. oxypetalum, scandens, glabrum ; ramis subquadrangula-
ribus, foliis oblongis membranaceis utrinque attenuatis
subtüs calycibusque resinoso-punctatis, petalis squami-
formibus obovato-lanceolatis acuminatis, staminibus lon-
eissimis.
Habitat in Guayaquil. Pavon. &. (v. s. in Herb. Lamb.)
Præcedenti simillimum, sed foliis utrinque attenuatis membra-
naceis et petalis obovato-lanceolatis acuminatis discrepat.
3. C. formosum, scandens ; foliis oblongo-ellipticis acuminatis
subtus
Mr. G. Don’s Review of the Genus Combretum. 421
subtüs resinoso-punctatis ; junioribus calycibusque rufo-
lanatis, floribus confertis, petalis squamiformibus cu-
neato-lanceolatis acuminatis.
Habitat in Brasilià prope Rio Janeiro. k. (v. s. in Herb.
Lamb.)
Præcedentibus simillimum, sed foliis junioribus calycibus-
que rufo-lanatis differt.
4. C. grandiflorum, subscandens, hirsutum ; foliis cordato-ellip-
ticis cum rachi calycibusque villosis, petalis dilatatis spa-
thulatis obtusis.
Habitat in Africa æquinoctiali prope Sierra Leona. Smeath-
man, Afzelius. &. (v. s. in Herb. Banks. et Lamb.)
Frutex subscandens, hirsutus. Folia opposita, breviter petiolata,
cordato-elliptica, aut oblonga, acumine obtuso, pubescen-
tia, 4 uncias longa, 2 uncias lata. Spice terminales et axil-
lares, secunde, 2 vel 3 uncias longe. Flores magni, coc-
cinei, secundi. Calyx campanulatus, 4-dentatus rachique
villosus. Corolla 4-petala: petalis amplis, spathulatis, ca-
lyce plurimüm longioribus. Stamina 8, coccinea, longe
exserta. Antheræ oblongæ, bilobæ. Stylus longitudine
staminum. Fructus magni, 4-alati.
5. C. macrocarpum, fructu maximo 4-alato, alis apice pro-
funde cordatis.
C. macrocarpum. Beauv. Fl. d' Oware et de Benin, ii. p. 90
bMS fai
Habitat in Africa æquinoctiali ad Benin. Beauvois.r.
Sectio b.
6. C. leucophyllum, erectum, fusco-villosum ; foliis oblongis
mucronatis ; floralibus bracteisque linearibus mucronatis
niveis, petalis lanceolatis obtusis calyce 4-pló longioribus.
Habitat
Mr. G. Don’s Review of the Genus Combretum.
Habitat in Africa æquinoctiali prope Sierra Leona. Smeath-
man, Afzelius. &. (v. s. in Herb. Banks. et Lamb.)
Frutex erectus, ramosus, orgyalis. Rami villis fuscis vestiti.
(.
Folia opposita, oblonga, obtusa, mucronata, villosa; floralia
nivea. Petioli villosi. Spice fasciculato-umbellatæ. Flores
mediocres, coccinei, brevissime pedicellati. Calyx tubulosus,
villosus, 4-dentatus : dentibus ovatis, mucronatis. Corolla 4-
petala : petalis lanceolatis, obtusis, dentibus calycinis 4-pló
longioribus. Stamina 8, petalis multó longiora, coccinea.
Anthere nigræ, bilobæ. Capsula 4-alata, breviter pedicel-
lata.
C. lanuginosum, erectum ? foliis orbiculatis emarginatis, flori-
bus fasciculatis, petalis ovalibus crenulatis calyce pauló
longioribus.
Habitat in Abyssinia. — Salt. £ . (v. s. in Herb. Lamb.)
Frutex erectus * ramosus, lanuginosus. Folia opposita, breve pe-
tiolata, orbiculata, emarginata, ferrugineo-tomentosa. Pa-
nicula brachiata. Flores mediocres, forsan coccinei, fasci-
culatim congesti. Calyx tubulosus, extüs fusco-lanuginosus,
4-dentatus: dentibus mucronatis. Corolla semi-aperta, 4-pe-
tala: petalis ovalibus, crenulatis, dentibus calycis ovato-
mucronatis pauló longioribus. Stamina 8, longè exserta.
Stylus staminibus :wqualis. | Capsula 4-alata, breviter pedi-
cellata.
Sectio c.
8. C. extensum, scandens, glabrum : foliis oblongis obovatisve
coriaceis, spicis gracilibus brevibus solitariis conferti-
floris, petalis ovatis acutis calyce brevioribus.
C.extensum. Rovrb. Hort. Beng. p. 28.
Habitat in insulis Moluccanis. &. (v. s. in Herb. Lamb. et
Soc. Linn.)
Frutex amplus, scandens, glaber, diffuse ramosus, cortice cinereo
longi-
Mr. G. Don’s Review of the Genus Combretum. 423
longitudinaliter rumpente vestitus. Folia opposita, oblonga,
aut obovata, lævia, coriacea, cum acumine obtuso, 5 uncias
longa, 22 aut 3 uncias lata. Petioli ferè unciales. Spice
breves, axillares, confertifloræ, ferè triunciales. Flores parvi,
albi. Calyz levis, tubulosus, apice dilatatus, 4-dentatus :
dentibus ovatis, acutis. Corolla 4-petala: petalis ovatis, den-
tibus calycis ovatis acutis multó brevioribus. Stamina 8,
alba, simplici serie inserta, longe exserta. Anthere bilobæ.
Stylus staminibus longior. Stigma subcapitatum. | Capsula
4-alata, breviter pedicellata.
9. C. herbaceum, humile, simplex; foliis alternis lanceolatis
mucronatis subtüs sericeo-villosis suprà demüm glabris,
spicis geminis paucifloris, petalis ovatis acutis calyce
paul longioribus, staminibus mints exsertis.
Habitat in Africà æquinoctiali prope Sierra Leona. Smeath-
man, Afzelius. 4. (v. s. in Herb. Banks. et Lamb.)
Caulis herbaceus, simplex, erectus, pedalis, pubescens. Folia
alterna, breviter petiolata, lanceolata, mucronata, triuncia-
lia, vix unciam lata, subtùs sericeo-villosa ; adulta supra
glabra, viridia. Petioli villosi. Spice axillares, gemine,
v. rarissime solitariæ, pauciflore. lores parvi, albi. Ca-
lyx tubulosus, extùs cum rachi sericeo-tomentosus, 4-den-
tatus: dentibus mucronatis. Petala 4, ovata, acuta, dentibus
calycis pauló longiora. Stamina 8, minus exserta. Capsula
4-alata, breviter pedicellata.
Sectio d.
10. C. paniculatum, scandens; foliis oblongis obtusis levibus,
paniculá terminali ramosissimá hirsuta, calycibus pubes-
centibus, bracteis brevissimis, floribus pedicellatis.
VOL. XV. 31 C. pani-
424 Mr. G. Don’s Review of the Genus Combretum.
C. paniculatum. Vent. Choix des Plantes, p. 58.
Habitat in Africá æquinoctiali prope Senegal. Rousil-
lon. *.
Folia subopposita levia. Flores pedicellati, paniculati, coc-
cinei, magnitudine Combreti purpurei, in paniculà vastá
dispositi.
11. C. aculeatum, spinosum ; foliis suboppositis ovatis pubescen-
tibus, floribus pedicellatis.
C. aculeatum. Vent. Choix des Plantes, p. 58.
Habitat in Africa æquinoctiali prope Senegal. —Rousit-
lon.k.
Frutex forsan erectus. — Folia parva, brevè petiolata.
19. C. spinosum, erectum, elabrum ; ramis spinescentibus, foliis
longè petiolatis ovalibus membranaceis, floribus pedicel-
latis, dentibus calycinis ferè obsoletis, petalis ovatis ob-
tusis, staminibus minus exsertis.
Habitat in Africa æquinoctiali prope Sierra Leona. Smeath-
man, Afzelius.& . (v. s. in Herb. Banks. et Lamb.)
Frutev erectus, ramosus, 10-pedalis. Folia opposita, longe pe-
tiolata, ovalia, obtuse mucronata, levia, membranacea.
Racemi axilares et terminales, paniculati. — Flores parvi,
coccinei, pedicellati, in fasciculis collecti. Bractee ob-
longe. | Calyx turbinato-campanulatus, levis, 4-dentatus :
dentibus minimis, ferè obsoletis. Corolla 4-petala: petalis
ovatis, obtusis, calyce pauló longioribus. Stamina 8, cocci-
nea, mints exserta. <Anthere bilobæ, fero nigra. — Capsula
4-alata, pedicellata.
13. C. Smeathmani, scandens, hirsutum ; foliis ellipticis acumi-
natis ;
Mr. G. Don’s Review of the Genus Combretum. 425
natis ; floralibus flavicantibus, bracteis amplissimis, ra-
cemis elongatis, floribus pedicellatis.
Habitat in Africa æquinoctiali prope Sierra Leona. Smeath-
man, Afzelius. & . (v. s. in Herb. Banks. et Lamb.)
Frutev scandens, hirsutus. — olia opposita, oblongo-lanceolata,
acuminata ; floralia, ut et bracteæ ovate amplissime, fla-
vicantia, hirsuta. Racemi elongati, fusco-villosi. Flores
pedicellati, in axillis bractearum, solitarii. Calyx turbi-
nato-campanulatus, hirsutus, 4-dentatus. Corolla 4-petala.
Stamina 8, exserta. | Capsula 4-alata, pedicellata.
Sectio e.
14. C. farinosum, scandens, glabrum ; foliis elliptico-oblongis
obtusis subcoriaceis basi rotundatis subtüs farinosis, spicis
seepe geminis multitloris, petalis squamiformibus, stami-
nibus longissimis.
C.farinosum. Kunth Nov. Gen. et Sp. Pl. vi. p. 110.
Syn. ii. p. 398.
Habitat in Mexico inter Acapulca et Venta del Exido.
(Humb. et Bonpl.)* .
Frutex scandens, glaber: ramulis albido-cinerescentibus. Folia
opposita, petiolata, ovato-oblonga, obtusa, basi rotundata,
subcoriacea, glabra, subtùs farinoso-lepidota, 21 pollices
longa, 1 ad 1+ unciam lata. Spice terminales, rariüs axil-
lares, sæpiùs geminze, 3- vel 4-unciales, multifloræ. Flores
brevissime pedicellati, sparsi, subsecundi, aurantiaci. Ca-
lyv turbinato-campanulatus, coloratus cum rachi glaber et
lepidotus, 4-dentatus: dentibus ovatis, acutis. Corolla 4-
petala: petalis parvis, squamiformibus, oblongis, acutiuscu-
lis, dentibus calycis dimidio brevioribus. Stamina 8, lon-
gissimè exserta. Anthere bilobæ. Stylus stamina pauló
superans. Capsula 4-alata, breviter pedicellata.
=
AD 2 15. C. fran-
426 Mr. G. Dow's Review of the Genus Combretum.
15. C. frengulifolium, scandens, glabrum ; foliis ellipticis utrin-
que lepidotis, spicis solitariis rariàüsve geminis, bracteis
oblongis acutis villosis, petalis crenatis subflabellatis.
C. frangulifolium. Kunth Nov. Gen. et Sp. Pl. vi. p. 109.
t.538. Syn. ili. p. 398.
Habitat ad ripam fluminis Orinoco prope Angustura et Co.
richana. (Humb. et Bonpl.)r.
Frutex amplus, scandens, glaber: ramulis lepidotis. Folia oppo-
sita, breviter petiolata, elliptica, obtusa, basi attenuata, suprà
viridia, subtüs albida, lepidota, 21 uncias longa, 14 unciam
lata. Racemi erecti, terminales, rariüs axillares, solitarii,
interdüm binati: bracteis oblongis, acutis, utrinque villosis.
Calyx turbinato-campanulatus, externè pubescens, lepido-
tus. Corolla 4-petala: petalis cuneatis, unguiculatis, apice
crenatis, subflabellatis, venosis, calyci subæqualibus, pa-
tentissimis. Stamina 8, longè exserta. Anthere bilobæ.
Stylus stamina pauló superans. Stigma acutum. Capsula
clavata, 4-alata, breve pedicellata.
16. C.lavum, scandens, glabrum ; foliis ovatis, spicis erectis
laxifloris, calycibus pubescentibus, petalis subrotundis
calyce brevioribus.
C.laxum. Jacq. Amer. p. 104. Ed. Pict. p. 53. Linn.
Sp. Pl.ed. 3. p. 496. Lam. Illus. Gen. t. 982. f. 1. Willd.
Sp. Pl. ii. p. 319. Pers. Synop.i. p. 411. Spreng. Syst. ii.
p. 331.
C. spicis laxis. Lafl. Itin. p. 308. Swartz. Obs. p. 143.
Gaura fruticosa scandens, foliis oppositis. Lefl. Itin. p. 248.
Habitat in insulis Caribæis. 5.
Frutex scandens, glaber. Folia opposita, petiolata, ovata, ob-
oO , ,
tuse acuminata, glabra, tripollicaria. Spice erecta, laxæ,
axillares
Er
Mr. G. Don’s Review of the Genus Combretum. | 427
axillares et terminales, tripollicares. Flores exigui, albi,
brevissime pedicellati. Calyx 4-dentatus, acutus. Corolla
4-petala : petalis subrotundis, obtusis, concavis, paten-
tissimis, calyce brevioribus. Stamina 8, longissimè ex-
serta, fundo calycis inserta. Capsula 4-alata, brevè pedi-
cellata.
C. mevicanum, humile, glabrum ; ramulis novellis compres-
sis, foliis ellipticis membranaceis basi subcordatis, pani-
culá polystachyà, spicis ferrugineo-tomentosis brevibus
multifloris, petalis subreniformibus calyce brevioribus.
C. mexicanum. Humb. et Bonpl. Pl. Æquin. n. p. 150.
t.132. Kunth Nov. Gen. et Sp. Pl. vi. p.111. Syn. iii.
p. 398.
Habitat in locis maritimis prope Acapulca Mexicanorum.
(Humb. et Bonpl.)* .
Frutev sesquiorgyalis ; ramulis novellis compressiusculis, olabris,
q g g
fusco-cinereis. Folia opposita, breviter petiolata, elliptica,
acuminata, basin versus parüm angustata, obtusa v. cordata,
membranacea, glabra, suprà nitida, 4 vel 44 pollices longa,
sesqui- vel bi-pollicem lata. Petioli fuscescenti-tomen-
tosi. Panicula polystachya, ferrugineo-tomentosa : spicis
oppositis, brevissimis, multifloris, cylindraceis, ferè unciali-
bus, patentibus. Bracteæ lanceolate, tomentose, ad basin
angustatæ. "lores densissimi, sessiles, subsecundi, brac-
teolis subulatis ovario longioribus deciduis basi muniti.
Calya turbinato-campanulatus, externè ferrugineo-tomen-
tosus, 4-dentatus : dentibus ovatis, acutis. Corolla 4-petala :
petalis subreniformibus, concavis, albis, calyce brevioribus.
Stamina 8, calyce tripló longiora, albida. Anthere bilobæ,
flavæ. Stylus stamina superans. Capsula 4-alata, sessilis.
18. C. pul-
428
18.
Mr. G. Don’s Review of the Genus Combretum.
C. pulchellum, scandens, puberulum ; foliis elliptico-oblongis
subtüs fuscescentibus, paniculà polystachyá, calycibus
pedunculisque fusco-villosis, petalis subreniformibus re-
flexis.
C. pulchellum. Mart. Mss.
Habitat in Brasilia ad lumen Rio Negro. Martius... (v. s.
in Herb. Lamb.)
Frutev scandens, ramis oppositis; junioribus puberulis. — Folia
19.
opposita, breve petiolata, elliptico-oblonga, aut ovato-ob-
longa, mucronata, 3—4 uncias longa, 2—2 lata, suprà
viridia, subtàs junioribusque fuscescenti-puberula. Petioli
suprà fusco-villosi. Panicula polystachya, spicis opposi-
tis, v. rarids alternis, brevibus, confertifloris. llores parvi,
coccinei. Calyx turbinato-campanulatus, rachique fusco-
pilosus, 4-dentatus : dentibus parvis, mucronato-cuspidatis.
Petala subreniformia, retlexa, calyce pauló longiora. Sta-
mina 8, calyce tripló longiora. | Capsula 4-alata.
C. racemosum, scandens, glabrum ; foliis ovato-oblongis acu-
tis nitidis, paniculà polystachya, spicis elongatis apice
comosis, petalis lanceolatis obtusis.
C.racemosum. Beauv. Fl. d' Oware et de Benin, i. p. 90.
t. 118. f. 1.
Habitat in Africa æquinoctiali ad Benin. Beauvois.r.
Frutev scandens, lovis: ramis teretibus. Folia breviter petio-
lata, oblonga, aut ovali-oblonga, acuta, glabra, suprà niti-
da, 3 uncias longa, I+ unciam lata. Panicula polystachya :
spicis oppositis, apice comosis. Flores mediocres, albi, bre-
viter pedicellati. Calyx campanulatus, levis, 4-dentatus.
Corolla 4-petala: petalis lanceolatis, obtusis, calyce multó
longioribus. Stamina 8, longè exserta. Antheræ bilobæ
luteee. | Capsula 4-alata, breviter pedicellata.
20. C. al-
20.
Mr. G. Don’s Review of the Genus Combretum. 429
C. albidum, scandens, glabrum ; foliis longe petiolatis ob-
longis obtusis aut suborbiculatis suprà punctatis viridibus
subtüs albidis, paniculâ polystachya, spicis confertifloris,
calycibus pubescentibus, petalis parvis.
C.laxum. Roxb. Hort. Beng. p. 88.
Habitat in Indià Orientali. Rovburgh.h. (v. s. in Herb.
Danks. et Lamb.)
Frutex glaber, scandens, ramosissimus, laxus. — Fo/ia opposita,
2].
longe petiolata, oblonga, obtusa, aut suborbiculata, punc-
tata, suprà viridia, subtàs albida. — Panicula polystachya :
spicis oppositis, confertifloris, uncialibus v. biuncialibus.
Flores parvi, coccinei? Calya turbinato-campanulatus, 4-
dentatus: dentibus ovatis, acutis. Corolla 4-petala, parva.
Stamina 8, longè exserta. Anthere bilobæ, rotundato.
Stylus crassus, staminibus qualis. Fructus mediocris, 4-
alatus.
C. nanum, erectum, humile ; foliis oblongis ovatisve obtusis
glabris, spicis simplicibus v. nunc basi ramosis, calycibus
pubescentibus, petalis ovatis obtusis.
C.nanum. Hamilton Mss. Don Prod. Fl. Nepal. p. 219.
Habitat in Nepalia. Hamilton.r. (v. s. in Herb. Lamb.)
Frutex humilis, a palmari ad pedem altus, rigidus. Folia oppo-
sita, breviter petiolata, oblonga, vel ovalia, obtusa, glabra.
Spica terminalis, interdim basi ramosus, confertiflorus.
Flores parvi, albi. Calyx campanulatus, 4-dentatus: den-
tibus ovatis, acutis. Corolla 4-petala : petalis ovatis, obtusis.
Stamina 8, longè exserta. Anthere bilobæ. Stylus sta-
minibus æqualis.
29. C. Roaburghii, scandens, glabrum ; foliis ovatis obtusis, pani-
culá
430 Mr. G. Don’s Review of the Genus Combretum.
culà polystachyá, spicis sparsifloris, rachi calycibusque
pubescentibus.
Habitat in India Orientali. Roaburgh. hk. (v. s. in Herb.
Banks. et Lamb.)
Frutex scandens. Folia opposita, membranacea, pubescentia :
adulta glabra, 2 uncias longa, 14 lata. Fructus 4-alatus,
breviter pedicellatus.
23. C. odoratum, scandens ; ramulis puberulis, foliis oblongis v.
obovato-oblongis apice rotundatis subemarginatis coria-
ceis glabris, paniculà polystachyá, spicis confertitloris,
petalis reniformibus.
C. odoratum. Pav. Mss.
Habitat in Guayaquil. | Pavon.& . (v.s. in Herb. Lamb.)
Frutex scandens: ramis cylindricis, puberulis. Folza opposita,
oblonga, v. obovato-oblonga, apice rotundata, subemargi-
nata, cum mucrone brevi, integra, subcoriacea, utrinque
glabra, basi subauriculata, 31—4 uncias longa, 2 v. 2+ lata.
Petioli glabri, + unciw longitudine. Panicula polystachya,
spicis alternis, confertifloris. [lores coccinei? Calya tur-
binato-campanulatus, obscure 4-dentatus Petala 4, reni-
formia, integra. Stamina 8, calyce tripló longiora. | Cap-
sula 4-alata.
Sectio f.
24. C. tomentosum, scandens, fusco-tomentosum ; foliis ovalibus
mucronatis ; adultis suprà nudiusculis, spicis sparsitloris,
petalis ovalibus obtusis calyce pauló brevioribus, stami-
nibus abbreviatis.
Habitat in Africá æquinoctiali prope Sierra Leona. Smeath-
man, Afzelius.h. (v. s. in Herb. Banks. et Lamb.)
Frutex forsan scandens: ramulis pubescenti-tomentosis. Folia
oblonga,
t9
Qt
Mr. G. Don’s Review of the Genus Combretum. 431
oblonga, aut szepiüs ovalia, utrinque rotundata, apice bre-
viter mucronata, breve petiolata, coriacea, subtüs petiolis-
que fusco-tomentosa, adulta suprà glabriuscula, 5 uncias
longa, 14 unciam lata. Spice axillares, solitariæ, quadri-
unciales, graciles, sparsiflorze. "lores sessiles, parvi, albi.
Calyx turbinato-campanulatus rachique fusco-tomentosus,
4-dentatus: dentibus ovatis, acutis. Corolla 4-petala: petalis
ovalibus, obtusis, dentibus calycis pauló longioribus. S¢a-
mina 8, brevia. Fructus 4-alatus.
C. micranthum, erectum ; ramulis pubescentibus, foliis ob-
longis obtuse mucronatis ; adultis elabris, spicis tenuibus,
petalis lineari-cuneatis dentibus calycinis 4-pló longiori-
bus, staminibus mints exsertis.
Habitat in Africà æquinoctiali prope Sierra Leona. Smeath-
man, Afzelius.& . (v. s. in Herb. Banks. et Lamb.)
Frutex erectus? ramulis ferrugineo-pubescentibus. Folia oppo-
26.
sita, brevé petiolata, oblonga, aut ovata, obtuse mucro-
nata; adulta glabra; juniora pubescentia. Spice axil-
lares, solitariæ, tenues, vix unciam long, pubescentes.
Flores parvi, coccinei, brevissime pedicellati. Calyx tur-
binato-campanulatus, 4-dentatus: dentibus acutis. Corolla
4-petala: petalis lineari-cuneatis, obtusis, dentibus calycis
4-pld longioribus. Stamina 8, minus exserta, petalis pauld
longiora. Fructus parvus, 4-alatus, breviter pedicellatus.
C. molle, scandens? villosum ; foliis oblongo-lanceolatis acu-
minatis basi cordatis, spicis elongatis, dentibus calycinis
brevissimis, petalis exiguis obovatis? staminibus pauló
exsertis.
C. molle. R. Br. in App. to Salt's Travels in Abyssinia.
Habitat in Abyssinià. — Salt.& . (v. s. in Herb. Banks.)
VOL. XV. ETC Frutex
432 Mr. G. Don’s Review of the Genus Combretum.
Frutev scandens? villosus. Folia opposita, elliptico-oblonga,
v. ovato-lanceolata, acuminata, basi cordata, brevé petio-
lata, subtùs rufo-villosa venisque ferruginea, 24 ad 41 un-
cias longa, 11 ad 2 uncias lata. Spice axillares, solitariæ,
elongate. Calyx turbinato-campanulatus, rufo-villosus, 4-
dentatus: dentibus parvis, cuspidatis? | Petala parva, ob-
ovata, dentibus calycinis longiora? Stamina 8, calyce
dupló longiora.
27. C.latifolium, scandens, glabrum ; foliis amplis coriaceis ob-
longis acuminatis interdum rotundatis, spicis brevibus
confertifloris, calycibus pubescentibus, petalis obovato-
oblongis obtusis, staminibus pauló exsertis.
C. macrophyllum. Rovb. Hort. Beng. p. 88?
Habitat in India Orientali. Roaburgh. 5. (v. s. in Herb.
Lamb.)
Frutev glaber, scandens. Folia opposita, ampla, oblonga, acu-
minata, interdum rotundata, subcoriacea, glabra, 6 vel 7
uncias longa, 3 sive 34 lata. Petioli 14 unciam longi.
Spice axillares, confertifloræ, 11 unciam longæ, in ramos
juniores tantüm provenientes. Fores parvi, coccinei? Calyx
turbinato-campanulatus, pubescens, 4-dentatus : dentibus
ovatis, mucronatis. Petala parva, obovato-oblonga ob-
tusa, dentibus calycis pauló longiora. Stamina 8, calyce
dupló longiora. Anthere bilobæ. Stylus stamina æquans.
Fructus 4-alatus, breviter pedicellatus.
^
4
(
C. chinense, scandens, ferrugineo-lepidotum ; foliis ellipticis
utrinque acutis suprà viridibus, spicis laxifloris, petalis
exiguis, staminibus pauld exsertis.
C. chinense. Roxb. Hort. Beng. p. 28.
Habitat in China. 5. (v. s. in Herb. Lamb.)
Frutex
Mr. G. Don’s Review of the Genus Combretum. 433
Frutex scandens, glaber, ferrugineo-lepidotus. Folia opposita,
breviter petiolata, elliptica, glabra, utrinque acuta, subtis
ferruginea, suprà viridia, 3 uncias longa, 2 uncias lata.
Spice axilares, laxiflore, plerumque 2 uncias long.
Flores mediocres, coccinei? Calya turbinato-campanu-
latus, ferrugineo-lepidotus, 4-dentatus : dentibus brevibus,
ovatis, acutis. Petala parva, calyce breviora. Stamina 8,
calyce pauló longiora. Anthere bilobe. Fructus 4-alatus,
breviter pedicellatus.
Divisto SECUNDA.
Sectio a.
29. C. comosum, scandens ; ramulis pubescentibus, foliis ellipti-
cis acutis basi subcordatis ; adultis glabris, spicis apice
comosis, bracteis lanceolatis acutis, petalis ligulatis ob-
tusis.
Habitat in Africa æquinoctiali prope Sierra Leona. Smeath-
man, Afzelius.h. (v. s. in Herb. Banks. et Lamb.)
Frutev scandens : ramulis pubescentibus. Folia opposita s. terna
v. nunc quaterna, breviter petiolata, elliptica, acuta, basi
subcordata, 9 uncias longa, 3 uncias lata; adulta glabra,
nitida; juniora pubescentia. Panicula polystachya : spicis
oppositis, ternis, quaternisve, apice corfertifloris, comosis.
Flores mediocres, coccinei. Bracteæ lanceolate, acute.
Calyx tubulosus, 5-dentatus: dentibus ovatis, acutis. Co-
rolla 5-petala: petalis lanceolatis, obtusis, calyce multó
longioribus. Stamina 10, longè exserta. Stylus staminibus
longior. Anthere rotundatz, bilobæ. Fructus 5-alatus,
breviter pedicellatus.
30. C. intermedium, scandens ; ramulis pubescentibus, foliis el-
Su 2 liptico-
434 Mr. G. Don’s Review of the Genus Combretum.
liptico-obovatis mucronatis ; adultis glabris, spicis apice
comosis, bracteis ovatis mucronatis, petalis ligulatis ob-
tusis.
Habitat in Africà æquinoctiali prope Sierra Leona. Afze-
lius.& . (v. s. in Herb. Lamb.)
Simillimum Combreto comoso, sed foliis elliptico-obovatis mucro-
natis, nec ellipticis acutis, floribus majoribus et densiori-
bus, et bracteis ovatis mucronatis, nec lanceolatis acutis
distinguitur.
31. C. pilosum, scandens ; foliis oblongo-lanceolatis acuminatis
basi auriculatis, spicis brevibus, calycibus pedunculisque
fusco-pilosissimis, petalis obovato-oblongis ciliatis.
C. pilosum. Roxb. Hort. Beng. p. 28.
Habitat in India Orientali. &. (v. s. in Herb. Lamb.)
Frutex scandens, pilosus. Folia opposita, oblongo-lanceolata,
acuminata, basi auriculata, brevissimo petiolata, 6 uncias
longa, 24 lata; adulta glabriuscula. Petioli cum ramulis
foliisque junioribus fusco-pilosissimi. Spice breves, con-
fertifloree, in paniculam congestam terminalem dispositæ.
Flores magnitudine C. comosi, albi. Calyx tubuloso-campa-
nulatus, pilosissimus, 5-dentatus: dentibus ovatis, mucro-
natis, cuspidatis. Petala obovato-lanceolata, obtusa, ciliata,
calyce dupló longiora. Stamina 10, petalis dupló longiora.
Capsula magna, oblonga, brevissime pedicellata, pubescens,
5-alata.
32. C. ovale, erectum ? foliis ovali-oblongis obtusis subtüs albi-
dis; adultis glabris; novellis cum ramulis calycibusque
pubescentibus, spicis laxifloris brevibus, petalis obovato-
oblongis obtusis.
C. ovale.
Mr. G. Don's Review of the Genus Combretum. 435
C. ovale. R. Br. in App. to Salt’s Travels in Abyssinia.
Habitat in Abyssinia. Salt. . (v. s. in Herb. Lamb.)
Frutex erectus? ramosus: ramulis pubescentibus. Folia oppo-
C2
sita, breviter petiolata, ovalia v. rotundata, utrinque obtusa,
subtts albida, unciam longa, 2 unciæ lata; adulta glabra:
juniora pubescentia. Spice axillares et terminales, laxi-
flore, unciales v. biunciales. — J/ores parvi, forsan albi.
Calyx tubulosus, 5-dentatus: dentibus ovatis, acutis. Co-
rolla 5-petala: petalis obovato-lanceolatis, obtusis, calyce
multó longioribus. Stamina 10, longè exserta, petalis multó
longiora. Anthere bilobe. Fructus 5-alatus, pubescens,
breviter pedicellatus.
C. alternifolium, scandens, glabrum ; ramis spinescentibus,
spinis recurvis, foliis alternis oblongis glabris suprà ni-
tidis, spicis brevibus confertifloris, petalis lanceolatis
obtusis calyce dupló longioribus.
C. alternifolium. Jacq. Amer. p. 104. Willd. Sp. Pl. n.
p. 320. Pers. Synop. i. p. 412. Kunth Nov. Gen. et
Sp. Pl. vi. p. 111. Syn. iii. p. 399. Spreng. Syst. ii.
531
D: 29
C. decandrum. Jacq. Amer. ed. Pict. p. 53. t. 260. f. 27.
C.spinosum. Humb. et Bonpl. Pl. Æquin. ii. p. 161.
Habitat in Americé :equinoctiali..— (Jacquin, Humb. et
Donpl.) v.
Fruter scandens: ramis spinescentibus. Spine recurve (spinis
subrectis geminis vel solitariis subulatis ex Kunth). Ra-
muli fuscescenti-tomentosi. Folia alterna, breve petiolata,
oblonga v. elliptica, obtuse acuminata, suprà nitida, 3 vel
4 uncias longa, 2 unciaslata. Panicula polystachya : spicis
brevibus, sparsis, confertifloris. Flores parvi, albi, breviter
pedicellati. Calyz tubulosus, 5-dentatus: dentibus ovatis,
acutis,
436
34.
Mr. G. Don’s Review of the Genus Combretum.
acutis. Corolla 5-petala: petalis dentibus calycinis dupló
longioribus. Stamina 10, longe exserta. Anthere bilobæ.
Capsula 5-alata, sessilis.
C. Pavonii, scandens ; ramulis pilosis, foliis oblongis v. ovatis
acuminatis mucronatis basi subcordatis subtüs ferrugineo-
villosis, spicis elongatis sparsitloris, petalis lanceolatis.
C. decandrum. Pavon Mss.
Habitat in Guayaquil. | Pavon.&. (v. s. in Herb. Lamb.)
Frutev scandens : ramis junioribus pilosis. Folia opposita, ovata,
vel oblonga, acuminata, mucrone obtuso, basi subcordata,
suprà glabra, subtüs ferrugineo-villosa, 44 ad 5 uncias longa,
21 ad 22 lata. Petioli brevissimi, + uncic longi, ferrugineo-
villosi. Panicula polystachya : spicis elongatis, sparsifloris,
oppositis alternisque. Flores mediocres, forsan coccinei.
Calya turbinato-campanulatus, cum ovariis pedunculisque
ferrugineo-villosis, 5-dentatus: dentibus deltoideis, acutis.
Petala oblongo-lanceolata, obtusa, calyce multó longiora.
Stamina 10, petalis pauló longiora.
Sectio b.
C. purpureum, scandens, glabrum ; foliis lanceolatis acutis
atro-viridibus nitidis, spicis laxifloris, petalis elliptico-
oblongis obtusiusculis.
C. purpureum. Vahl Symb. ii. p. 51. Willd. Sp. Pl. ii.
p.310. Pers. Syn. ic p. 41h. OprengaSyst. n. m. 931.
C. coccineum. Lam. Encycl. i. p.137. Illust. t. 282. f. 2.
Cristaria coccinea. Sonnerat Itin. il. p. 247. t. 140.
Habitat in Madagascar. R. (v. v. c. et s. spont. in Herb.
Danks. et Lamb.)
Frutex scandens, glaber. Folia opposita, breve petiolata, lan-
ceolata, acuta, nitida, atro-viridia. | Panicula polystachya :
spicis
Mr. G. Don’s Review of the Genus Combretum. 437
spicis oppositis, laxifloris. Bracteæ lanceolate. Flores me-
diocres, coccinei, secundi. Calyx tubulosus, levis, 5-den-
tatus : dentibus ovatis, acutis. Corolla 5-petala : petalis ellip-
tico-oblongis, obtusiusculis, calyce multó longioribus. Sta-
mina 10, longe exserta, coccinea. Anthere bilobæ. Stylus
longitudine staminum. Stigma obtusiusculum. — Frucius
5-alatus.
30. C. Afzelii, scandens ; foliis oblongis; adultis glabriusculis,
spicis axillaribus terminalibusque, calycibus pubescenti-
bus, petalis obovato-oblongis obtusis.
Habitat in Africa æquinoctiali prope Sierra Leona. 4fze-
lius. kh. (v. s. in Herb. Lamb.)
Simillimum Combreto grandifloro, sed floribus decandris, nec
octandris facile dignoscitur.
Sectio c.
37. C.decandrum, scandens, fusco-pubescens; foliis oblongis
acuminatis; floralibus flavicantibus, spicis numerosis
confertifloris, petalis ovatis mucronatis, staminibus mi-
nüs exsertis.
C. decandrum. Rozxb. Corom. PL. i. p. 45. (. 59. Hort. Beng.
p.28. Willd. Sp. Pl. ii. p.319. Pers. Synop.1. p. 411.
C. Roxburghii. Spreng. Syst. ii. p. 331.
Habitat in India Orientali. Rovrburgh.h. (v. s. in Herb.
Danks. Lamb. et Soc. Linn.)
Frutev scandens: ramulis fusco-pubescentibus, cortice cinereo.
Folia opposita, breve petiolata, oblonga, longe acuminata,
pubescentia, 6 uncias longa, 2+ lata, venis longitudinali-
bus prominentibus ; floralia flavicantia, pubescentia. Pe-
tioli - uncie longi, fusco-pubescentes. Paniculæ compo-
sitze,
438 Mr. G. Don’s Review of the Genus Combretum.
site, polystachyæ, axillares, et terminales: spicis numero-
sis, confertifloris, cum rachibus calycibusque rufo-pubes-
centibus. J/Jores parvi, albi, bracteis breviores. Calyx tur-
binato-campanulatus, 5-dentatus. Corolla 5-petala: petalis
ovatis, acutis, calyce multó longioribus. Stamina 10, bre-
via. Fructus 5-alatus, breviter pedicellatus.
38. C. puberum, scandens, glabrum; foliis oblongis coriaceis
basi subcordatis suprà nitidis, spicis numerosis confer-
tifloris, rachi calycibusque ferrugineis, staminibus bre-
vibus.
C. puberum. Richard in Act. Soc. Hist. Nat. Paris. 1.
p. 108.
Habitat in America meridionali. Richard.» . (v.s. in Herb.
Lamb.)
Ramis, rachibus, germinibusque rufo-pubentibus, foliis ovatis
setaceo-acuminatis, spicis paniculatis. Richard. L c.
Panicula diffusa, composita: spicis numerosis.
39. C.squamosum scandens, lepidotum ; foliis ovatis acumina-
tis coriaceis subtùs calycibusque ferrugineis, spicis laxi-
floris, petalis exiguis, staminibus brevibus.
C.squamosum. Rowb. Hort. Beng. p. 88.
Habitat in Indià Orientali. Roxburgh.r. (v. s. in Herb.
Soc. Linn.)
Frutea scandens, glaber: cortice cinereo. Lola opposita, ovata,
acuminata, coriacea, glabra, lepidota, subtüs ferruginea,
suprà viridia, 5 uncias longa, 21 lata. — Petioli + unciæ
longi, ferruginei. Panicula polystachya: spicis opposi-
tis, laxifloris, cum rachi calycibusque ferrugineo-lepidotis.
Flores parvi, inconspicui. Calya turbinato-campanulatus,
5-dentatus. Corolla 5-petala. Stamina brevia.
40. C. tri-
Mr. G. Don’s Review of the Genus Combretum. 439
40. C. trifoliatum, scandens ; foliis ternis oblongis acutis, spicis
laxifloris, floribus secundis, rachi calycibusque pubes-
centibus, petalis exiguis calyci subzequalibus.
C. trifoliatum. Vent. Choix des Plantes, p. 58. t.58. Spreng.
Syst. 11. p. 331.
Habitat in Java. D. La Haye. ^.
Frutex scandens. Folia terna, breviter petiolata, ovali-oblonga,
glabra. Panicula polystachya : spicis ternis, laxis. Llores
colore herbaceo secundi, distichi, bracteis linearibus lon-
giores. Caly« turbinato-campanulatus, extüs pubescens,
5-dentatus. Corolla 5-petala, brevis. Stamina 10, longe
exserta. Fructus oblongus, 5-alatus, sessilis.
Sectio d.
41. C. sericeum, suffruticosum, erectum ; foliis suboppositis lan-
ceolatis obtusiusculis subtüs sericeo-villosis, spicis con-
fertitloris, rachi ovariisque cum calycibus villoso-tomen-
tosis, petalis calyci subaequalibus, staminibus pauló ex-
sertis.
Habitat in Africá æquinoctiali prope Sierra Leona. Smeath-
man, Afzelius.h. (v. s. in Herb. Banks. et Lamb.)
Caulis suffruticosus, villosus. Folia subopposita, lanceolata, ob-
tusiuscula, subtüs sericeo-villosa, suprà venis villosis, 34
uncias longa, 14 unciam lata. —Petioli + unciæ longi, vil-
losi. Spice axillares, solitariæ, biunciales. [lores albi,
breviter pedicellati. Calya turbinato-campanulatus, extüs
villosus, 5-dentatus: dentibus ovatis, acutis. Corolla 5-petala,
parva, calyci fere æqualis, vel eodem pauló brevior. Sta-
mina 10, paulo exserta. — Stylus validus, teres, longitudine
staminum. Fructus 5-alatus.
VOL. XV. 2L Species
440 Mr. G. Don’s Review of the Genus Combretum.
* Species non sufficienter note, sed evidenter di-
stinctæ.
49. C. obtusifolium, foliis obovatis obtusis glabris, floribus pani-
culatis. Rich. in Act. Soc. Hist. Nat. Paris. i. p. 108.
Habitat in America meridionali. Richard. x.
43. C. rotundifolium, foliis subsessilibus rotundatis mucronatis.
C. rotundifolium. Rich. in Act. Soc. Hist. Nat. Paris. 1.
p« 108.
Habitat in America meridionali. Richard. v.
Foliis subsessilibus subrotundis utrinque obtusis mucrone ab-
rupto acuto: granditlorum. Rich. L c.
44. C. ferrugineum, foliis breve petiolatis lanceolatis acuminatis
glabris basi attenuatis subtus ferrugineis, spicis axillari-
bus terminalibusque.
Habitat in America meridionali. k. (v.s. in Herb. Banks.)
45. C.cordatum ; foliis breviter petiolatis amplis subrotundo-
cordatis ; novellis pubescentibus, paniculé spicata termi-
nali.
Habitat in Insulà Hispaniolà. k. (v. s. in Herb. Banks.)
Flores parvi.
** Species adhuc valdé dubie, quarum nomina
trivialia in Catalogo Horti. Botanici Calcutensi
solummodo reperiuntur.
46. C. ovalifolium. Roxb. Hort. Beng. p. 28.
Habitat in Coromandelià. Roxburgh. +.
47. C. acuminatum. | Roxb. Hort. Deng. p. 28.
Habitat in Bengalià Rowburgh. ».
48. C. cos-
Mr. G. Don’s Review of the Genus Combretum. 441
48. C. costatum. Rovb. Hort. Beng. p. 28.
Habitat in India orientali. Rovburgh. ».
49. C. rotundifolium. Roxb. Hort. Beng. p. 88.
Habitat in Bengalia orientali Roxburgh. & .
Note.—In the prefatory page of this monograph the number
of species has been inadvertently stated at forty-one instead of
forty-five, exclusive of the four whose names occur in Dr. Rox-
burgh's /fortus Bengalensis.
XIX. De-
Co
m
to
( 442 )
XIX. Description of a new Genus of Plants belonging to the Order
Nympheacee : ina Letter to H. T. Colebrooke, Esq., F. R.S.,
F.L.S. By Nathaniel Wallich, M.D., l'.L.S., F. R.S. Ed., dc.
Read May 1, 1827.
BARCLAY A*. Wall.
Linn. Svsr. Polyandria Polygynia.
Orvo Nat. Nympheacee. Trib. 2. Decand. Syst. Nat. ii.
in} Y
p. 48.
Cuan. Gen. Sepala quinque distincta, infra ovarium thalamo
inserta. Torus basi in ovarium globosum ampliatus ; inde
tubulosus, corollaceus, staminiferus, fauce 8—10-lobá, lo-
bis inzequaliter bi- v. tri-serialibus, conniventibus. Stamina
plurima, nutantia, tubo tori intùs adfixa eodemque inclusa :
superiora sterilia, ramosa. Anthere nude. Styli plures
fundo tubi radiatim inserti, supra foveam verticis ovarii con-
niventes, basi connati. Bacca carnosa, globosa, calyce suf-
fulta corollâque coronata persistentibus, multilocularis, po-
lysperma. Semina globosa, setis carnosis obtecta, albumi-
nosa, inversa.
Habitus. Herba facie Potamogetonis, in aquis stagnantibus pro-
* This very curious and interesting genus I have dedicated to my highly respected
friend Robert Barclay, Esq. of Bury Hill, a most worthy benefactor to the science of
Dotany.
veniens,
Dr. Waviicn on a new Genus of Plants. 443
veniens, gracilis, foliis perquam tenuibus, elongatis, oblon-
gis, basi pauld angustatà cordato-subhastatis, minimè pel-
tatis, penninerviis, fluctuantibus v. natantibus lucidis, sub-
tüs ferrugineis, leviter tomentosis. Scapi unitlori, petio-
lique graciles, longi. llores erecti, glabri, ex viridi lives-
centes, inodori, sesquipollicares.
Genus a ceteris Nympheaceis valdè distinctum structura et
forma foliorum, et florum. Ab Euryale differt calyce dis-
tincto absolute hypogyno ; a Nymphed toro superne corol-
laceo, tubuloso, ad limbum multilobo, intùs staminifero.
BARCLAYA rowcriroria. Wall.
DAs. XVIII.
Legi in Pegu, prope Rangoon, in aquis stagnantibus, florentem
baccisque ferè maturis mense Augusto 1826.
Rhizoma teres, carnosum, semipollicare, vix digitum minimum
crassum, album, inodorum, simplex, fibras emittens longas,
eracillimas, copiosas, apice fibrillosas ; supernè exerens
scapos petiolosque numerosos, læves, graciles, penná colum-
bina vix crassiores, spongioso-carnosos, fuscos, basi albican-
tes, pedales bipedalesque, forsan longiores, absque squamis
bracteisve intermixtis. Folia oblonga, utrinque parüm at-
tenuata, obtusa, 8—10-pollicaria, ad medium sesquiunciam
v. duas et dimidium pollices lata, marginibus parüm inzequa-
libus undulata, sub lente denticulis minutis hyalinis notata,
basi cordato-subsagittata, lobis omninó liberis, unguiculari-
bus, rotundato-obtusis, ovatis, partim divaricatis, sinu acu-
tangulo; membranacea, tenuissima, frondes Ulve vel Fuci
quodammodoó referentia, subdiaphana, ad lucem visa minu-
tissime punctulata, quasi vesiculosa, suprà atro-viridia, luci-
da; subtüs opaca, ferruginea, nunc purpurascentia, tomento
parco,
444
Dr. Warricu on a new Genus of Plants
parco, farinaceo, facile solubili conspersa, precipue juxta
tractus vasorum, costa gracili, elevatà, nervisque copiosis,
filiformibus, alternantibus, inferioribus suboppositis, sat
magná e peripherià distantià bifurcatis, arcuatim anastomo-
santibus; nervis veró ipsius baseos brevissimis, vix elevatis,
obsolete radiantibus, ita ut folium ipsum nullo modo palmi-
nervium dici potest: venis capillaceis remotis, vix elevatis,
maxime reticulatis. Vernatione sunt involuta secus margines
ambos, in cylindrum utrinque planiusculum, propter nervos
decussatim annulatum; folia tenella plante lineari- oblonga,
basi rotundata integra, vel levissimè retusa. Petiolus parüm
attenuatus, costæ folii absque articulo v. intumescentià con-
tinuus, ipsáque laminá bis terve longior. Scapi plures, peda-
les et pauló ultrà, petiolis breviores, iisdemque parüm cras-
siores, sursàm leviter ampliati, subclavati, omnind ebracte-
ati, apice parüm supra aquz superficiem elevati, uniflori.
Flos carnosus, viridis, sesquipollicem longus, diametro fere
biunciali, inodorus, involucro bracteisque destitutus; æsti-
vatione oblongo-cylindricus, quinque-carinatus, apice quin-
que-cornutus, calyce secus margines sepalorum imbricato
involutus. — Sepala quinque, distincta, ima basi vix connata,
thalami paululiun dilatati continua, stellatim patentissima,
lineari-oblonga, apice obtuso nunc concaviusculo vel intùs
in lobulum exiguum producto, pollicaria, plana, disco sub-
carnosa, marginibus membranaceis, parallelis, nunc subre-
curvis, integerrimis, lineas quatuor lata, basi leviter con-
tracta, suprà levissima, pallida, subtùs ferruginea seu pur-
purascentia, costà valde elevatàá, extrorsim latiore, obtuse
carinatà, in cuspidem ultra apicem sepali integram, liberam
producta, bi- tri- quadri-linearem, verticalem, complana-
tam, curvam, subfalciformem. Torus carnosus, crassiuscu-
lus, levis, lagenæformis, inferiore parte pauló majore, in
globum
belonging to the Order Nympheacee. 445
globum ampliatus cerasum parvum magnitudine æquantem,
superficie parüm et irregulariter undulatum, ipsa substan-
tid sud fovens ovarium, basi sepalis suffultum, vertice abi-
entem in tubum, alteram et breviorem tori partem efficien-
tem, amplum, cylindricum, corollaceum, monophyllum, di-
ametro 5 lineas emetientem, basi vix dilatatum, limbo laxius
imbricato, obtuso, convexo, ferè clauso, 8—10-lobo : /obi tri-
plici serie irregulariter ordinati ; harum series eaterior bi- vel
tri-loba lobis linearibus, erectis, distantibus, subadnatis me-
dio tubi, nunc vertici ipsius globi germiniferi insertis ; 2nter-
media 3—4-loba, lobis reliquis majoribus, oblongis, vel sub-
ovatis, basi contractis ; interior v. tertia uni- v. bi-loba, lan-
ceolata, occulta : lobulis planis, carnosis, intùs uti cum tubo
(excepta hujus basi albida) atro-sanguineis, nitidis. Stamina
plurima, brevissima, libera, tubo intùs quadruplici vel quin-
tuplici serie alternatim inserta, inclusa, transversalia, emar-
cescentia : filamenta subulata, levia: antheræ lineares, vix
tertiam line longitudine æquantes, albidæ, nude, obtuse,
nutantes, apici filamentorum insert, biloculares, utrinque
dehiscentes. Praeterea series duæ terminales, intra faucem
tubi, constantes staminibus reliquis parüm majoribus, sterili-
bus, subulatis, hamosis, ad medium (curvaturam scilicet) sub-
incrassatis et compressiusculis, apice acutis, deorsumque in-
curvis, flavis, basisanguineis. Ovarium globosum, majorem
infimamque tori partem constituens, vertice intra tubum
fovea infundibuliformi ad centrum usque exsculptum, car-
nosum, radiatim 12- vel 12-loculare: /oculis compresso-pris-
maticis, verticalibus, pulpâ gelatinosà repletis, maturitate
fructüs fere absorptá, fortassè in villos istos seminum inspis-
sata, in quá nidulant ovula copiosa, globosa, scrobiculatim
punctata, glabra et imberbia, parietibus, 7. e. septis adfixa,
transversalia. Stylitot quot loculi, verticem ovarii serie sim-
plici
446
Dr. Wazzicu on a new Genus of Plants
plici ambientes, basin tubi intüs, a staminibus paululèm
remoti, definientes, basinque ejus non solüm, sed et sum-
mam ovarii foveam, excepto centro perforato, obtendentes,
convergentes, sanguinei, basibus in annulum planum con-
nati, apicibus subadscendentibus, liberis, subulatis, obtu-
sis, flavicantibus. Stigmata simplicia, inconspicua, obtusa.
Bacca sphærica, diametro cerasi magni, levis, e viridi ru-
fescens, calyce suffulta tuboque coroll: coronata immutatis
(emarcescentibus ?) 10-locularis, parietibus, septis, axisque
dimidià parte inferiore carnosis, albidis, crassiusculis; axis
veró parte superiore propter foveam terminalem ovarii ma-
turitate contractam perforata. Loculamenta ferè sicca, v.
succo glutinoso parce donata, seminibus fere tota repleta.
Semina valde copiosa, viridi-fuscescentia, exactissime glo-
bosa, erano sinapeos nigri vix minora, dense obsita et quasi
echinata setis v. pilis hyalinis, longiusculis, patentibus, mol-
lissimis, succulentis basi adfixa parietibus lateralibus locu-
lorum, vertice obsoletè umbilicata, setarum fasciculo rec-
tiore densioreque notata. IJntegumentum simplex, tenue,
membranaceum. Albumen niveum, grumosum, constans
globulis grandiusculis, facillime attritu solubilibus, rotun-
dis. Embryo extra albumen positus, intra umbilicum (in-
sertioni seminis oppositum ?) ovatus, minimus, (Structura
baccæ corrigenda : Vide infra).
The account which I have given above, will, I trust, convey a
tolerable idea of this singular, and, as far as my means enable
me to judge, new, and hitherto, unnoticed genus. Should it be
found defective in perspicuity, I anxiously request it may be
kept in mind, that the description was written on the spur of the
moment, far away from any, except the most necessary scientific
aids,
belonging to the Order Nymphaacee. 447
aids, surrounded by a great variety of novel plants requiring
immediate examination, not long after my arrival at Rangoon,
and on the very eve of departing on a distant journey to Ava.
I believe I have not omitted any thing that is of importance ; but
in case I have, the accompanying rough sketches of the flower
may perhaps serve to supply what is wanting in that respect.
The plant grows in great abundance towards the margins of
tanks; it is smooth and slender, not slimy; the root fixed to
the bottom ; the leaves at first submersed, afterwards floating,
exceedingly thin, oblong, cordate, without the slightest ten-
dency to become peltate. I should have observed, that some-
times, though exceedingly rarely, a leaf is to be seen having one
or both margins marked with one or two obtuse short lobes, but
this circumstance must be viewed in the light of a monstrosity.
The flowers are without any beauty; but this defect is amply
made up by their very singular structure, widely differing from
that of Nelumbo, Nymphea, Euryale, and Nuphar ; that is, from
any of the members of the order, to which it unquestionably
belongs. From Podophyllee, DeCand. the plant is as remote as
any of those genera. ‘The flowers are fleshy, smooth and green :
the calyx on the outside purplish-green ; the raised part within
it stained with pink; the rest of a shining sap-green colour
without, and deep-red (atro-sanguineous) on the inside.
The above was written yesterday.—'To my great delight, a
berry which I had placed on my table the night before has
ripened fully, and by taking it into my hand it spontaneously
separated into two or three pieces along the dissepiments. Each
cell is easily separable, consisting of a soft mealy fleshy paren-
chyma, pinkish-white; the outer margin coated with a thin
membrane (which forms the outside of the berry); the inner
margin (that which looked toward the axis) oblique above and
straight underneath; sides with obliquely-ascending furrows.
VOL. XV. 3M The
448
Dr. WazLicu on a new Genus of Plants.
The membrane lining the excavation at the top separates spon-
taneously (the styles remaining attached to it), as well as the
tube of the torus; so does also the calyx, remaining attached to
the apex of the scape. ‘The character of the genus must there-
fore be modified in the following manner :
Tubus tori, annulus stylorum (cum membranâ foveam ovarii
tegente) et calyx maturitate seorsim decidui. Bacca ma-
tura delabens in carpella numero loculorum correspon-
dentia, indehiscentia ? lateribus oblique rugoso-sulcatis,
carne mollissimo, ferè exsucco, farinaceo-grumoso, ex albo
rubicundo.
RANGOON, August 31, 1826.
Fig
2
Fig
EXPLANATION OF TAB. XVIII.
. l. A flower ;—natural size.
. 2. Longitudinal view of a flower ;—magnified.
a. Apex of the scape.
b. The thalamus. c.c.c. Sepals. d. Corollaceous to-
rus. e. Limb of the same. jf. Fertile stamens.
g. Sterile stamens. ZA. Section of the ovarium.
i. Ovula. j. Radii or ducts connecting the stig-
mata with the cells of the ovarium. &. Styles.
Ovarium with the corollaceous torus removed, and sur-
mounted by the stigmata ;—magnified.
Corollaceous torus separate.
Fertile stamen.
Sterile ditto.
Ovarium divided horizontally, to show the cells ;—en-
larged.
XX. Ob-
442
EU
7
| NET
2
ml
PIE E
M a
e
LU ,
ee
> B -
= =
L
E
( 449 )
XX. Observations and Experiments, made with a view to ascertain
the Means by which the Spiders that produce Gossamer effect
their aerial Excursions. By John Blackwall, Esq., F.L.S.
Read June 5, 1827.
Arrnoucn it is well known that spiders sometimes ascend into
the atmosphere through the instrumentality of fine lines of a
viscous gummy matter, which proceed from the papilla situated
at the extremity of the abdomen, yet the manner in which these
aérial journeys are effected still remains involved in obscurity,
and considerable diversity of opinion exists as to the particular
species of spider by which they are undertaken. This deficiency
leaves open a wide field for speculation ; and accordingly we
find, that natural historians have ascribed this interesting occur-
rence to several distinct causes, —such as the agency of winds,
evaporation, and electricity ; the exercise of peculiar physical
powers, with which the spiders that produce gossamer have been
supposed to be endowed ; and the extreme levity of the webs of
these insects, which are represented by some writers on the sub-
ject to be of less specific gravity than atmospheric air*: but
that each of these hypotheses is unfounded, and in direct oppo-
* Fora concise statement of the principal circumstances which have given rise to
the above conjectures, and for references to the sources from which they are derived,
see the /ntroduction to Entomology by Kirby and Spence, Letter xxiii.
3M 2 sition
450 Mr. Buackwatu’s Observations to ascertain
sition to facts, will be rendered evident by the following obser-
vations and experiments, from which a satisfactory solution of
the difficulty, it is hoped, will be obtained.
That gossamer, which usually abounds most in the months of
September and October, is perceived to ascend into the atmo-
sphere only in serene bright weather, is, I believe, generally
allowed: it is also admitted, that gossamer in the air is invari-
ably preceded by gossamer on the ground. 'l'hese, as will appear
in the sequel, are circumstances of much importance in the pre-
sent investigation ; every method of accounting for the ascent
of the webs and spiders, however plausible, which does not im-
ply their concurrence, being necessarily erroneous.
But to proceed to my own researches :—A little before noon
on the Ist of October 1826, which was a remarkably calm sunny
day, the thermometer in the shade ranging from 55°°5 to 64°, I
observed that the fields and hedges in the neighbourhood of
Manchester were covered over, by the united labours of an im-
mense multitude of spiders, with a profusion of fine shining lines,
intersecting one another at every angle, and forming a confused
kind of net-work. So extremely numerous were these slender
filaments, that in walking across a small pasture my feet and
ankles were thickly coated with them : it was evident, however,
notwithstanding their great abundance, that they must have been
produced in a very short space of time, as early in the morning
they were not sufficiently conspicuous to attract my notice ; and
on the 30th of September they could not have existed at all; for
on referring to my meteorological journal, I find that a strong
gale from the south prevailed during the greater part of that
day.
A circumstance so extraordinary could not fail to excite
curiosity ; but what more particularly arrested my attention
was the ascent of an amazing quantity of webs of an irregular
complicated
how Spiders effect their aérial Excursions. 451
complicated structure, resembling ravelled silk of the finest qua-
lity and clearest white. ‘They were of various shapes and di-
mensions, some of the largest measuring upward of a yard in
length, and several inches in breadth in the widest part; while
others were almost as broad as long, presenting an area of a few
square inches only.
These webs, it was quickly perceived, were not formed in the
air, as is generally believed, but at the earth’s surface. "Ihe
lines of which they were composed being brought into contact
by the mechanical action of gentle airs, adhered together, till by
continual additions they were accumulated into flakes or masses
of considerable magnitude, on which the ascending current,
occasioned by the rarefaction of the air contiguous to the heated
ground, acted with so much force as to separate them from the
objects to which they were attached, raising them in the atmo-
sphere to a perpendicular height of at least several hundred
feet. I collected a number of these webs about mid-day as they
rose, and again in the afternoon, when the upward current had
ceased and they were falling, but scarcely one in twenty con-
tained a spider; though on minute inspection I found small
winged insects, chiefly aphides, entangled in most of them.
From contemplating this unusual display of gossamer, my
thoughts were naturally directed to the animals which produced
it; and the countless myriads in which they swarmed almost
created as much surprise as the singular occupation that en-
grossed them. Apparently actuated by the same impulse, all
were intent upon traversing the regions of air; accordingly,
after gaining the summits of various objects, as blades of grass,
stubble, rails, gates, &c., by the slow and laborious process of
climbing, they raised themselves still higher by straightening
their limbs ; and elevating the abdomen, by bringing it from the
| usual
452 Mr. BrACKwALL's Observations to ascertain
usual horizontal position into one almost perpendicular, they
emitted from their spinning-apparatus a small quantity of the
glutinous secretion with which they construct their webs. This
viscous substance being drawn out by the ascending current of
rarefied air into fine lines several feet in length, was carried
upward, until the spiders feeling themselves acted upon with
sufficient force in that direction, quitted their hold of the objects
on which they stood, and commenced their journey by mount-
ing aloft.
Whenever the lines became inadequate to the purpose for
which they were intended, by adhering to any fixed body, they
were immediately detached from the spinners, and so converted
into terrestrial gossamer by means of the last pair of legs, and
the proceedings just described were repeated; which plainly
proves that these operations result from a strong desire felt by
the insects to effect an ascent. But what, it may be asked, is
the exciting cause of this singular propensity? It has been
suggested that hunger, or an inclination to procure some fa-
vourite kind of food, may supply the requisite stimulus. ‘These
suppositions, however, are discountenanced by the plump ap-
pearance which the animals exhibit; by their total disregard
of such winged insects as happen to be placed within- their
power; by their utter inability to regulate their motions, while
afloat, in any other manner than by letting out or drawing in the
lines by which they are conveyed through the air, and thus pro-
moting their ascent or descent; by the unsuitableness of the
lines for securing their prey; and lastly, by the uncertainty
when a favourable day for their purpose may occur, or even
that one may occur at all.
Were I to hazard a conjecture on the subject, I should be
disposed to attribute the manifest anxiety of these insects to
change
how Spiders effect their aérial Excursions. 453
change their quarters, to a feeling of insecurity occasioned by
their proximity to one another ;—the prodigious numbers which
in favourable seasons are usually congregated together affording
the more powerful individuals an opportunity, seldom neglected
by these voracious creatures, of making an easy prey of the
weaker: and this opinion is strengthened, if not confirmed, by
the fact, that they are chiefly animals which have not arrived at
maturity that undertake these migrations.
I have asserted, that when the spiders which produce gossamer
perform their aérial journeys, they are borne upward by an
ascending current of rarefied air acting on the slender lines
which proceed from their spinners. I shall now endeavour to
prove that this curious atmospherical phenomenon, which well
deserves the attention of meteorologists, affords them the only
available means of accomplishing their object; and that the
hypotheses previously adverted to are quite irreconcileable with
facts, and consequently must be erroneous.
It has been already stated, that gossamer is never seen floating
in the air except in calm sunny weather ; its buoyancy, therefore;
evidently does not depend upon the agency of winds, usually so
called: indeed it is probable that winds never do take an upward
direction, unless influenced by some extraordinary circumstance
or local peculiarity ; the ascent of gossamer, on the contrary, is
frequently observed to take place over a great extent of country
on the same day. It was noticed on the 1st of October, for
example, in England, Wales, and Ireland.
If a satisfactory explanation of this interesting fact cannot be
derived from the operation of winds, it is still less likely to be
deduced from the action of evaporation or electricity ; for, not
to insist upon the probable, I had almost said absolute, insuf-
ficiency of these powers considered as agents, experiments show
that the spiders do not select those periods for making an ascent
when
454 Mr. BrACKWALL's Observations to ascertain
when the evaporating force is unusually great, or the electricity
of the atmosphere is remarkable for its intensity *.
But though each of the alleged causes just adverted to appears
incompetent to produce the required effect, yet one abundantly
adequate may perhaps be found in the physical endowments
of the animals themselves, or in the extreme lightness of their
webs: these two last-named suppositions therefore merit a care-
ful examination.
If the spiders do impel their lines upward by the voluntary
exercise of some animal function which has hitherto eluded the
researches of physiologists, it follows, that when the communi-
cation is interrupted, the lines, unless influenced by some other
force, must necessarily fall. Now the reverse of this uniformly
ensues: for if the insects, after having commenced their ascent,
are suddenly separated from the lines to which they are attached,
the latter still continue to ascend, their motion being accelerated
by their diminished gravity, but the former are rapidly pre-
cipitated to the ground. The conclusion is obvious. The buoy-
ancy of the lines cannot be occasioned by the beings which pro-
duce them; and the ascent of large tlakes of web unoccupied by
spiders, before alluded to, confirms this opinion.
Perhaps the buoyancy of lines from which spiders have been
detached, and of webs altogether destitute of these insects, may
be regarded as facts powerfully contributing to establish the
idea that this animal secretion is specifically lighter than the
mixed gases which compose the atmosphere. The fallacy of
this notion, however, is easily proved by experiment. In the
* The evaporating force may be determined by the atmometer, or from tle tempe-
rature at which the aqueous vapour in the atmosphere begins to be condensed into
water, and the temperature of the air. See the first series of the Memoirs of the Lite-
rary and Philosophical Society of Manchester, vol. v. partii. p.588. The electrical
state of the atmosphere is shown by Bennet’s gold-leaf electrometer.
compa-
how Spiders effect their aérial Excursions. 455
comparatively still air of a room without fire, both the lines and
webs descend slowly to the floor, the latter falling with the
greater degree of velocity.
Were these productions lighter than atmospheric air, or were
the spiders capable of effecting an ascent without the help of
adventitious aid, a calm though cloudy day might answer their
purpose; but as considerable warmth is required to produce an
ascending current of rarefied air strong enough to bear them
from the earth, a bright as well as still day is indispensable.
Founded on results obtained from an experiment which has
been frequently made, but never conducted with sufficient care,
is the belief entertained by many eminent entomologists that
spiders can forcibly propel or dart out threads from their papilla.
Now as this process would, contrary to my own experience, im-
ply the exercise of a physical power peculiar to these creatures ;
and as attempts have been made to explain on this principle the
fabrication of their webs in situations where their ordinary mode
of proceeding could not be employed, I determined to repeat
the experiment from which so strange a conclusion has been
deduced. With this view, having procured a small branched
twig, I fixed it upright in an earthen vessel containing water, its
base being immersed in the liquid, and upon it I placed several
of the spiders which produce gossamer. Whenever the insects
thus circumstanced were exposed to a current of air, either
naturally or artificially produced, they directly turned the thorax
towards the quarter whence it came, even when it was so slight
as scarcely to be perceptible, and elevating the abdomen, they
emitted from their spinners a small portion of glutinous matter,
which was instantly carried out in a line, consisting of four finer
ones, with a velocity equal, or nearly so, to that with which the
air moved, as was apparent from observations made on the mo-
tion of detached lines similarly exposed. ‘The spiders, in the
VOU. XY. 3 N next
456 Mr. BLAcKWALL’s Observations to ascertain
next place, carefully ascertained whether their lines had become
firmly attached to any object or not, by pulling at them with
the first pair of legs; and if the result was satisfactory, after
tightening them sufficiently they made them fast to the twig ;
then discharging from their spinners, which they applied to the
spot where they stood, a little more of their liquid gum, and
committing themselves to these bridges of their own construct-
ing, they passed over them in safety, drawing a second line after
them as a security in case the first gave way, and so effected
their escape.
Such was invariably the result when the spiders were placed
where the air was liable to be sensibly agitated: I resolved
therefore to put a bell-glass over them; and in this situation
they remained seventeen days, evidently unable to produce a
single line by which they could quit the branch they occupied
without encountering the water at its base; though on the re-
moval of the glass they regained their liberty with as much
celerity as in the instances already recorded.
This experiment, which from a want of due precaution in its
management has misled so many distinguished naturalists, I
have tried with several of the geometric spiders, and always
with the same success. Placed under the bell-glass, or in any
close vessel, they in vain endeavoured to make their escape
from the branch to which they were confined; but in the dis-
turbed air of an inhabited room they readily accomplished their
object.
Instances of long-sustained abstinence from food by insects of
the genus Aranea, unaccompanied by any manifest diminution of
vital energy, have been given by various observers. In adding
another case to the list it is proper to remark, that it must be
received solely on my own authority.
Some of the spiders which produce gossamer were procured
on
how Spiders effect their aérial Excursions. 457
on the 2nd of October, and inclosed in glass phials with ground
stoppers, where they were suffered to remain till the 16th of
December, an interval of seventy-five days, without either food
or moisture ; yet at the expiration of that period, the only alte-
rations perceptible in their external condition were a small de-
crease in bulk, and a slightly wrinkled appearance, particularly
of the abdomen: but their functions were seemingly unim-
paired ; for on warm days, or when excited by artificial heat,
they were lively in their motions, and to the last continued
to produce their threads, which were often destroyed for the
purpose of ascertaining whether they would be replaced by
others with apparently the same facility as at the time of their
capture.
Itis particularly deserving of notice, that these insects, though
unable to climb up the smooth perpendicular sides of the phials
on their first introduction, soon contrived to traverse the interior
of their prisons in every direction.
In order to illustrate their manner of proceeding on this occa-
sion, the case of an individual has been selected for descrip-
tion,—the same method, with a few trivial modifications, being
pursued by all. Elevating the abdomen, and pressing the spin-
ning-apparatus against the side of the phial, this spider emitted
from its papilla a little viscous fluid, which on exposure to the
air hardened into a minute semi-transparent speck ; then moving
to a short distance, and drawing out a thread after it, one end of
which remained fixed to the spot it had just quitted, it connected
this filament with another part of the phial by applying the
spinners as before. Several lines being thus produced, the
spider speedily raising itself upon them above the bottom of the
phial, promoted its undertaking by repeating the process just
described ; every step so gained enabling it to carry its opera-
tions still higher.
3 N 2 From
458 Mr. BLAcKWALL’s Observations to ascertain
From the cylindrical figure of the phial, it follows that all the
lines attached to its sides by their extremities, such as were ver-
tical alone excepted, formed with those sides chords to arcs of
various magnitudes. Lowering itself from one of these chords
to another, and applying the spinners to each in succession, the
spider soon connected the whole of them together by a line;
then ascending again to the greatest altitude it could attain, and
dropping down by a thread to the bottom of the phial, over
which it walked to the opposite side; it there drew the thread
tight and made it fast, having prevented it from coming in con-
tact with the glass previously by raising the abdomen a little.
To this oblique line it united others, extending them in different
directions, till by these means it established a communication
with every part of the phial. As there was some difficulty in
tracing these operations with the unassisted eye, lenses of the
magnifying powers of six and eight were employed.
The spiders seen ascending into the atmosphere on the 1st of
October were of two distinct species; but as the technical diffe-
rence of insects has engaged only a small share of my attention,
I shall leave the task of identifying them to those who are more
familiar than myself with this branch of entomology. ‘The sub-
joined remarks on some of the characteristics of these insects,
which are more conveniently illustrated by the pen than the
pencil, may serve to facilitate this object.
One species has four of its eight eyes much larger than the
other four. 'T'wo pair situated in the front or fore-part of the
head are arranged thus *..* , the relative size of the dots being
nearly the same as that of the eyes. ‘The other pair of small
ones is placed in the upper part of the head, and on each side of
it one of the remaining pair of large eyes is seated. "This spider
has the abdomen rather depressed ; the anterior limbs, which it
raises in a menacing manner when any thing approaches it, are
longer
how Spiders effect their aérial Excursions. 459
longer than the posterior ones; and it moves in a lateral direc-
tion with almost as much ease and expedition as it does straight
forward. The largest individuals of this species observed to be
conveyed through the atmosphere by a current of air acting
upon their lines, measured ith of an inch between the extreme
points of the head and abdomen; 45th of an inch across the
broadest part of the abdomen ; and weighed about a quarter of
a grain.
The second species has also four eyes of a greater magnitude
than the other four. The arrangement and relative size of three
pair placed in the fore-part of the head may be thus expressed
by dots *..* ; one of the other pair of large eyes being situated
on each side of the head. Spiders of this species have the last
pair of legs longer than the first, and move with great celerity,
but rarely in a lateral direction. They vary considerably in
colour, some being of a much darker hue than others, and these
are frequently without the pale longitudinal line which extends
the whole length of the thorax, and sometimes even on to the
abdomen of the lighter-coloured specimens. "The largest indi-
viduals seen floating in the air were somewhat inferior in weight
and dimensions to the largest of the preceding species observed
under similar circumstances *.
* [s this the Aranea dorsalis of the Systema Nature, Gmelin’s edit.?
NI. De:
( 460 )
XXI. Descriptions of two Quadrupeds inhabiting the South of
Africa, about the Cape of Good Hope. By Andrew Smith,
M.D., Member of the Wernerian Society of Edinburgh, Super-
intendent of the South African Museum, and Assistant Surgeon
to the Forces. Communicated by Sir Everard Home, Bart.,
VP RSs FIGS Ye.
Read June 19, 1827.
Mosr of the larger quadrupeds of South Africa are now known
by names, yet few, comparatively speaking, by perfect descrip-
tions. ‘That such should be the case is not at all to be won-
dered at, when we consider that almost all the knowledge we
possess regarding them has been obtained either from dried
skins or from the works of travellers,—a class of individuals
usually but little versed in natural history, and whose temporary
residence, even if better informed, affords but few opportunities
for making such experiments and observations as are absolutely
necessary to advance science.
To describe animals with accuracy, they must be studied when
alive, examined when young, observed when old, and closely
watched through every stage between those periods; and to do
that requires long and actual residence in the spots where they
occur: circumstances which point out the propriety of local in-
stitutions for such purposes in all places whose natural produc-
tions are not thoroughly known. If such a plan had long ago
been pursued at the Cape, doubtless the two animals now about
to
Dr. Smiru’s Descriptions of two Quadrupeds, §c. 461
to be described would ere this have been familiar to naturalists:
and the illustrious Cuvier saved the necessity of making the fol-
lowing confession regarding one of them*. ‘ Nous avons au
cabinet du roi une hyène dont la patrie est inconnue, sur laquelle
je suis en doute si c'est encore une varieté de l’hyène rayée ou
bien si on doit la regarder comme une espéce distinct.”
Two species of the genus Hyæna inhabit the more southern
parts of Africa, viz. the Hyena encrita, or Tiger Wolf of the
Cape colonists, and the Strand Wolf of the same, or the animal
evidently alluded to by Cuvier in the remarks above quoted.
The description of the latter has been drawn up from observa-
tions made on several different specimens, but particularly on
one which was purchased for the South African Museum, when
very young, and which now full-grown still continues in the
possession of that establishment.
The other animal, as will be seen, is a new species of Hyraa,
which, though it has lately been sent to Europe, has not yet, as
far as I know, been named or described. From its being always
found living in cavities or hollows of old decayed trees, I have
given it the specific appellation of **arboreus." 'The drawing of
the Hyæna accompanying this paper, is a close and faithful re-
presentation of the animal; and it was my wish to have sent
one also of the Hyrax, but in that I have been disappointed, in
consequence of my specimen dying before the drawing could
be made.
HYÆNA VILLOSA.
Hyæna with the body dusky-gray variegated by large black
spots or oblique bands, with the neck yellowish, and the
extremities marked by interrupted transverse black lines.
* Récherches sur les Ossemens Fossiles, par M. Cuvier, tom.iv. p. 384.
STRAND
402 Dr. Suiru’s Descriptions of two Quadrupeds
STrAND Worr, STRAND Jur, of the Colonists.
Tas. XIX.
In point of size and strength this species falls considerably
short of the Crocuta or most common Cape Hyæna. 1t usually
measures about three feet from the forehead to the root of the
tail, or a little better than four from the nose to the tip of the
tail. The fore legs are considerably longer than the hinder
ones ; and when perfectly straight and upright, they maintain
the upper parts of the shoulders about two feet four inches from
the ground: on such, as well as on most other occasions, the
head is still higher; and from thence till near the root of the
tail the upper surface of the animal exhibits distinctly an in-
clined plane. ‘The fore parts are much stronger and more ro-
bustly formed than the hinder ones, and its principal strength
lies in the shoulders, neck, and head: the latter is throughout
strongly constructed, and the upper part is very broad, and
appears even more so than it actually is, on account of the
manner in which the hair, like a ruff, stands out upon its sides
between the ears and the throat. The forehead is deep, slightly
convex, and covered thickly with a rigid short hair, partly black,
partly white, and partly reddish-brown,—all, however, so inter-
mixed with each other as to exhibit a sort of grizzled appear-
ance. ‘The lower portion of the face, commencing at the eyes,
is much narrower than the upper parts, convex, in front flattish,
at the sides and throughout thinly covered by short, black, and
reddish-white hair. Immediately under the outer angle of each
eye are one or two black spots and black hair, more or less dis-
tinctly in the form of one or more vertical stripes, occurs amongst
the reddish-white sort that forms the ruff-like appearance pre-
viously alluded to as extending between the ears and the throat.
The nose and the centre of the face immediately adjoining it
are
71
SS
inhabiting the South of Africa. 463
are black and bare, the latter smooth, the former slightly rough
and granular. ‘The eyes are rather large, the irides very dark
brown, and the pupils vertical, sometimes linear, sometimes
oval. ‘The ears are about four inches apart, pointed, usually
erect, moderately long, and covered outside with a little fine
reddish-white down, inside with the same, and the meatus audi-
torius eatimus partially crossed by a tuft of white hair, which
descends from the inside of the superior margin of the external
ear.
The chin and sides of the under lip are blackish; the begin-
ning of the throat a deep black ; and these two hues are separated
from each other, more or less completely, by a transverse oblique
band or white blotch. On the forehead, immediately over the
inner angle of each eye, are a few particularly long black hairs,
and some similar ones are observed about two inches behind the
organs just mentioned, only, however, rather a little below their
level. ‘The latter issue from a thimble-like cavity formed by
the shorter hairs receding from each other, and another and a
similar appearance, nay even if any thing more distinct, occurs
about an inch behind the corner of the mouth, from which also
protrudes a small number of like black stiff hairs. ‘The whiskers
are long, very strong, black, and disposed in three or four rows
on the sides of the upper lip a little behind the nostrils. The
hair on the neck and body is very long and shaggy, measuring
in many places, but particularly about the sides and back, at
least six inches. On the lateral parts of the neck, from the
temples to the anterior edge of the shoulders, the whole is of a
dirty tawny-white or dirty-yellow, which, with a little more
white, is nearly the colour of the breast, belly, and insides of
the extremities. Along the upper part of the neck, commencing
at the forehead, the hairs are rather longer than on the sides,
and of a tawny-white colour, slightly varied, however, by a
VOL XY. 30 partial
464 Dr. Smiru’s Description of two Quadrupeds
partial intermixture of a black or blackish-brown sort. A dirty
tawny-white, or rather tawny-gray, occurs also on the back and
sides, but is in those places less distinctly observed in conse-
quence of the number of large irregular blackish spots, or trans-
verse oblique stripes, which in some specimens are of so great a
size and so closely set that their colour may be considered as the
ground one, and the lighter hues only as variegations. ‘The root
of the tail is a dirty tawny, and the tip, or indeed the greater
part of its leneth, bushy and black, with a slight intermixture of
white hairs, and the whole measuring about eight inches in
length. Outsides of the legs dirty-white crossed by a number
of narrow nearly straight deep black bands, which are regularly
wanting on the insides. Feet dirty-white and without variega-
tions, each with four toes, and each toe with a short strong
claw.
From an early age, the great length of the hair formed a
very striking feature in the appearance of the captive speci-
men; yet L nevertheless felt inclined to view it as an example
of the common striped species, and was disposed to attribute
for a time the length of the covering to the circumstance of the
animal's confinement. Recent examinations, however, of seve-
ral others of a similar description, all of which had passed their
early, and some of their mature, years in a state of nature, have
proved, that the peculiarity alluded to did not depend upon the
change of situation, but was common to it under all circum-
stances, and therefore with other characters has led me to regard
it asa distinct species *.
In its manners, habits, and disposition, it agrees with the
spotted sort; but from an inferiority of physical powers it is a
* | have no means of ascertaining the H. fusca of Geoffroy St. Hilaire: at any
rate the description of that species does not correspond with ours.
less
inhabiting the South of Africa. 465
less formidable enemy to man. Though equally carnivorous with
the Crocuta, it seldom attacks the larger quadrupeds, and it is
only sheep, goats, and such-like animals that suffer from its
predatory habits. A living specimen, which I kept a long time
in my possession, appeared particularly inclined to indolence
during the day, and submitted to confinement even from the first
without apparent regret, till the gloom of night approached,
when he generally became restless, active, and evidently anxious
after liberty. Every change that was made in his situation was
followed during a certain number of succeeding nights by fresh
exertions ; but as soon as he found an escape to be unattainable
he quietly submitted to his fate. When he was first procured,
he was chained to a wooden post in the open air, and a large
box was placed near him to afford a shelter from the incle-
mencies of the weather; but this he soon broke to pieces. He
was then moved into an outhouse, and there kept chained till
the collar began to chafe his neck, when it was cut off, the door
closed, and he left so far free.
Though he could, while thus secured, range over every part
of the house, yet he never attempted to effect his escape from
the building till he found himself disencumbered of his chain,
when he commenced the very first night afterwards digging up
the floor close to the edge of the wall; and so industrious was
he, that ere morning he had formed a cavity in which he could
almost conceal himself. The hole was immediately filled up by
large stones, all of which, however, he removed during the next
night, and went on digging till he reached the foundation of the
wall. This from its strength and breadth put a stop to his further
progress. Having on this occasion also been disappointed, he
relinquished his exertions, appeared perfectly contented with his
residence, and showed no inclination whatever to commence
operations in any other part of his dwelling. He always evinced
302 a great
466 Dr. Smitu’s Description of two Quadrupeds
a great anxiety to carry things of every description to the place
where he was confined; and whatever he got he invariably
showed much inclination to retain, as even the most trifling
articles were not without difficulty regained. He always seemed
much delighted at the occurrence of rain, and during its con-
tinuance kept leaping and running about with unusual activity.
Great warmth appeared always to be disagreeable to him; and
whenever the heat of the sun was powerful, he regularly, if pos-
sible, got into the shade. On various occasions he appeared
playful and mild, which, however, there was reason to believe,
arose more from cunning than from good-nature ; and on one of
these occasions he continued his familiarity till he got his play-
mate, a young dog, within his grasp, after which he proceeded
instantly to devour him. He appeared always extremely suspi-
cious, and as if in constant fear of snares; for on one or two
occasions J placed a common deal board obliquely across the
house in which he was confined, and it was not till a consider-
able time after he had become accustomed to it that he ventured
out of the distant corner into which at such times he regularly
retreated. On gaining sufficient confidence to enable him to
leave his retreat, he invariably advanced with much caution
towards the board ; and it was not till after a considerable lapse
of time that he even dared to bring his nose in contact with it.
In doing this, he frequently and suddenly retreated without any
evident reason, and often merely from flies which he disturbed
by advancing his head. After having on such occasions cau-
tiously smelt the object which caused his fears, he never even
then appeared satisfied with his situation till he had licked it all
over with his tongue, and tried the influence of his teeth upon
such parts as they could be brought to touch.
He appeared now and then fond of exercise; and at such
periods he would run a hundred times, or even more, from one
extremity
inhabiting the South of Africa. 407
extremity of his habitation to the other without resting*. He
always appeared to relish meat in which the blood remained,
more than that from which it had escaped; and he invariably
betrayed a great anxiety to destroy whatever animals came near
him. On occasions when he succeeded in effecting this, he
regularly lay down upon his victim and rolled over and over it,
after which he carefully licked up such blood as might be upon
it, or upon the ground on which it lay.
After a continuance of such gambols for about half or three-
quarters of an hour, he usually proceeded to consume his prey;
and then, as well as at other times, when he had more than he
could at once devour, he generally concealed it in some hole or
corner, and there let it remain till hunger urged him to make
another meal. He always evinced a great liking to bones, and
often would seize upon them in preference to flesh, and employ
his teeth for hours together in breaking them in pieces, and his
tongue in collecting the marrow and soft parts from the frac-
tured portions. Such employment he appeared to pursue partly
as a pastime and partly as a means of gratifying his palate, which
the species under consideration, as well as the Crocuta, is known
to practise in his wild retreat, or place of concealment.
While one day employed in secretly observing the habits of
this animal, I noticed an upright beam, which stood in one corner
of the building in which he was confined, besmeared towards its
middle with a dirty white-looking matter resembling impure
candle-grease. On continuing to survey it, I saw the Hywna
approach the spot and lick off a portion with his tongue, which
proceeding he repeated several times in close succession, till
almost all of it had disappeared. Leaving him when scarcely
* [ have often observed hawks, when in a state of confinement, do the same, which
was probably to make up for the want of their natural exercise, so requisite for proper
digestion.
any
468 Dr. Smirn’s Description of two Quadrupeds
any of this grease was to be seen, I was not a little surprised on
my return to find the quantity much increased, and therefore
determined if possible to ascertain from whence it was acquired.
With this view I had the post cleaned, and then concealed myself
so as to be unnoticed by the animal, and yet be able to see him.
Scarcely was quietness established, when he approached the old
spot and commenced rubbing his nates forcibly against the wood
for about half a minute, and upon desisting an abundant supply
of the white greasy-looking substance was found to have been
deposited, which he commenced consuming agreeably to the
mode already described. The rubbing-place was cleaned seve-
ral times, and as regularly as that was done, the loss was sup-
plied, till at last the animal finding all his exertions of no avail,
selected a large stone in a distant corner of the building upon
which to form the deposit, and where he continued to place it as
long as he was annoyed. Since I first observed this habit, which
is now more than six months, I have never for many minutes
together seen the beam without more or less of the substance in
question ; and whenever I have secretly watched the animal for
any time, I have seen him licking off and swallowing portions
of it. He seldom finished a meal without betaking himself to
the beam; he almost never rose from rest without making a
similar journey, and he rarely at any time passed the deposit
without partaking of it. Is this secretion necessary for carrying
on the process of digestion, or for maintaining the regularity of
the functions of the alimentary canal ?
Hyrax ARBOREUS.
Hyrax, with the colour a mixture of reddish-brown and black
above; white beneath; a white blotch near the middle of
the back.
Boom-
inhabiting the South of Africa. 409
Boom-Das of the Colonists.
This species rather exceeds the size of the Hyrax Capensis,
usually measuring about 21 inches from the tip of the nose to
the extremity of the back, and about 7 inches in height. In its
general form it resembles the species just named ; and in the
manner of moving and sitting they exactly coincide. The colour
above is a sort of tawny-red, freely mottled and variegated with
black ; on the lower parts of the sides it is reddish-white, with a
less abundant intermixture of black ; and beneath, as well as on
the insides of the legs, it is an uniform dull white. "l'he reddish
colour arises from the tips of most of the hairs being of that hue ;
and the black variegations depend partly upon a scanty inter-
mixture of long hairs, which are entirely of that colour, but
principally upon an exposure of the deeper parts of the general
covering, which are throughout inclined to black ; and in con-
sequence of this last being the chief source from whence the
mottled appearances are derived, that necessarily is more or less
considerable according to the position of the hair, &c. ‘The
crown of the head has a predominance of black; the sides and
middle of the face anterior to the eyes are covered by a sort of
short, dull. dusky, or reddish-white hair; and a whitish streak
extends backwards from thence over each eye. ‘The sides of the
head a mixture of grayish-white and black, the upper and lower
lips whitish, as is also the point of the chin, the throat, and the
other under parts, as already mentioned. ‘The ears are short
and roundish, with their tips projecting but little beyond the
hair with which the animal is covered ; outside they are beset
with long dusty whitish hair, and inside they have a mere scanty
coating of the same colour. Directly in the middle of the back,
about half-way between the shoulders and rump, is a narrow
longitudinal whitish blotch, and about the centre of the chin is
a trans-
470 Dr. Smitu on two Quadrupeds of South Africa.
a transverse darkish band. ‘The tail is wanting ; the feet and
toes are covered above by a dirty reddish-white hair; the whis-
kers are long, black, and situated on the anterior parts of the
upper lip, and some similar looking hairs occur immediately
over each eye.
The teeth in this species differ a little from those in the other
Cape Hyrax, more particularly the incisors; but as I have not
had an opportunity of examining them minutely, I may only
mention at present, that the upper ones are more pointed, and
that the lower ones stand in pairs, from the two intermediate
ones being separated by a considerable interval. "Phe latter are
also a little shorter than the lateral ones, and all of them have
their tips tri-dentated.
This animal is found in many of the forests of South Africa,
and is occasionally seen coming out of holes in decayed trees,
or standing upon the summits of such as have only trunks re-
maining.
Little is yet known of its manners; and almost the only
observation that can be elicited from the farmers and inhabi-
tants of the parts of the country in which it resides, is, that it
makes a great noise previous to the fall of rain.
XXII. An
XXII. An Account of a Pair of hinder Hands of an Orang
Otang, deposited in the Collection of the Trinity-House, Hull.
By John Harwood, M.D., l.R.S. and L.S. Communicated
by the Zoological Club of the Linnean Society.
Read June 19, 1827.
Ix viewing the collection belonging to the Trinity-House, Hull,
being no less interested than surprised by the extraordinary size
and appearance of a pair of the hinder hands of an Orang Otang
contained in a glass vessel, I became anxious to obtain all the
information possible concerning them ; and I have now the plea-
sure of laying it before the Linnean Society.—On the 5th of
June 1822, Captain John Anderson, (since deceased,) master of
the ship Lord Wellington, of Hull, presented to the Board (to
use the words contained in his letter to them) ‘two of the feet
of an Orang Otang, which had been presented to him in the
year 1821 by the native Sultan of Pontianna in Borneo, in
whose family they had remained as a great curiosity during
154 years. This chief," he continues, ‘is remarkably fond of
the English nation ; and added, in presenting them to me, that
the apparent strength of the feet of this animal would indicate
the power of his attachment to them and their interests." Such,
then, is the only portion of history I have been enabled, or am
likely, to collect concerning these specimens. In confirmation
of the above account, on visiting the residence of the late
e
VOR XV. 3 P Captain
472 Dr. Harwoop on a Pair of hinder Hands
Captain Anderson, to obtain further information on the subject,
a great many other curiosities were shown to me, for which he
had been indebted to the munificence of the same chief.—It
now then becomes necessary to point out more especially what
I conceive to be the peculiar claims of these specimens to our
attention.
Though very materially shrunk in bulk, from a styptic solu-
tion in which they have been preserved, they are, in the first
place, even at present, larger than any similar specimens of
which I have seen any well-authenticated description : for while
Dr. Abel in his highly interesting account of the gigantic Orang
Otang, killed at Ramboom in Sumatra, which he computes to
have measured 7 feet 6 inches in height, states it to have had
hinder hands which measured 14 inches in length,—these spe-
cimens extend no less than 15 inches and a quarter. Notwith-
standing considerable contraction in their circumference over
the knuckles, they still exceed the admeasurement of his more
recent specimens by a quarter of an inch, being 10 inches,
while the middle toe of ours, from the knuckle, exceeds his by
an inch and three-quarters, being the enormous length of 7
inches and three-quarters. ‘The length from the metatarsal
bone of the fore-finger to the end of the thumb, which is placed
at nearly right angles to it, is 5 inches and a half; and from the
outer edge of the metatarsus to the end of the thumb, 9 inches.
The circumference of the thumb at its extremity is no less
than 3 inches and a quarter, and that of the tarsus 11 inches.
The second circumstance worthy of notice is the fact that
the thumbs are each destitute of a nail, but they have a hard-
ened protuberance in its place: and thirdly, their upper surface
is covered more or less thickly, as far as the last joint of the
fingers, with red ferruginous-coloured hair, which about the
ankle is several inches in length. ‘The coarse and thick cuticle
which
of an Orang Otang. 473
which covers the palms and the inside of the fingers is strongly
furrowed by those parallel and spiral lines, which in our own
hands, those of the apes generally, and in many of the Planti-
grada, announce the acuteness of the sense of touch. The skin
is of a reddish-brown colour; and the nails, which are about
an inch in length, are darker. The thumb, as in all these
creatures, is comparatively short, but extremely powerful ; and,
as before observed, placed nearly at right angles with the meta-
tarsal bones.
These gigantic specimens having thus all the characters which
pertain to the hinder hands of the true Simia Satyrus of Linnzus,
or the Red Orang Otang of the Eastern Islands, of which very
young individuals have occasionally been brought to Europe,
it becomes a question, whether we are to refer them to that
species ; whether we should regard them as belonging to a spe-
cies very similar, yet distinct from that animal, as the Pongo,
described by Worms, has been thought to be; or whether we
should consider these two animals, the Simia Satyrus and the
Pongo, to be the same species of ditferent ages, as they have been
supposed to be by Cuvier, Desmarest, and others, who regard
the Pongo as the adult animal. Now, certain it is that they very
closely resemble each other in many of their characters ; and I
should be strongly inclined to acquiesce in this latter supposi-
tion of their identity, could difficulties be overcome which have
arisen from an examination of several skeletons of Orang Otangs,
for opportunities of doing which, I am especially indebted to
Mr. Clift and Mr. Brookes.
Among these difficulties, the most important arises from a
difference in the number of the vertebra; for in the perfect
skeleton of the Pongo at the Royal College of Surgeons, I find
five lumbar vertebrz instead of four, which latter is the number
in all the specimens of S. Satyrus that have fallen under my
3 Pa observation.
414 Dr. Harwoop on a Pair of hinder Hands
observation. ‘There is a considerable difference in the clavicles.
in the Pongo they are much straighter and of a different form,
as was particularly observable in a specimen belonging to that
kind and munificent promoter of natural science, the late Sir
Stamford Raffles. The scapule of the Pongo have their spine
strongly incurvated upwards, while in the Sina Satyrus it pur-
sues almost a straight direction horizontally : the space also for
the attachment of the infrà spinatus muscle is, relatively to the
size of the bone, far more extended in the Pongo. In regard to
the form of the skull, there are differences between these animals
so decided as particularly to claim our attention, especially as I
am not aware that they have been before noticed. The nasal
bones in both animals are perfectly flat and do not at all project
forwards, and are ossified together at a very early age; but the
antrum is a cavity of far greater dimensions and developement
in the Satyrus than in the Pongo, where it can be hardly said to
exist at all,
a circumstance which, supposing the latter to be
the adult Sa/yrus, is the reverse of what takes place in other
animals. But the most distinguishing difference relates to the
proportions of the orbits, and the space which separates them.
‘They are of by far the greatest proportionate size in the Satyrus ;
for in the very young animal before alluded to, they measure
transversely 15 lines and a half, while in the skull of the largest
Pongo ever brought to this country, they extend no more than
17 lines anda half. But the difference in the extent of the space
between the orbits is of all the distinctions I have seen the most
apparent; for in the Satyrus, where the transverse extent of the
orbits is 15 lines and a half, and the vertical 17 and a half, the
space between the orbits is only 2 lines and a half; and in the
still younger Satyrus at the Royal Institution, where the trans-
verse diameter is 15 lines and a half, this space measures only
2 lines, or less than one-sixth ; while in the Pongo, where the
same
of an Orang Otang. 475
same diameter is 17 lines and a half, it is no less than 7 lines and a
half, or nearly equal to one-half the breadth of the orbit. Neither
is the orbit itself in these animals placed on the same plane ; but
while almost vertical in the Satyrus, it forms in the Pongo an
angle with the horizon of many degrees less. These then appear
to be some of the most important distinctions. In their absence,
indeed, the many others which exist in the form of the skull of
these animals might be attributable to age ; for although those
of the Satyrus seen in Europe have the skull round and smooth,
and the facial angle large (as is so well exemplified in the skele-
tons at the Royal Institution, Mr. Brookes's, and at the College
of Surgeons), while in the Pongo the skull is angular, provided
with sharp ridges or crests, and the facial angle much smaller,
such differences, though less apparent, are seen between the
young and old of most other quadrupeds.
In addition to other arguments mentioned in favour of the
identity of the two animals, the French naturalists assert that the
vertebra of each kind are the same in number. This conclu-
sion they seem to draw from the large skeleton of the Pongo
in the collection of Comparative Anatomy at Paris, but which,
being obviously imperfect in several of its parts, I am much
inclined to consider is deficient in one of its lumbar vertebra.
‘They then state all the proportions of the body and limbs to be
similar, each to be destitute of the hinder thumb-nail ; each to
have large cavities communicating with.the larynx, and of the
same form; neither to possess callosities ; and that the colour
differs only in being darker in the Pongo, as we see it in most
adult animals. We also know that they inhabit the same coun-
try. ‘To these arguments I may with justice add, that the adult
Simia Satyrus, as distinct from the Pongo, has never been accu-
rately described; and that the Simia Satyrus seen here is evi-
dently the young of a large species, as is determined by the
loose
476 Dr. Harwoop on a Pair of hinder Hands
loose and porous texture of its bones, and the cartilaginous nature
of their extremities.
I cannot suffer the present opportunity to pass by, without
suggesting the possibility of Dr. Abel having been materially
deceived in his estimate, taken from the dried skin, of the height
of his animal, which he computes at no less than 7 feet 6 inches ;
for he calculates, that the extent of his reach from finger to finger
across the chest did not exceed 8 feet 2 inches; whereas in the
skeleton of the Pongo at the College of Surgeons, whose arms I
believe to be shorter in proportion to its height than in the true
Satyrus, and which is probably the same species he has described,
—in this Pongo I find the extent of reach to be not less than 7
feet, and yet its height does not exceed 3 feet 11 inches: and
consequently, if what I have presumed be found correct, were
it a Satyrus instead of a Pongo, with a reach of 7 feet, its height
would scarcely exceed 3 feet and a half. It is highly worthy
of notice, as relating to the proportions of Orang Otangs, that
with a reach of 7 feet, each arm being 3 feet 1 inch in length,
this Pongo measures only 2 feet 2 inches from the summit of the
head to the extremity of the os coccygis, and only 1 foot 10 inches
in the length of its hinder extremities, or from the top of the head
of the os femoris to the under surface of the os calcis. The hinder
hand of this creature is at the same time no more than 2 inches
shorter than that of the animal described by Dr. Abel, being 12
inches in length.
From the capacity and form of the pelvis, and other circum-
stances, I have reason to believe the skeleton at the College of
Surgeons to be that of a female, while there is as strong evidence
that Cuvier’s larger skeleton of the same species is that of a male.
Having been favoured with accurate admeasurements made of the
Parisian specimen by Mr. Clift, it may not be considered irrele-
vant to our subject to compare some of its proportions with those
of
of an Orang Otang. 417
of the former. It exceeds ours in height by 6 inches, having an
altitude of 4 feet 5 inches instead of 3 feet 11: yet, as its arms
each measure 39 inches and a half, instead of 37 inches, and as
its chest is broader, its relative height to that of its reach I find
to be precisely the same,—the latter being a little under 8 feet.
In its length from the summit of its head to the extremity of the
os coccygis, it is exactly the same as ours, being 2 feet 2 inches :
and the length of its hinder hands is precisely similar, being 12
inches. Its bones are however thicker and stronger in propor-
tion, the head of the humerus measuring 6 inches and one-
eighth in circumference, and that of the chest at the lower part
of the sternum no less than 37 inches.
In regard to the relative length of the arms in the Pongo and
the Satyrus, it stands thus. In the Satyrus, when young, the
fingers may be observed literally to drag upon the ground like
those of the Gibbons, though the creature be placed erect ; while
in the Pongo the fingers scarcely reach to the external maleolus.
Slight differences of this kind undoubtedly take place during the
growth of animals; yet those who suppose the Pongo to be the
adult animal, must be prepared to contend for a much greater
change in the relative proportions of parts during growth than
can be admitted in other cases. Having mentioned the erect
position, it is almost unnecessary to add, that it is altogether
unnatural to these creatures; and that although we see their
skeletons constantly distorted into human attitudes, one grand
characteristic between them and us is the impossibility of their
thigh-bone being brought, by fair means or by the action of their
own muscles, into the same line as that of the spine. In all in-
ferior creatures, it is observed to form with it an angle of greater
or less magnitude, which is the most convincing of all proofs,
that their hinder extremities alone were never destined for the
support of their bodies.
From
478 Dr. Hanwoop on the Hands of an Orang Otang.
From the evidence which has been thus briefly adduced, I
shall in concluding only further observe, that I consider the
differences mentioned fully sufficient to disprove the identity
of the Simia Satyrus with the Pongo, though they are at the
same time very closely allied to each other. ‘The specimens of
the hands which I have taken the liberty of bringing under your
notice, may most probably have belonged to the former animal,
in which case they afford a very imposing example of his vast
physical powers, when allowed to attain mature age in the
shady recesses of his native forests.
XXII. Ez-
( 419 )
XXIII. On Systems and Methods in Natural History. By
J. E. Bicheno, Esg., F.R.S., Sec. L.S.
Read June 4, 1826.
I Propose to myself on the present occasion to make some ob-
servations on Systems and Methods in Natural History ; a sub-
ject of ereat importance at all times, but more especially so at
present, when new views of arrangement and nomenclature are
proposed, and to some extent adopted. Let me not be under-
stood, however, in the general observations which follow, to be
opposed to any particular system ; my object being to discuss
the first principles of arrangement, and to leave others to judge
how far they are applicable to the views adopted by any in-
dividual systematist.
It has appeared to me that the difficulties of the subject have
not been duly appreciated; and the time cannot be unprofitably
occupied, if I accomplish no more than to enable us to estimate
them. It might even be suspected, from the readiness with
which new systems are adopted, that they have a peculiar at-
traction for ardent minds; as it has not unfrequently happened
that young naturalists have found themselves prematurely em-
barrassed in a subject, which of all others requires not only an
extensive acquaintance with the operations of the human mind,
but long experience and various practice. The line of argument
I propose to employ, must necessarily be somewhat abstract ; yet
I hope I shall be borne with, since the practical naturalist could
VOL. XV. 3 Q make
480 Mr. BicueNo on Systems and Methods
make no accumulations to his science, and all his particulars
would stand unconnected and discrepant throughout, without
the aid of abstract reasoning. Besides, | am anxious to engage
the attention of persons accustomed to turn their observations to
the operations of the human mind, and to the instruments which
it employs to perform its labours; feeling assured that, by ob-
taining the cooperation of this class of philosophers, we shall
have great light thrown upon our subject ; and that it will be one
means of attracting the notice of those who delight in a large
and liberal treatment of science. While they impart to us a
philosophical solidity, in which I am apprehensive we are
wanting, we may hope to communicate to them a reciprocal
benefit, in some of those graces and charms to be derived from
the study of Nature, and in which perhaps they may be deficient.
Without undervaluing the study of species, upon which a
great deal of our knowledge is built, it cannot be denied that
naturalists in general have been too often content with assigning
them names, and a place in the systems they have adopted ; and
this they have done without having an ulterior view to their
structure and functions, and the relations subsisting amongst
them. Much less have they kept in view the end of generalizing
the particulars they are accumulating ; butthey continue to heap
together a ** rudis indigestaque moles," until they are actually
overwhelmed by their materials. ‘To build up science skilfully,
the combination should go on with the collecting, or the super-
structure will exhibit neither use nor beauty.
Mr. Roscoe has clearly illustrated the comparative merits of
the artificial and natural arrangements in Botany in a former
volume of the Transactions* ; and has satisfactorily proved, in
my estimation, that however admirable and comprehensive
the system of Jussieu may be, yet it ought not to supersede the
* Trans. Linn. Soc. vol. xi. p. 50.
use
in Natural History. 481
use of the Linnean arrangement. ‘The two great masters of bota-
nical science propose different ends, and ought not to be regarded
as rivals. ‘The President of this Society has also constantly pressed
upon the attention of the student the same important fact.
In some respects it is not to be regretted that the abso-
lute sway which the name of Linnzus has had among English
naturalists is somewhat abated: for although authority is an
extremely useful bond of union, and has in this instance esta-
blished among us a nomenclature which nothing short of homage
to the founder could probably have made current, yet it has
brought with it the ordinary evils attendant upon great names.
The range of the pupil has been limited by that of the master ;
and it has been considered a species of heterodoxy to dissent
from the established opinions. ‘The danger to be now appre-
hended is, that those who adopt other arrangements will forget
the advantages to be derived from what is old, in their love of
that which is new.
In addition to the remarks made by Mr. Roscoe and the Pre-
sident, I would beg leave to suggest to those who adopt new
systems,—and in adopting them think it advisable to break up
the old orders and genera into many new ones,—that the artificial
and natural systems aim at two very distinct objects, which are
in some measure incompatible with each other. ‘The one is to
make us acquainted with individuals: and the other, founded
upon an acquaintance with individuals, to combine them ac-
cording to their characters, so as to abridge the labour of reason-
ing, and to enable us to ascend from particular to general truths.
In order to assist us in these investigations, we employ certain
words in a peculiar sense. Thus the word Species, when used
by naturalists, has a more confined signification than the same
word when employed in scholastic language. We have agreed
that a species shall be that distinct form originally so created,
3Q 2 and
482 Mr. Brcueno on Systems and Methods
and producing by certain laws of generation others like itself:
whereas all that logicians have meant, is a number of objects
bearing a certain resemblance to one another, and on that ac-
count denominated by a single appellation, which may be em-
ployed to express any one of them. ‘This term is the creature
of art, to help us up the first step of generalization. By its as-
sistance we propose to reason upon all the individuals conform-
ing to the law we have laid down, as safely as we can do of any
one of them. ‘here is this inconvenience attending the use
of it by naturalists, that it assumes as a fact, that which in the
present state of science is in many cases a fit subject of in-
quiry ; namely, that species, according to our definition, do exist
throughout nature. It is too convenient a term to be dispensed
with, even as an assumption; only care should be taken that
we do not accept the abstract term for the fact.
It might, for instance, be proposed as a legitimate question,
whether the species of some familiar genera, such as Rosa,
Rubus, Saxifraga, do not run into one another by imperceptible
shades, unappreciable by human sense, in the same manner as
certain genera melt and intermingle their characters, so as to
render it impossible to circumscribe them. Indeed, the extent
to which species-making has been carried in modern times, al-
most leads to this conclusion. Visible and palpable distinctions
are in many cases no longer relied on ; and there are many acute
naturalists, who, without bringing the subject to the test of experi-
ment, are content to rely on those empirical characters, which can
only be perceived by long and familiar experience, and cannot
be described by words. ‘The truth is, that all sensible objects
have characters which leave impressions upon the mind, without
our being capable of embodying them in language. We are all
aware of this when we speak of tastes, and tints, and the counte-
nances of our friends. Every-body perceives them, yet nobody
can
in Natural History. 485
can communicate to his neighbour his perception of their dif-
ferences. ‘Thus botanists speak of certain species of plants dif-
fering in appearance, habit, touch, &c.; by which they often
mean that they have some indescribable peculiarities about them,
which point them out to the practised observer as distinct. A
great number of such species may be detected in every modern
Flora of a well investigated country ; but whether they deserve
to be ranked among those which are capable of definition, is a
question of great doubt :—that the practice is an inconvenience,
none will deny ; and if it be much longer continued, will involve
in inextricable difficulty all our well known species, make us
dependent upon empirical and traditional evidence for our ac-
quaintance with them, and render it impossible to derive instruc-
tion from books. In such cases the assumed law ought to be
brought to the test of experiment, or the species should be rejected.
Many of our cultivated plants also tend to invalidate the law.
Who can refer our cerealia and esculent vegetables, in many
instances, to their true types? and how few of our old flowers
are there, of which the astutest botanist can trace the origin!
Domesticated animals afford a still more striking example;
and man himself furnishes the most difficult problem of all.
These remarks and examples are, I apprehend, sufficient to
show how difficult it is to adopt the term in its strict acceptation ;
and that however precisely the naturalist has attempted to em-
ploy it, he has not succeeded to the extent he has proposed; and
that it can only be taken as correct in a vague and general sense,
and as a convenient abstraction to relieve him at the first step
from the necessity of becoming acquainted with every individual.
The next term of importance to the naturalist upon which the
accuracy of his reasoning depends, is that division of his system
which he denominates a Genus. This is an assemblage of in-
dividuals agreeing also in some common characters ; but, unlike
the
484 Mr. Bicueno on Systems and Methods
the word species, it is not previously defined. ‘Thus much in-
deed has been thought requisite; that in botany these common
characters should be taken from the parts of fructification, and
in zoology from such parts as are indicative of structure and
habits. * A genus should furnish a character, not a character
form a genus." We are not here, as in the word species, pre-
cluded from inquiry by a previous definition. "Though both
words are terms of generalization, there is the same difference
between them, as instruments of reasoning, as between a defi-
nition and a proposition in geometry.
'l'he species includes all the characters which are in the genus,
and those likewise which distinguish that species from others be-
longing to the same genus; and the more divisions we make,
as order, family, class, it is intended that the names of the lower
should become still the more comprehensive in their signifi-
cation, but the less extensive in their application to individuals.
Naturalists by this invention, which is not exclusively their own,
have it in their power to contemplate and reason upon these
separate characters, with all their consequences, as if they ex-
isted independently of species; as by the use of the word species
they are enabled to look at their peculiar attributes indepen-
dently of individuals. "This faculty of the mind, which is one of
the most curious that belongs to it, has given rise in all languages
to a multitude of words of the same kind as the names of genera
in Natural History ; words, which do not express individual ex-
istences, but are abstractions of qualities and characters belong-
ing to them *.
All general reasoning in morality, law, politics, and even ma-
thematics, depends for its accuracy upon the proper use of ge-
* | would avoid here, and leave the question to be decided by the reader, after he
has consulted Locke and Berkeley, whether we have got ideas corresponding to these
abstract terms, or whether they are mere signs, like x, y, and z in algebra.
neric
in Natural History. 485
neric and other abstract terms. In mathematics they admit of
exact (or I would rather say more exact) previous definition ;
and hence arises the accuracy of deductions the most recondite
and remote in that science. In the other sciences, which are of
a speculative and contingent nature, these terms are employed
not with the same precision, but seem to be the result of our
necessities, borrowed from sensible objects and analogy, and fre-
quently indeed from accidental coincidences. "They derive their
force rather from the character of the mind that employs them,
than from any exact definition they may have received; and it
seems impossible to make men use such words in a common ac-
ceptation. Hence it is, | apprehend, that knowledge of a specu-
lative kind so soon finds its limits; and where at its outset it has
promised such glorious results to mankind, as long as it floated
in general propositions, the same subject eludes the grasp of the
human faculties when it is attempted to be reduced to exactness,
and leaves something always to be desired. We are constantly
approximating to the truth, yet never reaching it.
It is sometimes asserted, but not correctly, that Natural Hi-
story, by the aid of its terms, partakes of the nature of mathema-
tical truth ; or that it lies intermediate between that science and
speculative knowledge. ‘The situation of the naturalist is rather
this. He finds himself placed amidst an infinite number of un-
known particulars ; and in order to facilitate an acquaintance
with them, he at once, without regarding individuals with much
minuteness, throws together a number of them, which he calls a
species, according to an assumed hypothesis. "These he attempts
again to combine by certain external characters, and calls them
a genus. By these means he is enabled to contemplate and treat
of them, without being utterly bewildered in the labyrinth of
unarranged individuals. Classification is his filum Ariadneum.
It was but imperfectly understood by the ancients; and has
enabled
486 Mr. BrcugNo on Systems and Methods
enabled the moderns to arrive at conclusions with much more
expedition than they, and with equal safety. It does that at
once which is constantly going on in ordinary language,—the
modifications of it to express the classes of external objects. The
invention of new terms suited to express new ideas in an abridged
and compressed form, is a slow process, and in most cases is the
result of convenience. ‘There is no convention to attain the
object, because nobody can arrest the subtile means that are
employed. But the naturalist being without terms, or at most
with so few that they are within his power, attempts to anticipate
the slow process usually working in language, and forms at once
his instruments of reasoning; and systems and methods can be
regarded as no further useful, than as they are assimilated to the
ordinary process of abridging the labour of thought adopted by
mankind in other subjects of a like nature.
Naturalists err greatly who imagine they are employing terms
possessing some new and distinct properties ; whereas all they
can do is to hold the subjects of natural history together in a loose
manner by the use of the words species, genus, order, and class ;
thus presenting certain characters to the mind as separate objects
of contemplation by means of abstract terms, of a similar though
somewhat more precise import than those which are employed by
the rest of mankind in treating general subjects. A stricter use
may be made of these words by naturalists than by metaphy-
sicians, because the business of the one is to examine characters
and qualities more nicely than the subjects entertained by the
other will admit of. Nevertheless, the one cannot employ these
abstractions as instruments of reasoning in a different sense from
the other. ‘There is no magic about them in the hands of a
naturalist more than there is in any of the thousand general terms
in the mouths of the vulgar. ** Rose” and ‘ Grass" were generic
names before the flood, and will continue to be so in spite of
systems
in Natural History. 487
systems and methods. The naturalist has attempted only to
carry this necessary operation of the mind somewhat further
and with more precision, and has thus exposed himself to errors,
which the vulgar have escaped. ‘Thus, although there are but
two modes of reasoning; namely, by the use of words expressive
of an individual and its attributes, or by general words indica-
tive of an aggregation of individuals with their common attri-
butes; yet naturalists have used their terms in a different sense,
and have invented additional ones, such as order, tribe, cohort,
family, class, by which they attempt to express with more accuracy
larger generalizations than they would do by employing a. ge-
neric term, and as if they could settle the relative rank of the
different groups whose existence they have assumed. Whereas
the truth is, that in many instances a class may be equivalent to
an order ora genus. "These different gradations, thus strictly
aimed at, are gratuitous assumptions with which Nature has
nothing to do; and which frequently lead to the establishment
of false hypotheses.
It was the opinion of Linnzus, and continues to be the opinion
of some of his disciples, that genera are actually founded in na-
ture as much as species. ** Natura opus semper est species et
genus." Phil. Bot. § 162. ‘Genus omne est naturale, in pri-
mordio tale creatum, hine pro lubitu et secundum cujuscunque
theoriam non proterve discindendum aut conglutinandum."
Ib. § 159. So the excellent and elegant author of the ** Intro-
duction to Physiological and Systematic Botany," says, “A
genus comprehends one or more species so essentially different
in formation, nature, and often many adventitious qualities from
other plants, as to constitute a distinct family or kind no less
permanent, and founded in the immutable laws of the creation,
than the different species of such a genus. Thus in the animal
kingdom a horse, ass, and zebra, form three species of a very
VOL. XV. SR distinct
488 Mr. Breneno on Systems and Methods
distinct genus, marked not only by its general habit or aspect,
its uses and qualities, but also by essential characters in its teeth,
hoofs, and internal constitution.” It was the circumscribing
these insulated assemblages of species that Linnæus regarded as
the business of the accomplished naturalist.
Those therefore who use the word genus in the Linnean sense,
do not employ it with the same meaning as those who regard
genera as merely conventional, and subject to be broken down
to suit convenience. ‘The latter would do well to employ some
other term, else one great object will be lost at which we are
aiming ;—the keeping together under some one common head
those small assemblages of species which in some instances are
so obvious, and so important in enabling us to comprehend and
discourse of the scheme of nature.
Whether such insulated groupings really exist, it is for the
naturalist to determine, and this can be only inferred from a very
extensive knowledge; but as long as we are witnesses to such
striking modifications of form as we discover in the genus Erica,
Rosa, Eriocaulon, &c., among plants, and in Vespertilio, Strix,
Scarabaus, &c., among animals, it would be the height of folly
to give up a term so expressive and at the same time so useful,
or to transfer its received meaning to some other word which has
not been used in the same sense.
As the success of the systematist depends so materially upon
the proper use of these abstractions, I shall now proceed to show
some distinctions which it is necessary to keep in view while we
employ them. We aim, as I said before, at two distinct objects
by the use of systems: we use the artificial for becoming ac-
quainted with individuals, and the natural as the means of com-
bining them, and enabling the student to comprehend and speak
of the general truths relating to nature by a knowledge of a few
particulars.
Division
in Natural History. 489
Division and separation is the end of the artificial system ;—
to establish agreements is the end of the natural. In one case
we reason à priori; in the other à posteriori. The one is a
descending, the other an ascending series. Linneus under-
stood this distinction when he remarked, ** Ordines naturales
valent de natura plantarum ; artificiales in diagnosi plantarum.”
—‘* Cavendo in imitando naturam filum Ariadneum amittamus.”
Nevertheless it has appeared to me that many modern natu-
ralists have not adopted these truths ; and that it is the prevalent
error of the day to attempt to generalize where they ought to
analyse; while their arrangements, called natural, are almost
all of them framed with a view to distinguish. Let me not be
supposed by these remarks to wish to exclude from the natural
system every attempt at diagnosis; for it is obvious, that as the
business of the naturalist is to study all the characters, he can
no more neglect differences than he can agreements. J only
wish to point out the two dissimilar objects we have in view,
that they may not be confounded.
M. Decandolle, for instance, whose labours as a systematist
are invaluable, seems to overlook this distinction. In his ** Regni
Vegetabilis Systema Naturale," he starts from things the least
known, to reason on things best known. He begins his compre-
hensive work with a predicate of the stars; and, proceeding
downwards to minerals, comes to plants. Here he employs a
series of terms expressive of a natural gradation from the highest
to thelowest group, attempting fresh combinations at every stage,
and making a place for every thing. Thus he has class, sub-class,
cohort, order, tribe, genus, section, species. The extraordinary
number of these combinations diminishes their value as a work of
natural arrangement. It is a difficulty of sufficient amount to
establish a few well marked ; and when they are so multiplied, it
may be suspected that many of them are arbitrary and artificial.
3 Rr 2 This
490 Mr. BrcugNo on Systems and Methods
This attempt at breaking down good orders and genera into
many subordinate and loosely defined groups, and encumbering
them with names, involves the subject in obscurity, and may well
be questioned as contrary to his main design of presenting those
comprehensive views which are afforded by a natural system.
Mr. Brown has adopted a different mode in his ** Prodromus."
He has attempted to combine no further than his knowledge
would warrant, not even employing the terms class or order as
the names of his groups. As his object is chiefly synthesis, he
keeps his diagnostic characters apart, thus leaving the mind less
embarrassed when it is in pursuit of analysis. It must be ad-
mitted indeed, that his work cannot be employed with any suc-
cess by the inexperienced, or even by those who have occupied
themselves only in searching for species; but to have made it
subservient to this purpose, would have been to have rendered
it less beautiful and complete as a work of synthesis. His apho-
risms and remarks not being reduced to exact method, * are," as
Lord Bacon expresses it, “still in their growth, increasing in
bulk and substance."
Now wherever the object of the systematist is to enable his
reader to discover species, it is necessary to define at every step;
and where natural characters do not present themselves, we must
adopt artificial ones. For this purpose large classes are formed,
many of which are necessarily artificial. These again are broken
up into orders, mostly of an artificial character; and thus the
naturalist is led step by step from more comprehensive definitions
to less, from class to order, from order to genus, and from genus
to species. In this descending series it will be observed that
the essential feature is the facility that is afforded for definition.
Hence the Linnzan system of botany has succeeded so well, be-
cause its author selected chiefly as the ground of his arrange-
ment the number and proportion of parts most obvious and
least
in Natural History. 491
least liable to vary. His classes and orders are avowedly so
many assumptions, which practice has shown to be convenient ;
but when we come to genera, the artificial system falls in with
the natural, as Linnæus framed their characters upon resem-
blances founded in nature.
Now in the natural system this machinery of terms cannot be
employed in the same manner. It is an ascending series from
the less to the greater predicate. From genera we proceed up-
wards to orders, and orders we combine into classes. We be-
come more and more general in our characters, instead of more
and more definite. Here indeed we ought not to sacrifice, as in
the artificial scheme, to convenience; and break up well-defined
genera and orders because they contain a large number of spe-
cies. If we find a large genus, for instance, as Erica, agreeing
in some well-marked characters of structure, form, station, and
properties, it appears contrary to the end proposed by the na-
tural system, to divide and subdivide the species into small
groups, and to give each of these the same value as is now pos-
sessed by the whole. This is frittering away characters which
are essential to the use of a genus, and destroying our power
over it when we proceed to generalise. The value of generic
terms consists essentially in the distinct conceptions we have of
them; but if we go on to multiply them, as is at present the
fashion, we render it as impossible to circumscribe them, as it is
to parcel out the colours of the rainbow ; and instead of making
Natural History familiar and popular, it will require the com-
pass of a man’s life to master the terms we employ. If indeed
the object be to analyse, division may be very convenient, be-
cause the inquirer may be otherwise bewildered in the multitude
of particulars. It does not follow from hence that the student
of the natural system may not avail himself of subordinate
groups by whatever characters they may furnish; only the
giving them equivalent names, and making them co-ordinate,
is
402 Mr. Bicneno on Systems and Methods
is destructive, as it appears to me, of his system as a means of
general reasoning.
In no department of natural history are the inconveniences
arising out of this confusion of analysis and synthesis more felt
than in Entomology. ‘The multitude of species included in this
kingdom of nature is so great, that it requires the most skilful
arrangement to enable the student to determine them: yet it
is unquestionably the worst furnished with assistance in this
way ;—a defect which may be attributed chiefly, | apprehend, to
the attempt which both we and our continental neighbours have
made to combine the natural with the artificial system. We have
aimed at analysis and synthesis at the same time. A compre-
hensive acquaintance with this infinitely varied tribe can alone
enable us to synthesise with safety; and a long period must
elapse before we can hope to embrace within our synthesis the
whole of the insect world.
In the large views taken by means of the natural system, our
business will for ever be the labour of separating what we shall
know from that which is unknown. The profoundest knowledge
will at last be but a fragment. Some groups of nature are so
closely related, that they have been observed from time imme-
morial. ** Whatsoever parteth the hoof and is cloven-footed,
and cheweth the cud," comprehends a group of animals so ob-
viously connected, that they must have received a generic ap-
pellation from the remotest period. As knowledge has increased,
more and more families have been separated: still there is al- —
ways a remainder of unknown things. ‘lake any natural system,
and see if this is not the case. Linneus in his ** Fragments of
a Natural Method" professes only to separate from the mass
those groups which he saw clearly. Again, his definition of
vegetables indicates the same truth: ** Vegetabilia comprehen-
dunt Familias septem, Fungos, Algas, Muscos, Filices, Gramina,
Palmas :;" and then, to include the remainder, he adds, “et
Plantas :”
on Natural History. 493
Plantas ;” defining the last thus, ** Planta dicuntur reliquæ, quie
priores intrare nequeunt familias." Phil. Dot. § 18. Take up
Jussieu's ** Genera Plantarum ;" and besides his ** Plantæ incertæ
sedis," see how he is obliged to dispose at the end of many or-
ders his ** Genera affinia,” and ** Genera nondum satis determi-
nata." This is true inductive philosophy ; yet the same author
may be suspected of departing from this mode of investigation
when he attempts to edge in his remainder under artificial or
sweeping characters, as he has done in Eleagni and Junci, and
when, falling in with this modern innovation, he invents a mul-
titude of new orders to embrace every known species of plant.
The mammiferous animals are arranged with more ease ac-
cording to a natural system, in consequence of their number
being comparatively small, and their forms strongly marked.
Nevertheless the system of M. Cuvier, in the ** Règne Animal,"
clearly shows the vain attempt of finding a place for every thing.
Nothing can be more satisfactory and beautiful than many of his
orders and divisions ; yet see how he is compelled to change his
ground when he comes to the Pachydermata, and to huddle to-
gether species very remotely connected. His birds also exem-
plify the same fact, where his order Passeres is made to include
all that his other orders will not hold. ‘ Son caractère semble
d'abord purement négatif, car il embrasse tous les oiseaux qui
ne sont ni nageurs, ni échassiers, ni grimpeurs, ni rapaces, ni
gallinacés.” Thus it contains the Warblers, the Shrikes, the
Goatsuckers, the Crows, the Creepers; birds of the most dis-
similar habits, and living upon the most dissimilar food. The
Chough is separated widely from the Corvi, and Anthus from
Alauda. Now this is what we might expect from the nature of
the subject; only it is desirable that the remainder of unknown
things should be distinctly avowed, and not reduced to an exact
place in the natural system. Jussieu’s was the most philosophic
mode,
494 Mr. Bicneno on Systems and Methods
mode, which was to place this residue at the end. Linnzus too
was very correct when he pronounced his natural orders to be a
* Fragment ;" and those persons who imagine it to be necessary
or advantageous to find a place for every thing, and to divide and
split for the purpose of making such places, appear to lose sight
of the chief object of the natural system, and to destroy its utility
as an instrument of general reasoning.
The French writers in general are prone to combine in their
systems the very distinct objects of individualizing and genera-
lizing. 'They are for ever subdividing where the great aim
should be to combine, and thus they detract from the utility of
their arrangements for either purpose. It is they who have
countenanced the use of sub-classes, cohorts, tribes, stirpes, sub-
genera, and sub-species ; and they also are the great contribu-
tors to the minute division of genera. Strictly speaking, in the
natural system we should employ but few terms of the kind al-
luded to, and those of loose application. For instance, the word
sort or group would as correctly express any natural assemblage
of species, as sub-class, race, tribe, cohort, or stirps; for what
do we know of the relative value of the groups attempted to be
pointed out by these expressions? And how can we say they are
not co-ordinate or commensurate with each other? The great
division of cotyledonous plants may, for aught we know, be only
equivalent to the order of Grasses ; and a genus in some cases
seems as distinct as any class, as Parnassia and Linnea among
plants, and the Ornithorhynchus and Hippopotamusamong animals.
Indeed in the recent work of M. Latreille, ** Familles Naturelles
du Règne Animal," he has arranged the monotrematous animals
in a class by themselves, and has made two orders; in one case,
consisting of a single species, the Ornithorhynchus paradovus, and
in the other, of two other species before considered as belonging
to that genus. ‘Thus it is, as M. Cuvier remarks, that these ani-
mals
in Natural History. 495
*
mals set at naught all our classification by their osteology and
mode of bringing forth.
The adoption of these numerous terms, intended to express
fixed ideas, must be looked on with suspicion. ‘The terms
species and genus are too well established by custom, and are
so clearly the result of convenience, and moreover conform so
closely to the ordinary use of these words, that their utility
cannot be questioned ; but those numerous subdivisions current
among our neighbours, and sensibly increasing among ourselves,
may well be doubted as unphilosophical language. ‘To each of
them is attempted to be assigned a definite value beforehand,
and an impracticable degree of precision ; and we deceive our-
selves by fancying that we can deal with these delicate and
fleeting instruments of thought differently from the rest of the
world. But are we to attempt to fetter nature by our systems
and terms? ‘ Books should follow sciences, not sciences books,”
says the immortal Bacon; yet the adoption of systems and
technical expressions, which have received their definition be-
forehand, cannot be employed without the danger of perpetuating
false hypotheses, and an apprehension on the part of the ignorant,
that these inventions give us some power over nature not be-
longing to ordinary language.
The more correct mode would be to exclude from the natural
method most of these terms, and to employ in their place some
convertible words of looser import, as indeed M. Cuvier has to
some extent done; such for instance, as group, section, division,
to express those larger assemblages of approximations to as-
signed forms, which are rather predicated than proved ; and in
many cases to point them out by mere signs, such as are used
in printing. Thus, for instance, the word section, or any similar
word, might be employed to express the plants severally com-
prehended in the order Graminee, the class Composite, and the
VOL. XV. 5.8 division
496 Mr. BicuEno on Systems and Methods in Natural History.
division Monocotyledones ; and where the characters are less defi-
nite, the plants pointed at might be assembled under a simple
asterisk.
One chief recommendation of the natural system over the ar-
tificial, is the liberty which it leaves to the mind. ‘The one shuts
it in to the narrowest scope of observation, while the other suf-
fers it to range in search of all the properties belonging to created
beings; their functions, their structure, relations and resem-
blances, affinities and analogies. It is speculative and general
truth that the natural system enables us to pursue ; and this will
never submit to be bound by any fetters which the art of man
can invent. Books after all are but a rude mode of holding
knowledge together; and language but an imperfect vehicle to
convey with precision the just relations of things. At best it
bears the image of the earthy, while things themselves bear the
image of the heavenly.
XXIV. An
Gr 4970
XXIV. An Account of a new Species of Pinus, native of California:
in a Letter to Joseph Sabine, Esq., FR. and L.S., Secretary of
the Horticultural Society. By Mr. David Douglas, A.L.S.
Communicated by Mr. Sabine.
Read November 6, 1827.
Dear Sir,
Üx»rnsrANDrNG upon my return from North-west America,
that considerable interest has been excited by reports of a new
species of Pinus of gigantic size having been discovered by me
in Northern California, I beg permission through you to lay a
short account of it before the Linnean Society.
This plant covers large districts about a hundred miles from
the ocean, in latitude 43° North, and extends as far to the South
as 40°. It first came under my notice in August 1825, while at
the headwaters of the Multnomah River. In October 1826 it
was my good fortune to meet with it beyond a range of moun-
tains running ina south-western direction from the Rocky Moun-
tains towards the sea, and terminating at Cape Orford of Van-
couver. It grows sparingly upon low hills, and the undulating
country east of the range of mountains just mentioned, where
the soil consists entirely of pure sand, in appearance incapable
of supporting vegetation. Here it attains its greatest size, and
perfects its fruit in most abundance.
The trees do not form dense forests as most of the other
3 s 2 Pines
498 Mr. Davip Dovcras on a new Species
Pines which clothe the face of North-west America, but like
Pinus resinosa, which grows among them, they are scattered
singly over the plains, and may be considered to form a sort of
connecting link between the gloomy forests of the north and
the more tropical-like verdure of California.
The trunk grows from 150 to above 200 feet in height, vary-
ing from 20 to near 60 feet in circumference. One specimen,
which had been blown down by the wind,—and this was certainly
not the largest which I saw,—was of the following dimensions.
—]ts entire length was 215 feet; its circumference three feet
from the ground was 57 feet 9 inches ; and at 134 feet from the
ground, 17 feet 5 inches. The trunk is unusually straight, and
destitute of branches about two-thirds of the height; the bark is
uncommonly smooth for such large timber, of a light-brown
colour on the south, and bleached on the north side. ‘The
branches are rather pendulous, and form an open pyramidal
head, with that appearance which is peculiar to the Abies tribe.
The leaves are between 4 and 5 inches long, and grow in fives,
with a short sheath like those of Pinus Sirobus ; they are rigid,
of a bright-green colour, but not glossy, and from minute den-
ticulations of the margin are scabrous to the touch. ‘The cones
are pendulous from the extremities of the branches; they are
two years in acquiring their full growth, are at first upright, and
do not begin to droop I believe till the second year: when
young they have a very taper figure ; when ripe they are about
11 inches in circumference at the thickest part, and vary from
12 to 16 inches in length. ‘The scales are lax, rounded at the
apex, and perfectly destitute of spines. ‘The seeds are large,
8 lines long and 4 broad, oval; and, like that of Pinus Pinea,
their kernel is sweet and very pleasant to the taste. ‘The wing
is membranous, of a dolabriform figure and fuliginous colour,
about
of Pinus, native of California. 4.99
about twice as long as the seed ; it has an innumerable quantity
of minute sinuous vessels filled with a crimson substance, and
forming a most beautiful microscopic object. ‘The embryo has
12 or 13 cotyledons.
The whole tree produces an abundance of pure amber-
coloured resin. Its timber is white, soft, and light: it abounds
in turpentine reservoirs, and its specific gravity has been as-
certained from a specimen brought home by me, to be 0:463.
The annual layers are very narrow; in the above specimen
there were 56 in the space of four inches and a half next the
outside. ‘The resin, which exudes from the trees when they
are partly burned, loses its usual flavour, and acquires a sweet
taste, in which state it is used by the natives as sugar, being
mixed with their food. ‘The seeds are eaten roasted, or are
pounded into coarse cakes for their winter store. I have since
my return been informed by Mr. Menzies, that when he was on
the coast of California with Captain Vancouver in 1793, seeds
of a large Pine, resembling those of the Stone Pine, were served
in the dessert by the Spanish priests resident there. ‘These
were no doubt the produce of the species now noticed. ‘The
vernacular name of it, in the language of the Umptqua Indians,
is Nát-cleh.
The species to which this Pine is most nearly allied is un-
doubtedly Pinus Strobus ; from which, however, it is extremely
different in station, habit, and parts of fructification. I have
named it in compliment to Aylmer Bourke Lambert, Esq., a
Vice-President of the Linnean Society, whose splendid labours
in investigating the genus Pinus are too generally known and
appreciated to require any eulogium from me.
It only now remains for me to give the distinctive character
of the species.
DP. Lam-
500 Mr. Davin Dovcras on a new Species of Pinus.
P. Lambertiana ; foliis quinis rigidis scabriusculis, vaginis bre-
vissimis, strobilis crassis longissimis cylindricis: squamis
laxis rotundatis.
I have the honour to be,
Dear Sir,
Your very obedient Servant,
Davip Dovcras.
Horticultural Society,
November 1, 1827.
XXV. Re-
( 501 )
XXV. Remarks on the Antilope Chickara: in two Letters
addressed to the Secretary. By Robert Hills, Esq., F.L.S.
Read November 6, 1827.
SIR, : Margaret Street, August 4, 1897.
I raxr leave to offer, for the acceptance of the Linnean So-
ciety, two little drawings, sent herewith: they represent the
general appearance, with the head, on a larger scale, of a male
four-horned Antilope, lately arrived from India. There are in
the museums of the Linnean Society and Royal College of Sur-
geons imperfect skulls of this animal, and in Mr. Brookes’s
valuable collection another; but this is, I believe, the first
living specimen ever brought to our country. It is the pro-
perty of ——— Fairlie, Esq., of York Terrace, Regent's Park.
From Sir Anthony Carlisle, at whose suggestion I made the
drawings, the Society will hereafter receive a communication on
the more interesting points of its history and habits. In the
interim, to give the dimensions, with a few remarks on its gene-
ral character, may be not altogether impertinent.
Height at the shoulder, 231 inches; from the apex of the
nose to the first pair of horns, 5 inches; from these to the base
of the occiput, 51 inches; from the occiput to the setting-on of
the tail, 26 inches ; girth behind the shoulders, 24 inches ; from
the olecranon to the bottom of the hoof, 164 inches; from the
end of the os calcis to the bottom of the hoof, 112 inches.
The
502 Mr. Hits on the Antilope Chickara.
The general hue is a fulvous brown, which however will pro-
bably, as in the Stag, become duller at the approach of winter.
Along the vertebral line the colour is rather darker; it is lighter
and neutralized on the insides of the limbs*, which are pied of
the general colour and white. The upper part of the rostrum
is of a brown chocolate, which gradually, as it approaches the
nostrils, melts into their colour,—a deep purplish gray. Along
the margin and side of the nether jaw, from symphysis to ramus,
white. ‘The throat, breast, and abdomen, a low-toned, and, in
parts, yellowish-white. In form and colour the ear closely
resembles that of the fallow-coloured specimen of the common
Cervus palmatus. Eye large and prominent, and the pupil very
large even when exposed to a strong light.
In most of the Deer tribe, in the Ox, Sheep, Goat, and also in
every other Antilope that I have seen, the lubricous character
of the apex and al of the nose comes in pretty contrast with
the hair-clad parts that surround them and form the muzzle ;
but in this creature the covering of the facial ridge, from a little
below the first pair of horns, becomes shorter and shorter so gra-
dually, that there is no such line of termination. "The nostrils
are small, and more perpendicularly placed than in any of the
animals just alluded to. ‘These points, and the tumidulous ap-
pearance of the flap that protects the swb-, or, as I should rather
call it, ante-ocular sinus, give a less agreeable aspect to the
head, when viewed in front, than it has in profile.
The following is, though perhaps unsatisfactory, the best
description I can give of the horns:—Length of the first or
smallest pair, 12 inch, slightly recurvate towards their tips ;
length of the second pair, 32 inches, irregular, wavy protended
cones, obtusely pointed ; in a trifling degree concave anteriorly,
* 'This is so common a circumstance among all quadrupeds, that it may seem
scarcely worth mention.
and
Mr. Hirrs on the Antilope Chickara. 503
and rather more divergent from each other than the first pair ;
in colour resembling those of the Goat.
There is in Deer a curly tuft of hair on the outside of the
limb near the upper head of the metatarsus. In this animal it
is wanting; but as the hair has been nearly all rubbed away
from the knees on ship-board, it is possible that these tufts may
have shared the same fate.
‘The fore-hoofs, of which the outermost are nearly a third
longer than the inner ones, are larger and of a coarser character
than those of the hinder feet.
The tongue appears to have unusual powers of projection, as
in licking the face it may be seen reaching far above the eyes.
Lam, 515
Your very humble servant,
Rosert Hi tts.
SIR, Margaret Street, Sept. 25, 1807.
Tue Four-horned Antilope died about the 20th of last month,
and his skeleton is now among the treasures of the College
Museum. I am induced, and am enabled by these circum-
stances, to add a few particulars to the paper that accompanied
the drawings.
A comparison of the horns borne by the subject of the present
consideration, with those before in the College Museum, will
perhaps warrant a conjecture that it may have its varieties.
The skulls are nearly of the same size, and exactly agree in
character; there are also the same three annulate ridges (con-
cealed by hair in the living animal) at the bases of the horns ;
VOL. XV. ET but
504 Mr. Hits on the Antilope Chickara.
but there is this difference between them,—a transverse section
of the smallest pair in the old specimen (the larger ones are
unfortunately wanting) would exhibit a figure of a lozenge-like
character, while those of the new one are nearly circular. ‘The
tips of the old horns are rather acute, of the new ones obtuse.
The state of the epiphyses shows the new specimen to have been
a young animal (I should presume in his second year), and the
old skull appears to have belonged to an adult; but this dif-
ference in point of age does not account, as it might in deer,
for such a variance of character in the horns.
To my former remarks on the nose or muzzle I beg to add,
that I can recollect only one animal which in this feature resem-
bled our Antilope,— it was a very small Deer, in the menagerie
of the late Duchess of York: it was said to be Brazilian, and
its horns resembled those of the Pricket Cervus dama. In the
Nyl Ghau this part manifestly belongs to the same class with the
nose of the Cow and Stag. In all other Antilopes it will, I
believe, be found to accord in character with that of the Goat
and Sheep.
The resemblance between the tail of this Antilope when the
drawing was taken, and the “single” of the Stag, dissection
has since accounted for. The number and character of the
caudal vertebræ show that part to have possessed the same
powers of motion as the tail of a Fallow Deer; but he must at
that time have been in a state of sickness and pain, of which the
flinching, tucked-in position of this member is as expressive as it
is of fear.
After carefully considering the article in the 14th volume of
the Linnean Transactions on the Antilope Chickara, and that in
the 44th number of the ‘ Histoire Naturelle des Mammifères,”
I am of opinion that the Chickara described by General Hard-
wicke and M. Duvaucel, and the animal whose portrait I have
sent
Mr. Hits on the Antilope Chickara. 505
sent you, are individuals of the same species, although shades of
difference do exist amongst them. I submit that the descriptions
and drawings of the General's Antilope and M. Duvaucel's, by a
singular coincidence, must have both been made from imperfect
specimens with regard to the first pair of horns, as an inspection
of the two skulls now in the College Museum will make clearly
manifest.
There is a difference of three inches between the height at the
shoulder, as estimated by General Hardwicke, and that which I
have given; but I followed the projection of the shoulder from
the spine. ‘The General probably placed his animal under an
horizontal bar.
How easily it may happen, that accounts drawn up with equal
care and correctness, by different persons, of the same animal,
and even of the same individual (and more particularly if it be of
the deer kind), shall, owing to some unconsidered variation of
circumstances, appear to arraign the fidelity of each other!
Tomi.
Your most humble servant,
Rosert Hruts.
DT3 XXVI. Ex-
( 506 )
XXVI. Exrracts from the Minute-Boox of the LINNEAN
SociETY of Lonpon.
June 7, Ow the retirement of Alexander MacLeay, Esq., F.R.S.,
1825.
&c. from the oflice of Secretary of the Society, the
following Minute, recommended by the Council, was
adopted by the General Meeting of the above date, viz.
‘The Linnean Society of London take the earliest
opportunity, after the retirement of Alexander Mac-
Leay, Esq. from the Secretaryship of the Society, to
record upon their Minutes the high estimation in which
he is held by them, on account of twenty-seven years of
unremitted and unrequited labour devoted to science ;
and that in quitting, for a time, this sphere of usefulness,
to fill an honourable station in a distant country, he
carries with him the cordial esteem and sincere regret
2
of this Society.’
Read a Letter from Mr. Charles Willcox, accom-
panied by Specimens of Mytilus bidens, found by him
adhering to the bottom of His Majesty’s ship Wellesley,
which had nine years before arrived from India, but
had not from that time quitted Portsmouth harbour.
The species appears to propagate itself readily: and
it seems very probable that it has become naturalized
in the harbour, Mr. Willcox having found large masses
of them.
Nov.
Extracts from the Minute-Book of the Linnean Society. 507
Nov. 5.
Mr. Arthur Aikin, F.L.S. presented a Specimen of
the Astrantia major L., found by him in an apparently
wild state in a wood which covers the N.E. side of Yeo-
edge, a limestone hill, near Stokesay Castle, on the road
between Ludlow and Church Stretton.
March 2, A Communication on the Locust (Gryllus migrato-
1826.
rius Linn.) which lately devastated the Crimea and the
southern provinces of Russia, was presented by John
Smirnove, Esq., F.R. and L.S., Secretary to the Rus-
sian Embassy. ‘The following are extracts :—‘ The
Locust deposits its eggs in small bags composed of a
thin membrane, about the size of an almond. Each
of these bags is found to contain from 80 to 100 eggs :
so that an idea may be formed of their amazing fecun-
dity. In the spring, about the month of April, when
the sun begins to give new life to vegetation, the eggs
are quickly hatched, and the insects, in the shape of
white beetles, are seen creeping out in myriads. In
this state they spread themselves over whole fields
during the day; but at night they collect together in
clusters, and thousands of locust-hillocks may be seen
in one corn-field. After remaining two or three weeks
in the crawling state, the insects, daily gaining strength,
next begin to leap. At this period they become de-
structive, from their destroying the springing corn and
the young shoots of the vine; and gradually gaining
strength, they spread themselves more and more, and
unite in such multitudes, that in some places many
miles in extent are covered with them in columns of
from six to ten inches thick and upwards. In June
they
508 Extracts from the Minute-Book of the Linnean Society.
they are furnished with wings; but they still remain
leaping, though with additional power, being now as-
sisted by their wings. ‘Towards the end of the month
and about the beginning of July, they cast off the whole
of their upper hard covering, and become perfect flying
Locusts. In this state they are exceedingly destructive,
even to places at great distances ; for their flight is rapid,
and they are in such prodigious swarms, that their ap-
pearance in the air resembles a dense black cloud,
obscuring the sun’s rays, which when they penetrate,
make these swarms appear like some object burning in
the atmosphere. Alighting on the corn-fields, they in
the space of a few hours devour every green thing, and
convert immense tracts of cultivated land into absolute
deserts, while nothing seems to impede their progress.
‘In August the Locusts are observed busily twining
themselves in pairs upon the ground: they are then in
the act of copulation. In September they pierce, by
means of tlreir tail, small holes in the earth, in which
they deposit their eggs in small bags, rapidly flapping
their wings at the same time. Soon after this opera-
tion the insect dies.
** Various methods have been adopted to destroy the
insect, either by ploughing the fields, and collecting the
eggs ; or, in the spring, at the dawn of day, while the in-
sect is yet in the crawling state, by setting fire to straw
which has been thrown over the locust-hillocks ; or by
sweeping them into sacks and destroying them. In the
leaping state wide sacks are employed, into which they
are driven by a person furnished with a broom ; or by
means of deep trenches dug in the field, into which they
are
Extracts from the Minute-Book of the Linnean Society. 509
June 6.
are driven and buried. In the flying state there is no
eflectual method to destroy them. When a flight of
them in this state alight on a field, the country-people
assemble with rattles and other instruments, and by
making a great noise succeed in driving them away
for the time; but it is only to take refuge in the neigh-
bouring fields. By these methods much of the vermin
was destroyed ; but there still remained immense quan-
tities, and their numbers daily increased from the adja-
cent countries; for at the time when in New Russia
the Locusts had not yet attained the winged state,
legions of them made their appearance, coming, as is
supposed, from the Turkish provinces. "Thus the inha-
bitants, who had been diligently labouring to cleanse
their lands of the insects by which they were already
desolated, were nowise relieved from them, seeing as
they did their possessions infested by others from un-
known regions ; and all human means seemed unavail-
ing to avert the famine with which the provinces were
menaced."
Read a Communication from the Rev. Lansdown
Guilding, D.A., F.L.S., containing various additions
to, and corrections of, several of his former papers.
To his generic character of Ascalaphus, given in Linn.
Trans. vol. xiv. p. 139, he proposes to add: ** Palpi
— — hirsuti. Mandibule valide, apice emarginate,
dente majori. Ova cute pergamenea tecta. Larva com-
planata, lateribus pectinatis, pedibus omnibus gresso-
rii, mandibulis elongatis, curvis, tubulosis, apice per-
foratis: ano stylato, stylo colifero. Dolo prædam cap-
tans. Pupa folliculata, folliculo rotundato."
The
510 Extracts from the Minute-Book of the Linnean Society.
The examination of numerous specimens of the dsc.
Macleayanus has induced him to amend tlie specific
character and description as follows :—** A. alis vitreis
immaculatis ; oculis splendidissimè cupreo-nigris, lobis
subæqualibus : thorace fuscescente, flavido maculato :
dorso picto: lateribus cinereis.
Descriptio.—0Os pedesque hirsuti, rufescentes: antenna
nigricantes, capitulo subtùs pallido: thorar et facies
cinereo-pilosissimi. — Pterigostia nigra: stigmata atra :
dorsum ferrugineo-flavum, maculis brunneis ornatum :
latera nigro varia. Animal insectivorum ? sæpè die qui-
escit in arbustis vetustis emortuis, cum antennis alisque
ramo applicatis, abdomineque in angulum (more ramuli)
extenso, sic hostes decipiens. Ova numero 64—75 lan-
ceolato-elliptica, cinerascentia, apicibus puncto can-
dido, in extremitate ramulorum ponit imago ; serie du-
plici alternatim agglutinans, et circulis multis repagu-
lorum ab hostibus defendens. Repagula elongata, pe-
dunculata, subdiaphana, rufescentia. Larva: caput sub-
cordatum, fuscum, genis barbatis, supernè scabrum. Os
nullum. Mandibule castanex, valide, elongate, interne
trispinosæ. Ocul suprà sex, infra unicus, in pedunculo
communi, crasso, postice bisetoso, anticè appendiculato.
Antennule ? quatuor setiformes: palpi duo filiformes.
Thorax parvulus, subovatus, suprà utrinque spinulá
brevi mobili, maculisque duabus nigris. Abdomen ovale,
complanatum, scabrum, flavescens, livido irroratum,
maculis quatuor anterioribus, duabus analibus, lineáque
dorsali nigris: subtüs ferè concolor. Pec/ines utrinque
decem, atro ciliati, anticis duobus (alarum rudimentis ?)
curvis. Pedes nigri spinulosi, duo anteriores thoracici.
Ungues parvi, omnes simplices. Trachee parvae, nigra.
Larva
Extracts from the Minute- Book of the Linnean Society. 511
VOL.
Larva segnis, corpus pectinesque arenulis tegens, man-
dibulisque sub lateribus reconditis prædam expectans.
Pullus capite majori. Pupa: corpus flavescens, cur-
vum, obesum, lanuginosum, abdomine livido irrorato,
lateribus prominulis, bullatis: linea dorsali nigra. Ca-
put hirsutum. Mandibule ferrugineæ. Antenne supra
oculos ad pectus reflexæ, capitulo evanido. Ocul ni-
gricantes, bilobati. — Folliculus arenulis colo anali mire
contextus, cuteque pellucido intùs tectus.
Figures of the eggs, repagula, and larve, accom-
panied the Communication.
By the term Repagula (barriers), Mr. Lansdown
Guilding designates certain attendants on the eggs,
which he conceives to be without analogies in the ani-
mal creation. ‘They are curiously placed in circles,
and always on the extremity of a branch, so that nothing
can approach the brood: nor can the young ramble
abroad till they have acquired strength to resist the
ants and other insect enemies." "The female ‘ may be
seen expelling from her ovary these natural bodies with
as much care as her real eggs.”
To the description of the egg of Xylocopa Teredo
(Linn. Trans. vol. xiv. p. 314.) is to be added ** apici-
bus rotundatis:" and to that of the larva of Horia ma-
culata (Ib. p. 316.) ** corpus spinulis omninó indistinc-
tis exasperatum. Trachee fusce. — Mandibule ferru-
ginew." Of the latter insect he states that several va-
rieties exist, which will perhaps require hereafter to be
regarded as so many species. The one figured Linn.
Trans. vol. xiv. tab. 8, has the ** frons plana, ocello infe-
riori in fossulà subovata posito :” in another from South
America, * porca elevata, bipartita, flexuosa, ocellos
Xv. SU subtùs
512 Extracts from the Minute-Book of the Linnean Society.
Nov. 7.
subtüs cingit :” and in a third, from Barbadoes, ** porca
in duos processus auriformes irregulares expanditur."
To his list of Onchidia (Linn. Trans. vol. xiv. p. 323.)
Mr. Lansdown Guilding adds the ** Limace Carolinienne,"
(Bosc. Hist. Nat. des Vers, 1.8. pl. inf. 1:), a" species
** apparently allied to O. occidentale." THe corrects the
specific character of Leptopodia ornata (Ib. p. 535.), by
stating, that all the feet of the male are spinous in front.
He also corrects the specific name Helicina fasciata (Ib.
p. 339.) by substituting for it H. occidentalis, ** the two
species being totally distinct." For the generic name
Caprella (Ib. p. 541.) he likewise proposes to read P/e-
kocheilus, ** the former term having long since been
applied to an interesting group of Crustacea."
Joseph Woods, Esq. was chosen by ballot to fill up
the vacancy in the Council, occasioned by the death of
Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, the Society having been
specially summoned for the purpose of filling up such
vacancy. ,
The Bye-Law respecting the loan of Books having
been taken into consideration by the Council, it was
ordered that the following be established as a Bye-Law
of the Society ; and that it be read at this and the sub-
sequent Meeting of the Society, and be balloted for in
the usual manner, viz.
*"l'hat no Book be allowed to be taken from the
Society's House without the special leave of the Coun-
cil, to be applied for in writing; that no more than
two Volumes be lent to one person at the same time ;
that all Books be returned at the expiration of six
weeks
Evtracts from the Minute-Book of the Linnean Society. 513
Dec. 5.
Feb. 6,
1827.
June 5.
weeks from the time of their being taken out; and that
all Books so lent be regularly entered by the Librarian
in a book appropriated to that purpose."
The Bye-Law respecting the Loan of Books was bal-
loted for and confirmed.
A human Skull, accompanied by the following Com-
munication, was presented from Dr. Harlan, of Phila-
delphia.—* This skull is supposed to have belonged to
an extinct race of Indians, which existed anterior to the
present natives of the soil. This is inferred not only
from some marked differences in the Skulls observed on
comparison with those of our modern Indians, but also
from the peculiarities of the utensils, both of war and
cooking, found with the Skeletons, and which resemble
more those of the South Americans or East Indians.
‘There are several saltpetre caves in Kentucky, but
that from whence this Skull comes (Golconda) con-
tains the most extensive remains, several cart-loads
having been turned out, which are left mouldering on
the soil. Occasionally whole mummies are found, pre-
served from decay by the atmosphere being strongly
impregnated with nitre."
Mr. George Townshend Fox, F.L.S. exhibited from
the Newcastle Museum, Specimens of Loa/a punctu-
lata L., Loxia crassirostris Gmel., and Fringilla noc-
tis L., forming part of the late Mr. Allan's collection.
June19. Mr. Leadbeater exhibited a Specimen of Didelphis
Ursina (Linn. Trans. vol. ix. p. 174. t. 19.).
au 2 CATA-
CATALOGUE
OF THE
LIBRARY OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY,
Continued from Page 597 of Vol. XIV. of the Society's Transactions.
rr ——
N.B. To Books which are Continuations of Works included in any of the former Parts of the Catalogue, the
original Numbers are here affixed; and the other Books are numbered in regular progression.
1123. Ánxorr (G. A. W.) Disposition Méthodique des Espèces de Mousses.
(From Mém. Soc. Hist. Nat. Paris. tom. 2.) Paris, 1826, 4to.
1124. Barlow (J. H.) The Daily Progress of the Chick in the Egg, and on the
Changes which take place during Hatching in the Steam Apparatus.
London, 1824, 8vo.
1125. ——— —— The Art and Method of Hatching and Rearing all Kinds of
Domestic Poultry and Game Birds by Steam. London, 1827, 8vo.
1126. Bertolonii (A.) Amoenitates Italicae. Bononie, 1819, 4to.
127. Bevan (E.) The Honey Bee; its Natural History, Physiology, and Manage-
ment. London, 1827, 8vo.
1128. Bicheno’s (J. E.) Address, delivered at the Anniversary Meeting of the Zo-
ological Club of the Linnean Society of London, November 29, 1826.
London, 1826, 8vo.
1129. Biddle’s (N.) Eulogium on Thomas Jefferson, delivered before the American
Philosophical Society. Philadelphia, 1827, Svo.
1130. Blackstone (J.) Specimen Botanicum quo Plantarum rariorum Anglice Loci
natales illustrantur. Londini, 1746, 8vo.
1131. Bonaparte's (Charles Lucien, Prince of Musignano) Supplement to the Ge-
nera of North-American Birds, and to the Synopsis of the Species found
within the Territory of the United States. (From the Zool. Journal, no. 10.)
1132. Bory de St. Vincent (J. D. M.) Article ** Homme.” (From the Dict. Classiq
d' Hist. Nat. tom. 8.) 8vo.
1133. Bory
11/99;
1134.
1195
1136.
1137.
1138.
1139.
1140.
1141.
1142.
1143.
1144.
1145.
1146.
1147.
1148.
Catalogue of the Library of the Linnean Society. 515
Bory de St. Vincent (J. B. M.) Essai d’une Classification des Animaux Mi-
croscopiques. Paris, 1826, 8vo.
Une Nouvelle Distribution des Corps Natu-
rels en Cinq Règnes. (From the Révue Encyclopédique, tom. 28.) 8vo.
— — . ——
-—— Sur un Nouvel Appareil propre à dessécher
les Végétaux pour l' Herbier, (From the Ann. des Scien. Nat. tom. 8.) Svo.
————— ——— — — —— Sur un Sous Genre à former parmi les Poly-
podes sous le Nom de Drynaria. (From the Ann. des Scien. Nat. tom. 5.) 8vo.
Brandt (J. F.) and Ratzeburg (J. T. C.) Getreue Darstellung und Beschrei-
bung der Thiere die in der Arzeneimittellehre in Betracht Kommen, heft 1.
Berlin, 1827, 4to.
Brayley (E. W.) A Sketch of the Progress of Science respecting Igneous
Meteors and Meteorites, during the Year 1823. (From the Phil. Mag. for
1824.) 8vo.
- On certain Organs of the Helicidæ, usually regarded as
their Eyes. (From the Zool. Journ. no. 8.) 8vo.
On the Rationale of the Filamentous and Mamillary Vari-
eties of Carbon; and on the probabie Existence of but two distinct States of
Aggregation in ponderable Matter. ( From the Ann. of Phil. for 1826.) 8vo.
Brignoli di Brunnhoff (Giovanni de’) Dissertazione intorno alla Clorite o
Terra Verde di Verona. Modena, 1827, 8vo.
Brown (R.) Prodromus Florze Novae Hollandiz, edit. 2. Curante C. G. Nees
ab Esenbeck. Norimbergee, 1827, 8vo.
Brückmanni (F. C.) Epistole Itinerari), tom. 1—5. Wolffenbüttelae et
Brunsvigæ, 1735—56, 4to.
Cæsalpini (A.) Libri XVI. de Plantis. Florentiæ, 1583, 4to.
Carlisle (Sir Anthony) The Hunterian Oration for 1826. London, 1826,
4to.
Circle of the Seasons, and Perpetual Key to the Calendar and Almanack.
London, 1828, 8vo.
Clark (Bracy) Essay on the Bots of Horses and other Animals. London,
1815, 4to.
On the Knowledge of the Age of the Horse by his Teeth,
with Remarks. London, 1826, 4to.
. Colla (A.) Hortus Ripulensis, seu Enumeratio Plantarum qu Ripulis co-
luntur. Augustæ-Taurinorum, 1824, 4to.
Observations sur le Limodorum Purpureum de M. de Lamarck,
et Creation d'un Nouveau Génre dans la Famille des Orchidées. (Jom
Ann. Soc. Linn.) Paris, 1824, 8vo.
1151. Colla
516 Catalogue of the Library of the Linnean Society.
1151. Colla (A.) Freyliniæ Genus, addità Icone. Augustee-Taurinorum, 1825, 4to.
1152. —-——— IIlustratio Generis Dyssodii, addità Icone nondum cognitæ Speciei.
(From Mem. Accad. Fi. di Torino, tom.27.) Ato.
1153. —— ——— Illustrationes et Icones rariorum Stirpium que in ejus Horto Ri-
pulis florebant, Annis 1824—25, additis ad Hortum Ripulensem Appendi-
cibus 2. (From Mem. Accad. R. di Torino, tom. 31.) 4to.
1154, ————— Mémoire sur le Melanopsidium Nigrum des Jardiniers, et For-
mation d'un Génre Nouveau dans la Famille des Rubiacées. (From Ann.
Soc. Linn. Paris, vol. 4.) 8vo.
1155. Commelini (Joan.) Historia Plantarum rariorum Horti Medici Amstelo-
damensis. Amstelodami, 1697, fol.
1156. Coquebert de Montbret (Le Baron) Note sur la Population des Isles Brit-
taniques avec quelques Considerations sur celle de la France. Paris, 1823,
8vo.
1157. Crouch's (E. A.) Illustrated Introduction to Lamarck’s Conchology. Lon-
don, 1826, 4to.
1038. Curtis's (J.) British Entomology, No. 17—47. London, 1825—27. 8vo.
1158. Curtis’s (W.) Botanical Magazine; new Series by Dr. Hooker, No. 1—10.
London, 1827, 8vo.
1159. Cuvier (G.) Lecons d'Anatomie Comparée, 5 tomes. Paris, an 8—14. 8vo.
1160. Régne Animal, 4 tomes. Paris, 1817, 8vo.
1161. Discours sur les Révolutions de la Surface du Globe, et sur les
Changemens qu'elles on produits dans le Règne Animal. Paris, 1826. 4to.
1162. Cuvier (F.) De Dents des Mammifères considerées comme Caractères Zoo-
logiques. Paris, 1825, Svo.
1163. Cuvier (F.) et Geoffroy St. Hilaire. Histoire Naturelle des Mammifères,
livraison 1—56. Paris, 1820— 26.
1164. Dalman (J. W.) Analecta Entomologica. Holmize, 1823, 4to.
1165. DeCandolle (A. P.) Regni Vegetabilis Systema Naturale, vol. 1 et2. Parisiis,
1818—21, 8vo.
1166. Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis,
pars 1 et 2. — Parisiis, 1824-25. 8vo.
1167. — Premier Mémoire sur les Lenticelles des Arbres, et le
Développement des Racines qui en sortent. (From the Ann. des Scien. Nat.
1826.) 8vo.
1168. Dejean (Le Comte) Species Général des Coléoptéres, tom. 1—2. Paris,
1825-26, 8vo.
1169. Don’s (D.) Memoir on the Classification and Division of Gnaphalium and
Xeranthemum of Linnzus. (From Mem. Wern. Soc. vol. 5.) 8vo.
1170. Don's
1178.
1170:
1180,
1181.
1182.
1183.
1184.
1185, ——————
1186.
1187.
1188.
1189.
1190.
Catalogue of the Library of the Linnean Society. 517
+ Don's (D.) Observations on Philadelphez and Granateæ, two New Families
of Plants. (From Edinb. New Phil. Journ. for 1826.)
On the Affinities of the Empetreæ. (From the same.) 8vo.
Description of the Genus Malesherbia of the Flora Peruviana:
with Remarks on its Affinities. (From the same, for 1827.) 8vo.
Remarks on the Rhubarb of Commerce, the Purple-coned Fir of
Nepal, and the Mustard Tree. (From the same.) 8vo.
Don’s (G.) Monograph of the Genus Allium (rom Mem. Wern. Soc. vol. 6.)
8vo.
. Donovan's (E.) Naturalist’s Repository; or Monthly Miscellany of Exotic
Natural History, No. 25—38. London, 1825, 8vo.
Duhamel de Monceau (M.) La Physique des Arbres. Paris, 1758, 4to.
. Dumortier (B. C.) Commentationes Botanicæ: Observations Botaniques.
Tournay, 1822, 8vo.
Agrostographiz Belgicae Tentamen: Observations sur les
Graminées de la Flore Belgique. ‘Tournay, 1823, 8vo.
Duncan (A.) The Edinburgh New Dispensatory, 11th ed. Edinburgh 1826,
8vo.
Dutrochet (H.) Récherches Anatomiques et Physiologiques sur la Structure
intime des Animaux et des Végétaux, et sur leur Motilité. Paris, 1824,
8vo.
L’Agent immédiat du Mouvement vital devoilé dans sa Na-
ture et dans sa Mode d'Action chez les Végétaux et chez les Animaux.
Paris, 1826, 8vo.
Edwards’ (S.) Botanical Register, No. 145—152. London, 1827, 8vo.
Exposition (7*.) publique de la Société de Flore. Bruxelles, 1825, Svo.
Fabricii (J. C.) Systema Eleutheratorum, tomi 2. Kiliæ, 1801, 8vo.
Systema Piezatorum. Brunsvigæ, 1804, 8vo.
Systema Rhyngotorum, edit. nova. Brunsvigæ, 1822, $vo.
Systema Antliatorum, edit. nova. DBrunsviga, 1822, 8vo.
Férussac (J. D. de) Bulletin Universel des Sciences Naturelles et de Géologie,
tom. 1—11. Paris, 1824-27, 8vo.
Fox's (G. T.) Synopsis of the Newcastle Museum; to which are prefixed
Memoirs of Mr. Tunstall, its founder, and of Mr. Allan, the late pro-
prietor of the Collection. Newcastle, 1827, 8vo.
Frost's (J.) Orations delivered before the Medico- Botanical Society of London.
London, 1825-27, 4to.
——- Substance of an Introductory Lecture to Botany at the Royal
Institution. London, 1827, 4to.
1191. Frost's
1192.
1198.
1194.
1195.
1196.
119%
1198.
1199;
1200.
1201;
Catalogue of the Library of the Linnean Society.
. Frost's (J.) Remarks on the Mustard Tree mentioned in the New Testament.
London, 1827, 8vo.
Fuessly (J. G.) Archives de l'Histoire des Insectes traduites en Francois.
Winterthour, 1794, 4to.
Gartner (Jos.) De Fructibus et Seminibus Plantarum, tom. 1—2. Stut-
gardiz et Tubingæ, 1788-91, 4to.
Giesecké's (Sir C. L.) Account of a Mineralogical Excursion to the County
of Donegal. Dublin, 1826, 8vo.
Glazebrook's (J. K.) Guide to Southport in the County of Lancaster, 2nd
edit. London, 1826, Svo.
Gmelin (Phil. Frid.) Otia Botanica. Tubingæ, 1760, 8vo.
Gray's (S. F.) Natural Arrangement of British Plants, 2 vols. London, 1821,
8vo.
Grew's(Neh.) Anatomy of Plants. London, 1682, fol.
Griffith's (E.) Animal Kingdom, part 1—9. London, 1823-26, 8vo.
Gronovii (J. F.) Flora Virginica. Lugduni-Batavorum, 1762, 4to.
Guérin (E.) Mémoire sur un Insecte Diptére du Génre Bolitophile. (From
Ann. des Scien. Nat. 1827.) 8vo.
. Halleri (A.) Bibliotheca Botanica, tomi 2. "Tiguri, 1771-2, 4to.
Epistolae, tomi 6. Berna, 1773-5, 8vo.
. Hamilton (Gul.) Prodromus Plantarum Indi: Occidentalis. Lond. 1825, Svo.
. Harlan's (R.) Observations on the Genus Salamandra, and Description of a
New Genus of Quadrupeds of the Order Edentata. (From Ann. Lyceum of
Nat. Hist. New York, vol. 1.) 8vo.
1906. = Fauna Americana; being a Description of the Mammiferous
Animals inhabiting North America. Philadelphia, 1825, 8vo.
1207 Description of an Hermaphrodite Orang Outang. (From Journ.
Acad. N. S. Philad. vol. 5.) 8vo.
1208. Description of a Land Tortoise from the Gallapagos Islands,
commonly known as the Elephant Tortoise. (From the same.) 8vo.
1209. American Herpetology, or Genera of American Reptilia, with
a Synopsis of the Species. (From the same.) 8vo.
121 Zoological and Medical Miscellany. Philadelphia, 1826, 8vo.
11. Hart’s (J.) Description of the Skeleton of the Fossil Deer of Ireland, Cervus
Megaceros. Dublin, 1825, 8vo.
. Hoare's (Sir R. C.) Letter addressed to the Bath Agricultural Society on
Planting. Frome, 1826, fol.
. Holditch’s (B.) Essay on the Weeds of Agriculture: edited by George Sin-
clair, London, 1825, 8vo.
1214. Hol-
_—
p
t2 rw (D
Qo
— pi
©
D t2 t9 t5
-
iss)
e
1231.
1232.
1233.
1234.
1235.
1236.
1237.
1238.
Catalogue of the Library of the Linnean Society. 519
. Holman’s (J.) Narrative of a Journey through France, Italy, Savoy, Switzer-
y 5 y> Vs
land, &c. in the Years 1819, -20, -21, 4th edit. London, 1825, 8vo.
Houel (J. P. L. L.) Histoire Naturelle des Elephans. Paris, 1803, 4to.
Ingpen's (Abel) Instructions for Collecting, Rearing, and Preparing British
Insects. London, 1827, 12mo.
. Jenyns's (L.) Observations on the Ornithology of Cambridgeshire. (From
Trans. Camb. Phil. Soc. vol. 2.) Ato.
Johnson (Th.) Mercurius Botanicus. Londini, 1634, 12mo.
King’s (Capt. P. P.) Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western
Coasts of Australia, performed between the Years 1818 and 1822, 2 vols.
London, 1826, 8vo.
Kirby’s (W.) and Spence’s (W.) Introduction to Entomology; or the Na-
tural History of Insects, vols. 3 and 4. London, 1826, 8vo.
Lamarck (J. D.) Flore Francoise, 3 tomes. Paris, 1778, 8vo.
Latreille (P. A.) Esquisse d’une Distribution Générale du Règne Animal.
(From Ann. des Sc. Nat. for 1824.) 8vo.
-— Esquisse d'une Distribution Générale des Mollusques. (From
the same.) 8vo.
Familles Naturelles du Règne Animal. Paris, 1825, 8vo.
. Lefebure (A.) Description de Trois Papillons nouvellement observés. (From
Ann. Soc. Linn. Paris, vol. 5.) 8vo.
— Description de divers Insectes inédits recueilles en Sicile.
(From vol. 6 of the same.)
. L/Heritier (Car. Lud.) Stirpes Nova, fasc. 1—5. — Parisiis, 1784 et 1785,
fol.
Cornus. Parisiis, 1788, fol.
. Lightfoot (J.) Flora Scotica, voll. 2. London, 1777, 8vo.
. Linnæi (Car.) Systema Nature, editio 1. Lugduni-Batavorum, 1735, fol.
Animalium Specierum Methodica Dispositio (accommodata
ad decimam Holmensem editionem Systematis Nature.) Lugd.-Bat. 1759,
8vo.
— Fauna Suecica, edit. altera. Holmiæ, 1761, 8vo.
— —— ——— Philosophia Botanica. Stockholmiæ, 1751, 8vo.
————— Genera Plantarum, ed. 2. Lugduni- Batavorum, 1742, 8vo.
—— ——— ————— —— ed.5. Holmiæ, 1754, 8vo.
—— — —— — Species Plantarum, ed. 1. tomi 2. Holmiæ, 1753, 8vo.
ed. 3. tomi 2. Vindobonæ, 1764, Svo.
Flora Lapponica. Amstelodami, 1737, 8vo.
Flora Zeylanica. Amstelodami, 1748, 8vo.
VOL. XV. 3X 1239. Linnæi
520 Catalogue of the Library of the Linnean Society.
1239. Linnæi (Car.) Hortus Upsaliensis. Amstelodami, 1748, 8vo.
1240 Museum Regis Adolphi Friderici. Holmia, 1754, fol.
1241, ——-————— Museum Regine Ludovicæ Ulricæ. Holmiz, 1764, 8vo.
1242, —————- —— Bibliotheca Botanica, edit. altera. Amstelodami, 1751, 8vo.
1245. Oratio de "Telluris habitabilis Incremento, et Andrez Celsii
de Mutationibus generalioribus qua in Superficie Corporum Coelestium
contingunt. Lugduni-Batavorum, 1744, 8vo.
Linnæo (Car.) Praeside, Dissertationes Academica. Upsalia, 4to.
1244. Cynographia. Resp. E. M. Lindecrantz. 1753.
1245. Cervus Rheno. Resp. C. F. Hoffberg. 1754.
1246. Oves. Resp. I. Palmærus. 1754.
1247. Migrationes Avium. Resp. C. D. Ekmarck. 1757.
1248. Fundamenta Ornithologica. Resp. A. P. Bæckman. 1765.
1249. Stationes Plantarum. Resp. A. Hedenberg. 1754.
1250. Herbarium Amboinense. Resp. O. Stickman. 1754.
1251. Fungus Melitensis. Resp. J. Pfeiffer. 1755.
1252. Centuria 1. Plantarum. Resp. A. D. Juslenius. 1755.
1253. Metamorphoses Plantarum. Resp. N. E. Dahlberg. 1755.
1254. Flora Monspeliensis. Resp. F. E. Nathhorst. 1756.
1255. Specifica Canadensium. — Resp. J. von Coelln. 1756.
1256. Flora Palestina. Resp. B. J. Strand. 1756.
1257. Calendarium Flore. Resp. A. M. Berger. 1756.
1258. Flora Alpina. Resp. N. A. Æmann. 1756.
1259. Frutetum Suecicum. Resp. D. M. Virgander. 1758.
1260. De Pane Dixtetico. Resp. J. Svensson. 1757.
1261. Spiritus Frumenti. Resp. P. Bergius. 1764.
1262. De Potu Chocolate. Resp. A. Hoffmann. 1765.
1263. Potus Theæ. Resp. P. C. Tillæus. 1765.
1264. Censura Medicamentorum Simplicium Vegetabilium. Resp. G. J.
Carlbohm. 1753.
1265. Chinensia Lagerstrómiana. Resp. J. L. Odhelius. 1754.
1266. Febris Upsaliensis. Resp. A. Bostrôm. 1757.
1267. Lepra. Resp. J. Uddman. 1765.
1268. Circa Fervidorum et Gelidorum Usum. Resp. C. Ribe. 1765.
1269. De Effectu et Cura Vitiorum Diæteticorum. Resp. J. G. Bergman.
1766.
1270. Linné (Car. à) Filii, Supplementum Plantarum.
Brunsvigæ, 1781, 8vo.
1271. Litchfield’s (J. C.) Observations on Lithotomy, and on the Formation of
Urinary Calculi. London, 1826, 8vo.
1272. Lou-
1272.
1290.
916.
1291.
Catalogue of the Library of the Linnean Society. 521
Loudon’s (J. C.) Encyclopaedia of Agriculture. London, 1825, 8vo.
Gardener’s Magazine, no. 1—10. London, 1826-27, Svo.
Remarks on the Establishment of Garden Libraries, Village
Libraries, and Labourers’ Institutions. London, 1827, Svo.
. Lyall’s (R.) Medical Evidence relative to the Duration of Human Preenancy.
à D J)
as given in the Gardner Peerage Cause before the Committee of Privileges
in the House of Lords in 1825-26. With Introductory Remarks and Notes.
London, 1826, 8vo.
Martyn (Jo.) Methodus Plantarum circa Cantabrigiam nascentium. Lon-
dini, 1727, 12mo.
Mawe’s (J.) New Descriptive Catalogue of Minerals. London, 1818, 8vo.
Merrett (C.) Pinax Rerum Naturalium Britannicarum. |. Londini, 1667, 8vo.
Merriman’s (S.) Synopsis of the various Kinds of difficult Parturition, with
Practical Remarks on the Management of Labours, 4th edit. London,
1826, Svo.
. Milne's (Colin) Botanical Dictionary. London, 1770, 8vo.
Milne's (Colin) and Gordon's (A.) Indigenous Botany, or Habitations of
English Plants. London, 1793, Svo.
. Morison (R.) Præludia Botanica. Londini, 1669, 8vo.
. Morris (R.) Flora Conspicua, no. 1—15. London, 1825-26, Svo.
. Murray (J. A.) Apparatus Medicaminum, vol. 3—6. Geettinge, 1784-92,
8vo.
vol. 1 et 2. edit. altera, curante
L.C. Althof. Geettingae, 1723-4, Svo.
Murray's (J.) Remarks on the Cultivation of the Silk-worm; with additional
Observations made in Italy during the Summer of 1825. Glasgow, 1825,
8vo.
— Experimental Researches in Natural History. Glasgow, 1826,
8vo.
——— Experiments illustrative of Chemical Science. Glasgow, 1826,
8vo.
Descriptive Account of a Shower-Bath; of an Apparatus for
restoring Suspended Animation; and of a Fire-Escape. Glasgow, 1826,
8vo.
Neill (P.) Article ** Lichen." (Ærom Brewster’s Edinburgh Encyclopedia.)
4to.
Ord’s (G.) Supplement to the American Ornithology of Alexander Wilson.
Philadelphia, 1825, fol.
Pennant’s (T.) Synopsis of Quadrupeds, Chester, 1771, 8vo.
3X2 1292. Pil-
522 Catalogue of the Library of the Linnean Society.
1292. Pilleterii (C.) Plantarum in Walachria, Zeelandiæ Insula, nascentium Syno-
nymia. Middelburgi, 1610, 12mo.
1293. Quoy et Gaimard. Observations sur quelques Mollusques et Zoophytes, en-
visagés comme Causes de la Phosphorescence de la Mer. (From the Ann. des
Sc. Nat. for 1825.) 8vo.
1294, —————-————— Remarques sur quelques Oiseaux de la Province de Rio de
Janeiro et des Environs de Monte Video. (From the same.) 8vo.
1295. ——— ——————- Remarques sur les Oiseaux Pélagiens, et sur quelques
autres Palmipédes. (From the same.) 8vo.
1296. —— — —— ———— Description de Cinq Génres de Mollusques et de Quatre
Génres de Zoophytes (From the same.) 8vo.
1297. —— Mémoire sur l'Accroissement des Polypes Lithophytes,
considéré géologiquement. (rom the same.) 8vo.
1298. Notice sur les Mammiféres et les Oiseaux de la Baie des
Chiens- Marins et de la Nouvelle-Galles du Sud. (rom the same.) 8vo.
1299. Raii (J.) Synopsis Methodica Stirpium Britannicarum, edit. 2. Londini,
1696, 8vo.
1300. Robson's (S.) British Flora. York, 1777, 8vo.
1301. Roxburgh (W.) Flora Indica, vol. 2. Serampore, 1824, 8vo.
1302. Sagra ( Ramon de la) Informe sobre el Estado actual del Jardin y de la Catedra
de Botanica aplicada a la Agricultura dela Habana. Habana, 1826, 4to.
1303. Samouelle's (G.) General Directions for Collecting and Preserving Exotic
Insects and Crustacea. London, 1826, 8vo.
1304. Schonherr (C.J.) Synonymia Insectorum, oder Versuch einer Synonymie aller
bisher bekannten Insecten, thiel 1—3. Upsala, 1806, 1808, 8vo.
Appendix ad Synonymiam Insectorum, sistens Descriptiones
1305.
Novarum Specierum. — Scaris, 1817, Svo.
1306. ————— Curculionidum Dispositio Methodica, seu Prodromus ad Sy-
nonymiæ Insectorum partem iv. Lipsiæ, 1826, 8vo.
1307. Scrope’s (G. P.) Considerations on Volcanos. London, 1826, 8vo.
1308. Selby’s (P. J.) Illustrations of British Ornithology: Land Birds, no. 1.—s.
Plates, fol.
Letter-press, 8vo. Edinburgh, 1825.
—— — —— Water Birds, no. 1—3. Plates, fol.
—.- Letter-press, 4to. Edinburgh, 1827.
511. Shaw’s (G.) General Zoology, by J. F. Stephens, F.L.S. vol. 13 and 14.
London, 1825-26, 8vo.
1309. Smith's (Sir J. E.) Introduction to Physiological and Systematical Botany,
5th edit. London, 1825, 8vo.
1093. Smith's
1093.
1005
1310.
1311.
1312.
1007.
13153:
1314.
19575
1316.
1817
1318.
1324.
1325
Catalogue of the Library of the Linnean Society. 523
Smith's (Sir J. E.) English Flora, vol. 3. London, 1825, 8vo.
Sowerby’s (G. B.) Genera of Recent and Fossil Shells, no. 26 and 27, Lon-
don, 1825-26, 8vo.
Catalogue of Sir Alexander Crichton’s Collection of Mi-
nerals and Precious Stones. London, 1827, 4to.
Stephens’ (J. F.) Illustrations of British Entomology, no. 1—8. London,
1827, 8vo.
Stephenson’s (J.) and Churchill’s (J. M.) Medical Botany, no. 1—11. Lon-
don, 1827, 8vo.
Sternberg (Le Comte de) Essai d’un Exposé Géognostico-Botanique de la
Flore du Monde Primitif, cahier 4°. — Ratisbonne, 1827, fol.
Sutherland (J.) Hortus Medicus Edinburgensis; or, A Catalogue of the
Plants in the Physical Garden at Edinburgh. Edinburgh, 1683, 8vo.
Swartz (Ol.) Methodus Muscorum illustrata, Praeside Carolo à Linne. Up-
saliæ, 1781, 4to.
Sweet's (R.) Cistineæ. The Natural Order of Cistus, or Rock Rose, no. 1—15.
London, 1826-27, 8vo.
— Flora Australasica, no. 1—7. London, 1827, 8vo.
Temminck (C. J.) Manuel d’Ornithologie, ou Tableau Systématique des
Oiseaux qui se trouvent en Europe, 2de édition, partie 1 et 2. Paris, 1820,
8vo.
Observations sur la Classification Méthodique des Oiseaux, et
Remarques sur Analyse d'une Nouvelle Ornithologie élémentaire, par L. P.
Vieillot. Amsterdam, 1817, 8vo.
Temminck (C. J.) et Laugier (M.) Nouveau Recueil de Planches Coloriées
d'Oiseaux, no. 56—73. Paris, 1825-27, 4to.
Tenore (M.) Flora Napolitana, tom. 1—3. Napoli, 1811-20, fol.
Discorso Pronunziato in Occasione dell’ Apertura della Nuova
Sala destinata per le Pubbliche Lezioni, nel Real Orto Botanico di Napoli,
il di 7 Maggio 1818. Napoli, 1818, Svo.
Memoria sopra una Specie di Squadro. Napoli, 8vo.
Floræ Neapolitanæ Prodromi Appendix quarta. Neapoli, 1823,
8vo.
Thelwall’s (J.) Panoramic Miscellany; or Monthly Magazine and Review of
Literature, Science, and Arts, Xc., no. 1 and 2. London, 1826. 8vo.
Thiébaut de Berneaud (A.) Relation de la Sixième Féte Champétre célébrée
dans les Bois de Bellevue, par le Société Linnéenne de Paris. Paris, 1827,
8vo.
. Thompson’s (J. V.) Memoir on the Pentacrinus Europæus; a Recent Species
discovered in the Cove of Cork. Cork, 1827, 4to.
1327. Toz-
524 Catalogue of the Library of the Linnean Society.
1327. Tozzetti (Joan. Targioni) Catalogus Vegetabilium Marinorum Musei Sui.
Opus posthumum, cum Notis Octaviani Targioni Tozzetti, fasc. 1. Flo-
rentiæ, 1826, fol.
1328. Tozzetti (Ottav. Targioni) Della Necessita de osservare le Parti della Fruttifi-
cazione avanti e dopo Ja Florescenza. Modena, 1825, fol.
1329. Vieillot (L. P.) Galerie des Oiseaux du Cabinet d'Histoire Naturelle du
Jardin du Roi, 82 livraisons. Paris, 1822-26, 4to.
1330. Vigors (N. A.) Arrangement of the hitherto published Genera of Birds.
(From No. 2. of the ool. Journ.) 8vo.
1331. Wadd (W.) Nugæ Chirurgicæ; or A Biographical. Miscellany, illustrative
of a Collection of Professional Portraits. London, 1824, 8vo.
1332. Warner (R.) Plantae Woodfordienses ; A Catalogue of the more perfect Plants
growing spontaneously about Woodford in Essex. London, 1771, 8vo.
1333. 's Additions to Plante Woodfordienses. London, 1784, 8vo.
1334. Williams (Joan.) Dissertatio Physiologica inauguralis de Succi Circuitu at-
que de Respiratione in Plantis. Edinburghi, 1825, 8vo.
916. Wilson's (A.) American Ornithology, vols. 7 and 8. Edited by George
Ord, F.L.S. Philadelphia, 1824, fol.
1335. Wilson's (Jas.) Illustrations of Zoology. Edinburgh, 1827, fol.
1336. Winch’s (N. J.) Botanist's Guide through the Counties of Northumberland
and Durham, 2 vols. Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1805-7, 8vo.
1337. Woods’ (H.) Introductory Lecture on the Study of Zoology, delivered at the
Literary and Scientific Institution, Bath. Bath, 1827, 8vo.
1338. Annales de la Société Linnéenne de Paris, vol. 6, livr. 1—2. Paris, 1827,
$vo.
1339. Annales des Sciences Naturelles, par MM. Audouin, Adolphe Brongniart, et
Dumas, tome 10* et 11° Paris, 1827, 8vo. avec Atlas des Planches en 4to.
791. Annals of Philosophy, vol. 9—12, new series. London, 1825-26, Svo.
528. Asiatick Researches, vol. 15. Serampore, 1825, 4to.
1340. Flora oder Botanische Zeitung, no. 1. for 1527. Regensburg, 1827, 8vo.
1341. Isis von Oken, band 20, heft 1—10. Jena, 1826-27, 4to.
920. Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, vol. 2— 6.
Philadelphia, 1821-27, 8vo.
919. Kongl. Vetenskaps-Academiens Handlingar, for 1824 & 1825. Stockholm,
1824-25, 8vo.
Kongl. Vetenskaps-Academiens Arsberättelser, for 1823 & 1825. Stockholm,
1823 & 1825, 8vo.
1342. Literary Chronicle and Weekly Review, no. 416-20. London, 1827,
4to.
1343. London Weekly Review, no. 1—4. London, 1827, 4to.
620. Mé-
620.
440.
803.
1024.
1349.
1350.
13511:
1352.
Catalogue of the Library of the Linnean Society. 525
Mémoires de l’Académie Royale des Sciences de l'Institut de France, années
1821, 1822, 1823, 2 tomes. Paris, 1826-27, 4to.
Mémoires présentés par divers Savans à l’Académie Royale des Sciences de
l'Institut de France, 1 tome. Paris, 1827, 4to.
. Mémoires du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, par les Professeurs de cet Eta-
blissement, tom. 11. Paris, 1825, 4to.
. Memorie della Reale Accademia della Scienze di Torino, tom. 29—31.
Torino, 1825-27, 4to.
. Memoirs of the Astronomical Society of London, vol. 1 and 2. London,
1822-26, 4to.
. Memoirs of the Caledonian Horticultural Society, vol. 4. part 1. Edin-
burgh, 1827, 8vo.
Memoirs of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester, vol. 4.
second series. Manchester, 1824, 8vo.
Memoirs of the Wernerian Natural History Society, vol. 5. part 2. Edin-
burgh, 1826, Svo.
Nova Acta Physico- Medica Academiæ Cæsareæ Leopoldino-Carolinæ Na-
turee-Curiosorum, tom. 12 pars 2. et tomi 13 pars. l. Bonne, 1825-26,
Ato.
Pharmacopeia Leidensis. Lugduni-Batavorum, 1718, Svo.
. Philosophical Transactions for 1825 and 1826. London, 4to.
Philosophical Magazine and Journal, by Richard Taylor, no. 325—343.
London, 1825-26, 8vo.
Philosophical Magazine and Annals of Philosophy, by Richard Taylor and
Richard Phillips, no. 1—12, new series. London, 1827, 8vo.
Prize Essays and "Transactions of the Highland Society of Scotland, vol. 2.
Edinburgh, 1803, 8vo.
Proceedings of the Society for the Encouragement of Horticulture and Agri-
culture, and the Arts connected with them, in Jamaica. Kingston, 1825,
4to.
Rapport fait à l'Academie Royale des Sciences sur la Partie Zoologique du
Voyage autour du Monde, de le Capitaine Louis de Freycinet, par
M. Geoffroy St. Hilaire. Paris, 1825, 8vo.
Rapport fait à l'Academie des Sciences sur le Voyage de Decouvertes, de
M. Duperrey, par M. Arago. Paris, 1825, 8vo.
Refutation of certain Misrepresentations issued against the Author of the
* Fauna Americana" in the Philadelphia Franklin Journal, and in the
North American Review. Philadelphia, 1826, 8vo.
Reports of the Transactions of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadel-
phia
Catalogue of the Library of the Linnean Society.
phia during the Years 1824, 1825, and 1826. Philadelphia, 1824 and 1827,
8vo.
. Reports of the Garden Committee of the Horticultural Society of London,
Ist, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th. London, 1823-27, 4to.
. Reports of the Council of the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society, 5th,
6th, and 7th. Leeds, 1825-27, 8vo.
. Reports of the Committee of the Portsmouth and Portsea Literary and Philo-
sophical Society, for 1823, -24, and-25. Portsmouth, 1524 and 1825, 8vo.
. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 2. and vol. 3. part 1
and 2. new series. Philadelphia, 1825-26, 4to.
. Transactions of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures,
and Commerce, vol. 42—44. London, 1825-26, $vo.
. Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland,
vol. 1. part 2 and 3. London, 1826-27, 4to.
. Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, vol. 2. part 2. Cam-
bridge, 1827, 4to.
. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, vol. 10. part 2. Edin-
burgh, 1826, 4to.
. Transactions of the Geological Society, vol. 2. second series. London, 1826-
27, 4to.
. Transactions of the Horticultural Society of London, vol. 6. and vol. 7.
part 1. London, 1825-27, 4to.
. Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. 14. Dublin, 1825, 4to.
Zoological Journal, no. 6—10. London, 1825-27, 8vo.
Desiderata and Inquiries connected with the Presidencies of Madras and
Bombay, drawn up by a Committee of the Royal Asiatic Society. Lon-
don, 1827, 4to.
LIST
LIST OF DONORS
TO THE
LIBRARY OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY,
With References to the Numbers afiixed in the foregoing Cata-
logue to the Books presented by them respectively.
THE Royal Society of London, 438.
The Royal Society of Edinburgh, 527.
The Royal Irish Academy, 584.
The Imperial Academy Naturæ-Curiosorum, 1024.
The Royal Academy of Sciences of Paris, 620.
The Royal Academy of Stockholm, 919.
The Royal Academy of Turin, 586.
The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 920, 1352.
The American Philosophical Society, 585, 1129.
The Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Com-
merce, 439.
The Asiatick Society, 528.
The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 1113, 1355.
The Astronomical Society of London, 1344.
The Caledonian Horticultural Society, 1345.
The Cambridge Philosophical Society, 1025.
The Geological Society of London, 804.
The Horticultural Society of London, 665, 1353.
The Linnean Society of Paris, 1325, 1388.
The Literary and Philosophical Society of Leeds, 1117.
VOL. XV. 3v The
528 Donors to the Library of the Linnean Society.
The Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester, 440.
The Portsmouth and Portsea Literary and Philosophical Society, 1354.
The Society for the Encouragement of Horticulture and Agriculture of
Jamaica, 1348.
The Wernerian Society of Edinburgh, 803.
The Zoological Club of the Linnean Society, 1128.
The Professors of the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle of Paris, 802.
La Société de Flore de Bruxelles, 1182.
The Editors of the Annals of Philosophy, 791.
The Editors of the Zoological Journal, 1114.
The Proprietors of the Literary Chronicle and Weekly Review, 1342.
The Proprietors of the London Weekly Review, 1343.
Mons. Arago, 1350.
George A. Walker Arnott, Esq., F.L.S. 1123.
Mr. J. H. Barlow, 1124, 1125.
Professor Bertoloni, 1126.
Sir William Betham, Knt., F.L.S. 1194, 1211.
Edward Bevan, M.D. 1127.
James E. Bicheno, Esq., Sec. L.S. 1192, 1198, 1202, 1203, 1230, 1243,
1244, 1245, 1246, 1247, 1248, 1249, 1250, 1251, 1252, 1253, 1254,
1255, 1256, 1257, 1258, 1259, 1260, 1261, 1262, 1263, 1264, 1265,
1266, 1267, 1268, 1269, 1277, 1281, 1291.
Charles Lucien Bonaparte, Prince of Musignano, 1131.
Mons. Bory de St. Vincent, 1132, 1133, 1134, 1135, 1136.
Mr. Edward William Brayley, A.L.S. 1138, 1139, 1140.
Professor Brignoli di Brunnhoff, 1141.
Rev. William Carey, D.D. F.L.S. 1301.
Sir Anthony Carlisle, Knt. F.L.S. 1145.
Mr. George Charlwood, F.L.S. 1197.
Bracy Clark, Esq. F.L.S. 1147, 1148.
Mons. Colla, 1149, 1150, 1151, 1152, 1153, 1154.
Le Baron Coquebert de Montbret, 1156.
Jonathan Couch, Esq. F.L.S. 1278.
Edward Allen Crouch, Esq. F.L.S. 1157.
John Curtis, Esq. F.L.S. 1058.
J. W. Dal-
Donors to the Library of the Linnean Society. 529
J. W. Dalman, M.D. 1164.
Professor DeCandolle, F.M.L.S. 1167.
Mr. David Don, Libr. L.S. 1169, 1170, 1171, 1172, 1173, 1200, 1290,
1300, 1313, 1314, 1336, 1346, 1347.
Mr. George Don, A.L.S. 1174.
Mr. Edward Donovan, F.L.S. 1056.
Mons. Dumortier, 1176, 1177.
Andrew Duncan, jun., M.D. A.L.S. 1178.
M. Henri Dutrochet, M.D. 1179, 1180.
Edward Forster, Esq. Treas. L.S. 1130, 1228, 1276, 1280, 1282, 1292,
1299, 1332, 1333.
Thomas Forster, M.D. F.L.S. 1146.
George Townshend Fox, Esq. F.L.S. 1188.
John Frost, Esq. F.L.S. 1189, 1190, 1191.
John Kirkland Glazebrook, Esq. F.L.S. 1195.
Edward Griffith, Esq. F.L.S. 1199.
Mons. E. Guérin, 1201.
William Hamilton, M.D. 1204.
Richard Harlan, M.D. 1205, 1206, 1207, 1208, 1209, 1210, 1351.
Sir Richard Colt Hoare, Bart. F.L.S. 1991.
Lieut. James Holman, R.N. F.L.S. 1214.
Mr. Abel Ingpen, A.L.S. 1216.
Rev. Leonard Jenyns, M.A. F.L.S. 1217.
Captain Phillip Parker King, R.N. F.L.S. 1219.
Rev. William Kirby, M.A. F.L.S., and William Spence, Esq. F.L.S.
749.
Professor Latreille, F.M.L.S. 1221, 1222
Mons. Alexandre Lefebure, 1224, 1225.
John Charles Litchfield, Esq. 1271.
John Claudius Loudon, Esq. F.L.S. 1272, 1273, 1274.
Charles Lush, M.D. F.L.S. 1196, 1220.
Robert Lyall, M.D. 1275.
Archibald Menzies, Esq. F.L.S. 1284, 1285
Samuel Merriman, M.D. F.L.S. 1279.
Richard Morris, Esq. F.L.S. 1283.
3v2 John
, 1223.
530 Donors to the Library of the Linnean Society.
John Murray, Esq. F.L.S. 1286, 1287, 1288, 1289.
George Ord, Esq. TS. 016
MM. Quoy et Gaimard, 1293, 1294, 1295, 1296, 1297, 1298.
C. Edward Rigby, M.D. F.L.S. 1137.
Matthias A. Robinson, Esq. F.L.S. 1155.
Don Ramon de La Sagra, 1302.
Mr. George Samouelle, A.L.S. 1303.
Gcorge Poulett Scrope, Esq. 1307.
Mr. George Sinclair, F.L.S. 1213.
Sir James Edward Smith, M.D. P.L.S. 1093, 1309.
Mr. George B. Sowerby, F.L.S. 1005, 1215, 1310.
James Francis Stephens, Esq. F.L.S. 511, 1311.
John Stephenson, M.D., and James Morss Churchill, Esq. F.L.S. 1312.
Count de Sternberg, 1007.
Professor Geoflroy St. Hilaire, F.M.L.S. 1349.
Mr. Robert Sweet, F.L.S. 1315.
Richard Taylor, Esq. Under Sec. L.S. 1026.
Professor Tenore, 1321, 1322, 1323.
John Thelwall, Esq. 1324.
Mons. Temminck, F.M.L.S. 1318.
John Vaughan Thompson, Esq. F.L.S. 1326.
Professor Targioni-Tozzetti, 1327, 1328.
Nicholas Aylward Vigors, Esq. F.L.S. 1330.
William Wadd, Esq. F.L.S. 1331.
Richard Waring, M.D. 1175.
John Williams, M.D. 1334.
James Wilson, Esq. 1335.
Henry Woods, Esq. 1337.
( 531 )
DONATIONS
TO THE
MUSEUM OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY,
Exclusive of Presents of single Specimens of Animals, Plants,
and Minerals.
Continued from Page 603 of Vol. XIV. of the Society's Transactions.
Donations. Donors.
OLLECTION of dried Plants, consisting of :
Ac enc The Hon. Court of Directors of
230 Species, chiefly from Nepal and the the East India Company
Islands of the Indian Archipelago .
A. Coilection of Insects, chiefly from New Hol- s late James Hunter, Esq.,
land. we ev RM : Surgeon R.N. F.L.S.
Skin and Horns of the Male Chamois ( T' har)
of Nepal, the Horns of a Species of m George Traill, Esq. by Henry
lope, and the Skin of the Himalayan Bear, T. Colebrooke, Esq. F.L.S.
called * Burjee” by the Mountaineers .
Specimens of Musci, Lichens, and Fungi, col- } Miscwalltam Cdi Le
lected at the Cape of Good Hope
Skull of à Hippopotamus shot by Mr. Barrow
at the Cape of Good Hope in 1800, and
Horns of the large Cape Antelope .
Specimens of Organic Matter with Sulphur from?
Sir George Thomas Staunton,
Bart. F.L.S.
the Hot Springs of Iverdun in the Canton |
de Vaud, and a similar Substance without >M. de Gimbernat, F. M.L.S.
the addition of Sulphur, from the waters of |
Baden in the Canton d'Argovie . .
Skin
532 Donations to the Museum of the Linnean Society.
Donations. Donots.
Skin of the Delphinus Delphis, together with the
Eyes, and the Organs of Generation of the
eae Go ee ee Henry Penneck, M.D. A.L.S.
same, and a Specimen of a Species of Sparus,
both taken in Mount's Bay, near Penzance .
2 Stuffed Specimens of the Anas semipalmata of
i 1 Rev. Sackville Bale, M.A. F.L.S.
AAA 9929 - 28-28-54 5.
A stuffed Specimen of the Anas atrata, or Dl: bak
Mr. Benjamin Leadbeater, F.L.S.
Swan, in a glazed Case
A Collection of dried Plants from on Bo Major-General Sir Thomas Mac-
Jaud 205 ne TRU EIS PTS dougal Brisbane, K.C. D. I. L.S.
22 Skins of Birds from the Province of Pernam->
buco; Specimen of the wild Cochineal In- . x
n ü | John Parkinson, Esq. F.L.S. Bri-
sect; of a Vegetable Wax; of Brazil Wood; >. f
tish Consul, Pernambuco.
and of a Gum the produce of a Tree, native
of the Province of Pernambuco . .
5 Birds in Cases; 11 Bottles of Reptilia;
Boxes of Minerals and Fossils: a small { The Trustees of the late Natural
|
zd
Collection of recent and fossil Shells; - History Society.
the Tusk of an Elephant . .
The Skull of a supposed extinct Race of ie
that formerly inhabited N. America, LI Harlan, M.D.
the Saltpetre Caves, Kentucky
A Collection of Ferns from the Island of Dania The Council of the Medico-Bota-
ie. nical Society.
Alexander MacLeay, Esq. F.L.S.
=, Colonial Sec. N.S. Wales.
nica, consisting of 128 Specimens
41 Skins of Birds from New Holland
38 Skins of Birds from New Holland, most of
them not before in the Society’s Collection; €, ;
me TW uda . ." pSir John Jamison, M.D. F.L.S.
the Skins of 6 Quadrupeds; a new Species
of Snake; and an Egg of the Black Swan.
Specimens of two Insects of the Family of F’es-
P y ] Mons. Guijon, Chief Surgeon to
{ the French Forces in Guada-
pide, from Guadaloupe; and the Fangs of
Trigonocephalus lanceolatus from Marti-
: loupe.
nique E:
An Ants Nest, found in a beam of Wood at
Middlehill, Worcestershire, the Seat of Sir > Sir Thos. Phillipps, Dart. F.L.S.
Thomas Phillipps, Bart. ware d:
Specimens of dried Plants, collected in Lapland 1 Benjamin Cruttal Pierce, M.D.
by the late Dr. Edward Daniel Clarke . } F.L.S.
Specimens
Donations to the Museum of the Linnean Society. — 533
Donations. Donors.
Specimens of 4 new Species of Freshwater ] William Elford Leach, M.D.
Shells ; I F.L.S.
54 Skins of Birds from New Ha of 2 Spe-
cies of Squalus ; together with the Skull of ( Alexander MacLeay, Esq. F.L.S.
a third Species; and of a species of Delphi- Colonial Sec. N. S. Wales.
(QUIS E o MU oul: sor MUS ES
An Agricultural Chart of France, the Nether-
lands, and some of the neighbouring Coun-
tries on the Continent . . . .
A Tabular and Proportional View of the Supe-
M. Le Baron Coquebert de Mont-
bret.
Henry Thomas De la Beche, Esq.
F.L.S.
rior, Supermedial, and Medial (Tertiary and
Secondary) Rocks . .
A coloured Engraving of Rafflesia Arnoldi . has hs o Peters
apl f
A sme Toga i St a Bah a FL
Design for the Garden in the Regent’s Park, Pme Zoos Sis
belonging to the Zoological Society
A Portrait of the late Sir Joseph Banks, Bart., puces Bourke Lambert, Esq.
President of the Royal Society, &c. AL en EST
Henry 'Thomas Col ce, Esq.
A Portrait of the late H. W. Voysey, M.D. ex S. jonas Colebros kes Bad
Tableau Géographique des Plantes, par M. le
Baron de Humboldt
A Portrait of the late Mr. Jas. Sow ay Fr. r S.
in a Frame.—4A Portrait of the late Sir
Thos. Stamford Raflles.—4A coloured En-
graving of a View in the Island of Ceylon,
; | Richard Chambers, Esq. F.L.S.
|
|
pile rs. Sowerby.
|
exhibiting the Talpat Palm (Corypha um-
braculifera in various stages of its growth .
ERRATUM.
At P.461, for Hyena encrita read Hyena crocuta.
DIRECTIONS
FOR
PLACING THE PLATES OF THE FIFTEENTH VOLUME.
Tas. 1. Plectrophanes Lapponica - : - to face page 156
2. Ailurus fulgens - - - - - = - 165
3. Sclerotium gyrosum, Delesseria tenerrima, &c. - - 348
4. Bursera serrata - - - - - - -259609
5. Boswellia serrata, &c. - - - - E - 369
7 Joiketicus Kibyl = = bee TE. cc 02 776
8. Oiketicus MacLeayi - - - E - E - 377
9. Sternum and Trachea of Numida cristata — - - - 389
10. Ditto ditto of Ardea Virgo - - - 389
11. Ditto ditto of Anthropoides Stanleyanus - 389
12. Ditto ditto of Anas atrata — - - - 389
14 }Praches and Clavicles of Anas semipalmata - - 390
15. Tracheæ of Anas moschata, spectabilis, &c. - - - 390
16. Pyxis arachnoides - = : z 2 = - 395
17. Kinixys castanea and Homeana - - - - 398
18. Darclaya longifolia - - - - = E - 448
19. Hyena villosa - 3 3 = E = E - 462
*20. Antilope Chickara - - - - - - - 602
* The Plate is numbered by mistake Tab. 19.
The Binder is requested to observe, that as a general Title-page and a Table of Contents for the
whole Volume are now given, the Title-pages to the separate Parts, and the Table of Contents for
Part I. are to be cancelled.
END OF THE FIFTEENTH VOLUME.
Printed by RicHarD Tavron, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street.
LIST
OF THE
LINNEAN SOCIETY
OF
LONDON.
1828.
Printed by Ricuarp Taxron,
Red Lion Court, Fleet Street.
LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON.
PAT RON:
His Sacrep Masesry Kine GEORGE IV.
HONORARY MEMBERS.
His Royaz Hicuness Prrnce LEOPOLD or SAXE-COBURG.
GEORGE, Duke or MARLBOROUGH.
COUNCIL.
Epwarp, Lord SrAxLEv, M.P. F.H.S. Upper Grosvenor-street, PRESIDENT
Tuomas Bett, Esq. F.R.S. New Broad-street
Epwarp Turner Bennett, Esq. Edward-street, Portman-square
James Epenezer Bicueno, Esq. F.R.S. Furnival’s-Inn, Secretary
Francis Boorr, M.D. Gower-street, Bedford-square
Rosert Brown, Esq. F.R.S., Hon. M.R.S. Ed, R.I. Acad., and Hort. Soc.; Acadd. Ces.
Nat. Cur., et Reg. Sc. Holm., Socc. Reg. Sc. Hafn., et Nat. Scrutat. Berolin. Socius ;
Institt. Reg. Sc. Paris., et Amstelod., Acadd. Imper. Sc. Petrop. Reg. Sc. Berolin., et
Monac. Corresp. ; Socc. Phil. Nov.-Ebor., Reg. Gicon. Boruss., Nat. Scrutat. Wetter.,
Lips., Linn. Paris., et Reg. Bot. Ratisb. Soc. Hon. Dean-street, ViCE-PRESIDENT
WirLiAM Henry Firron, M.D. F.R.S. President of the Geological Society. Upper Harley-
street
Ebwanp Forster, Esq. F.R.S. and H.S. Mansionhouse-street, TREASURER and Vice-
PRESIDENT
Davies GILBERT, Esq. M.P. F.A.S. and ILS. President of the Royal Society, Bridge-
street, Westminster
Rev. Epmunp GooprENovon, D.D. F.R.S. Dean’s-yard, Westminster
AvLMER Bourke LAMBERT, Esq. F.R.S. A.S. and H.S. H.M.R.I.A. Acad. Ces. Nat. Cur.
et Reg. Sc. Madrit. Socius, Soc. Bot. Ratisb. Soc. Hon. Grosvenor-street, VicE-Pre-
SIDENT
WiLLiAM GEORGE Maton, M.D. F.R.S. and AS. Acad. Reg. Sc. Holm. et Soc. Med.
Suec. Soc. Spring-gardens, VicE-PRESIDENT
Josepn Saprne, Esq. F.R.S. and ASS. Sec. to the Horticultural Society, Acad. Cas. Nat.
Cur. Soc. Ces. Nat. Cur. Mosq. et Reg. Œcon. Boruss. Socius, Soc. Phil. et Soc. Hist.
Nov.-Ebor. Socius Hon. King-street, St. James's
Evwarp Apozrnus, Duke of Somerset, F.R.S. and A.S. Park-lane
Joux Frrnt Souru, Esq. St. Thomas's-street, Southwark
#,* On the 24th of May, 1829, Five Members of this Council are to be removed, and Five other Members from among
the Fellows are to be elected in their room.
FELLOWS.
J oun Hessey Abraham, Esq. Sheffield
Joseph Chamberlayne Acherley, Esq. Lieut. Royal
Artillery
John Adamson, Esq. F.A.S. Newcastle-upon-Tyne |
James Agar, Esq. F.H.S. Holly-terrace, High-
gate-hill
Arthur Aikin, Esq. John-street, Adelphi
William "Townsend Aiton, Esq. F.H.S. Royal
Gardens, Kew
Richard Dykes Alexander, Esq. Ipswich
Thomas Allan, Esq. F.R.S. and R.S. Ed. Char-
lotte-square, Edinburgh
Thomas Allen, Esq. F.A.S. Ipswich
William Allen, Esq. F.R.S. and H.S.
court, Lombard-street
Mr. William Anderson, F.H.S. Botanic Garden,
Chelsea
John Ansley, Esq. and Alderman, Bread-street
George A. Walker Arnott, Esq. M.A. F.R.S. Ed.
Edinburgh
James Farquhar Ashburner, M.D. Bombay
Joux, Duke of Avuorr, K.T. F.R.S. and H.S.
St. James's-square
John Atkinson, Esq. Park-square, Leeds
George Austen, Esq. Inner Temple-lane
Wizziam, Lord Bacor, F.H.S. Great Cumber-
land-street
Francis Baily, Esq. F.R.S. M.R.I.A. Tavistock-
place, Russell-square
Sir Frederick Baker, Bart., F.R.S. and A.S. Jer-
myn-street
Rev. William Lloyd Baker, M.A. Stout's Hill,
Uley, Gloucestershire
Rev. Sackville Bale, M.A. F.H.S. Withyham, near
East Grinstead, Sussex
Mr. George Banks, Devonport
Robert Barclay, Esq. F.H.S. Bury Hill, near
Dorking
James Barlow, Esq. Surgeon Ordnance Medical
Department, Woolwich
Edward Barnard, Esq. F.H.S. Parliament-street
Mr. Philip Barnes, Norwich
John Barrow, Esq. F.R.S. Sec. to the Admiralty,
Spring-gardens
Alexander Barry, Esq. Furnival’s-Inn
Tuomas, Marquis of Batu, K.G. LL.D. F.A.S.
and H.S. Grosvenor-square
GroncE Henry, Lord Bishop of Batu and
We tts, D.D. F.R.S. and A.S. Langham-place
Francis Dauer, Esq. F.R.S. and H.S. Kew Green
William Beatty, M.D. F,R.S. Royal Hospital,
Greenwich
Plough-
Henry Beaufoy, Esq. F.R.S. South Lambeth
Col. Thomas Richard Beaumont, Portman-square
Joux, Duke of Brpronp, F.H.S. St. James's-sq.
Very Rev. Henry Beeke, D.D. Dean of Bristol
Albert William Beetham, Esq. Stoke Newington
William Beetham, Esq. F.R.S. and A.S. Stoke
Newington
Charles Bell, Esq. F. R.S. and R.S. Ed. Soho-sq.
Thomas Bell, Esq. F.R.S. New Broad-street
Edward Turner Bennett, Esq. Edward-street,
Portman-square
George Bennett, Esq. Staines
John Joseph Bennett, Esq. Edward-street, Port-
man-square
Robert Benson, Esq. M.A. Stone-buildings, Lin-
coln's-Inn
William Bentham, Esq. Upper Gower-street
Sir William Betham, Knt. M.R.LA. Ulster King
at Arms, Dublin
James Epenezer Bicueno, Esq. F.R.S. Furni-
val’s Inn, Secrerary
Jacob Bigelow, M.D. Prof. Bot. Harvard Univer-
sity, New England
John Thomas Bigge, Esq. F.H.S.
Mr. Arthur Biggs, Botanic Garden, Cambridge
John Jeremiah Bigsby, M.D. Newark
Lieut.-General Richard Bingham, Penzance
Rev. Charles Smith Bird, M.A. Burghfield, near
Reading
John Blackburne, Esq. M.P. F.R.S. Park-street,
Westminster
John Blackwall, Esq. Ciumpsall Hall, Manchester
Michael Bland, Esq. F.R.S. A.S. and H.S. Mon-
tagu-place, Russell-square
Francis Boott, M.D. Gower-street, Bedford-square
William Borrer, jun. Esq. Henfield, Sussex
John Bostock, M.D. F.R.S. and H.S. Upper Bed-
ford-place, Russell-square
William Bowles, Esq. F.H.S. Fitzharris House,
Abingdon
Joseph Bowles, LL.D. Farringdon Hall, Berks
John Eddowes Bowman, Esq. The Court, near
Wrexham, Denbighshire
John Bowring, Esq. Hackney
Henry Boys, Esq. Caroline-place, Queen-street,
Chelsea
Mr. Henry Joseph Bradfield, Derby-street, Par-
liament-street
Rev. John Bransby, M.A. F.A.S. and H.S. Stoke-
Newington
William Bridgman, Esq. F.R.S. Frogmore, Wes-
ton, Herefordshire
Thomas Brightwell, Esq. Norwich
Major-General Sir Thomas Macdougal Brisbane, |
K.C.B. F.R.S. and R.S. Ed. Znst. Sc. Paris.
Corresp. Brisbane, Ayrshire
John Broadley, Esq. F.A.S. and H.S. South Ella,
near Hull
Edward Broderip, M.D. Canterbury
William John Broderip, Esq. Sec. to the Geological
Society, Raymond’s-buildings, Gray’s-Inn
Arthur BrookeDeCapell Brooke, Esq. M.A. F. R.S.
Oakley, near Kettering, Northamptonshire
Henry James Brooke, Esq. F.R.S. Mawbey-place,
South Lambeth
Joshua Brookes, Esq. F. R.S. Soc. Cas. Nat. Cur.
Mosq. Soc. Blenheim-st., Great Marlborough-st.
Samuel Brookes, Esq. Penheim, near Chepstow,
Monmouthshire
6
Mr. Samuel Brookes, F. H.S. Balls Pond, New- |
ington
Mr. John Abernethy Brown
John Brown, M.D. Boston, Lincolnshire
Rozert Brown, Esq. F.R.S., Hon. M.R.S. Ed, |
R.I.Acad., and Hort.Soc.; Acadd. Cas. Nat.Cur.,
et Reg. Sc. Holm., Socc. Reg. Sc. Hafn., et Nat.
Scrutat. Berolin. Socius ; Institt. Reg. Sc. Paris.,
et Amstelod., Acadd. Imper. Sc. Petrop., Reg. Sc.
Berolin., et Monac. Corresp.; Socc. Phil. Nov.-
Ebor., Reg. Œcon. Boruss., Nat. Scrutat. Wetter.,
Lips., Linn. Paris., et Reg. Bot. Ratisb. Soc. Hon.
Dean-street, VicE-PRESIDENT
Thomas Brown, Esq. F. R.S. Ed. Raeburn-place,
Stockbridge, Edinburgh
Joux, Earl BnowNrow, F.R.S. and A.S. Hill- |
street, Derkeley-square
Walter Buchanan, Esq. F.H.S. Upper Woburn-pl.
Rev. William Buckland, D.D. F.R.S. Acad. Cas.
Nat. Cur. Soc. Ces. Nat. Cur. Mosq. et Hist. Nat.
Paris. Soc. Prof. of Geology and Mineralogy,
Oxford
Rev. James Bulwer, B.A. Fitzwilliam-sq. Dublin
Major-General Sir Henry Edward Bunbury, Bart.
K.C.B. F.H.S. Milden Hall, Suffolk
William John Burchell, Esq. Soc. Nat. Scrutat.
Berolin. Soc. Fulham
Rev. Charles Parr Burney, D.D. F.R.S. A.S. and
H.S. Greenwich
Rev. Edward John Burrow, D.D. F.R.S. The
Grove, Epping
Edward Burton, Esq. Surgeon to the Forces
Rev. Edward John Bury, M.A. Park-square, Re-
gent's Park
Rev. Thomas Butt, M.A. Trentham, near Stone,
Staffordshire
John Butter, M.D. F.R.S. Woodbury, near Lymp-
stone, Devon
| Alexander Caldcleugh, Esq. F.R.S. and H.S.
Broad-green House, near Croydon
| John Caley, Esq. F. R.S. A.S. and H.S. Holborn-
| court, Gray's-Inn
| Johií Carey, Esq. New Cross
Samuel Thomas Carey, Esq. New Cross
Rev. William Carey, D.D. Serampore, Bengal
Sir Anthony Carlisle, Knt. F. R.S. and A.S.. Sur-
geon Extraordinary to the King, Langham-place
Richard Cartwright, Esq. Bloomsbury-square
| Thomas Castle, Esq. Bermondsey-square
| John Cator, Esq. F.H.S. Beckenham-place, Kent
William Cattley, Esq. F.H.S. Barnet
| Mr. Richard Chambers, Castle-street, Leicester-sq.
Mr. George Charlwood, Covent-garden
Rev. Joseph Lane Cheston, Longford House,
Gloucester
John George Children, Esq. F. R.S. A.S. and R.S.
Ed. British Museum
Lord Cartes Spencer Caurcxizz, Ham Com-
mon, Surrey
James Morss Churchill, Esq. Park-street, Gros-
venor-square
Mr. Bracy Clark, Inst. Sc. Paris. Corresp. et Soc.
Nat. Scrutat. Berolin. Soc. Taunton-place, Re-
gent's Park
| Edmund John Clark, M.D. Hyde-Park-place west
| Mr. Charles William Clarke, Holborn
Rev. John Cockin, M.A. Clifton
| Robert Cole, Esq. Holybourne, near Alton, Hants
Henry Thomas Colebrooke, Esq. F. R.S. and R.S.
Ed. M. Asiat. Soc. Argyle-street
William M. G. Colebrooke, Esq. Major Royat
Artillery
George Coles, Esq. Woodstock, Oxfordshire
Alexander Collie, Esq. Surgeon Royal Navy
Charles Collinson, Esq. Chauntry, near Ipswich
John T. Conquest, M.D. Finsbury-square
Philip Davies Cooke, Esq. F.H.S. Owston, near
Doncaster
John Cottingham, Esq. Little Neston, Cheshire
Richard Cotton, Esq. Woodfield, near Wolver-
hampton
Mr. Jonathan Couch, Polperro, Cornwall
Rev. William Coxe, M.A. Archdeacon of Wilts,
F.R.S. and A.S. Soc. Imp. Gicon. Petrop. et R.
Scient. Hafn. Soc. Bemerton, Wilts
Mr. Henry Coxwell, Millfield, near Highgate
John Crawfurd, Esq. Park-street, Grosvenor-square
John Cresswell, Esq. F.H.S. Beacon Hill, Exmouth
Sir Alexander Crichton, Knt. M.D. F.R.S. Grand
Cross of the Order of St. Vladimir, Acad. Imp.
Petrop. Soc. Hon. Soc. Res. Gütting. Corresp. et
Soc. Nat. Hist. Mosq. Socius, The Grove, near
Sevenoaks
John Martin Cripps, Esq. F.H.S. Lewes
Edm. Allen Crouch, Esq. Johnson-st., Somers-town
Charles Sinclair Cullen, Esq. Cloisters, Temple
Sir Thomas Gery Cullum, Bart. F.R.S. A.S. and |
H.S. Bury, Suffolk
William Currie, jun. Esq. Gloucester-place
John Curtis, Esq. Grove-place, Lisson-grove
Mr. Samuel Curtis, Glazenwood, Braintree
James Charles Dale, Esq. M.A. Glanville's Woot-
ton, near Sherborne, Dorset
Rev. James Dalton, M.A. Croft, near Northaller-
ton, Yorkshire
Rev. Rich. Daniel, M. A. F. A.S. Stokesby, Norfolk
John Ford Davis, M.D. Bath
David Elisha Davy, Esq. The Grove, Yoxford,
Suffolk
Rev. Martin Davy, D.D. F.R.S. and A.S. Vice-
Chancellor of the University, and Master of Caius
College, Cambridge
Hon. and Rev. Thomas de Grey, M.A. F.H.S.
Archdeacon of Surrey
Peter Frederick De Jersey, M.D. Guernsey
Henry Thomas De la Beche, Esq. F. R.S.
Philip Derbishire, Esq.
Rev. John Horatio Dickenson, Darley, near Derby
David James Hamilton Dickson, M.D. F.R.S. Ed.
Royal Naval Hospital, Plymouth
Lewis Weston Dillwyn, Esq. F. R.S. Penllergare,
near Swansea
Mr. Edward Donovan, Mead's-row, Lambeth
Mr. David Douglas
John Sommers Down, M.D. Southampton
Henry Downes, Esq. Lieut. Royal Navy
Rey. Richard Dreyer, LL.B. Bungay, Suffolk
Mr. Charles Dubois
Rey. Edward Duke, M.A. Lake, Wilts
John Dunston, Esq. Old Broad-street
Lieut.-Colonel Philip Durnford, Royal Artillery
Thomas Webb Dyer, M.D. Bristol
Francis King Eagle, Esq. F.H.S. Lakenheath, |
Bury, Suffolk
'Thomas William Edwards, Esq. Llandaff
Str Williams Elford, Bart F.R:S. Totnes; Devon |
John Elliot, Esq. F. R.S. Tr. and V.P. H.S. Pim-
lico Lodge, Pimlico
John Ellis, Esq. F. R.S. and H.S. Connaught-place
Alexander Erskine, Esq. Bryanston-square
John Bishop Estlin, Esq. Bristol
CuarLes, Lord FarnsorouGx, G.C.B. F.R.S.
A.S. and H.S. Tr. Br. Mus. Whitehall
Joux, Lord FARNHAM, F.H.S. Farnham, Cavan,
Ireland
Barron Field, Esq. Liverpool
Hon. Wm. Twisleton Fiennes, F.H.S. Lower
Berkeley-street
William Henry Fitton, M.D. F.R.S. President of
the Geological Society, Upper Harley-street
John Fleming, Esq. F.R.S. H.S. and R.S. Ed.
M. siat. Soc. Gloucester-place
Henry Saville Foljambe, Esq. Retford
Charles Ferguson Forbes, M.D. Argyle-street
| Richard Forester Forester, M.D. Derby
Andrew Forster, Esq. Mount-street, Lambeth
Epwarp l'orsrer, Esq. F.R.S. and H.S. Man-
sionhouse-street, and Hale End, Essex, Trea-
SURER and VICE-PRESIDENT
Edward Forster, jun. Esq. Walthamstow, Essex
Mr. John Forster, Mount-row, Lambeth
Thomas Forster, M.D. Boreham, Essex
Frederick Thomas Henry Foster, Esq. F.H.S.
Pall Mall
George Townshend Fox, Esq. Westoe, Durham
Rev. Robert Bransby Francis, M.A. Edgefield,
near Holt, Norfolk
Sir Thomas Frankland, Bart. F.R.S. and HS.
Thirkleby, near Thirsk, Yorkshire
Mr. John Fraser, Ramsgate
John Frost, Esq. F.R.S. Ed. F.A.S. and HS.
Dridge-street, Dlackfriars
John Gage, Esq. F. R.S. Lincoln's-Inn
Samuel Galton, Esq. F.R.S. and H.S. Dudson
House, near Birmingham
Rev, Thomas Garnier, M.A. F.IH.S. Bishopstoke,
near Winchester
Rev. William Lewes Pugh Garnons, B.D. I. H.S.
Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
Edward Sanderson George, Esq. Grove Terrace,
Leeds
Sir George Smith Gibbes, Knt. M.D. F.R.S. Bath
| Davies Gilbert, Esq. M.P. F.A.S. and H.S. Presi-
dent of the Royal Society, Bridge-street, West-
minster.
Rev. Thomas Gisborne, M. A. Prebendary of Durham
Thomas Kirkland Glazebrook, Esq. Orford Lodge,
Warrington
Rev. Joseph Goodall, D.D. F.A.S. and H.S. Pro-
vost of Eton College
Rev. Edmund Goodenough, D.D. F.R.S. Dean's-
yard, Westminster
Mr. Richard Goolden, Maidenhead
Robert Graham, M.D. F.R.S. Ed. Reg. Prof. Bot.
Edinburgh
Augustus Bozzi Granville, M.D. F.R.S. Acad.
Reg. Med. Madrit. Scien. Neap. Florent. et Luc.
Socius, Grafton-street, Bond-street
Robert Edmond Grant, M.D. F.R.S. Ed. Euston-
street, Euston-square
Mr. George Graves, Bath-place, Peckham
Robert Graves, M.D. Bradpole, near Bridport
John Gray, M.D.
Mr. Samuel Forfeit Gray, F.H.S. Great Russell-
street, Bloomsbury
Thomas Greatorex, Esq. F.R.S. Upper Norton-st.
George Bellas Greenough, Esq. I.R.S. Regent's
Park
Robert Kaye Greville, LL.D. F.R.S. Ed. Whar- |
ton-place, Edinburgh
Sir Thomas Grey, Knt. M.D. F.R.S. Ramsgate
Edward Griffith, Esq. Gray’s-Inn-square
John Wynn Griffith, Esq. F.H.S. Garn, near
Denbigh
Rev. Lansdown Guilding, B.A. St. Vincent, West
Indies
John Guillemard, Esq. F.R.S. Gower-street
John Gunning, Esq. Paris
Rev. John Hailstone, M.A. F.R.S. Cambridge
Samuel Hailstone, Esq. Bradford, Yorkshire
Francis Hamilton, M.D. F. R.S. A.S. and R.S. Ed.
M. Asiat. Soc. Leny House, near Callander,
Stirlingshire
Robert Hamilton, M.D. Ipswich
Maj.-Gen. Thomas Hardwicke, F.R.S. M. Asiat. |
Soc. Thurlow House, Larkhall-lane, Clapham
Thomas Hare, Esq. F.H.S. Upper Gower-street,
Bedford-square
Rev. John Harriman
John Harris, Esq. Exeter
Mr. Arthur Harrison
Richard Harrison, Esq. Aigburgh, near Liverpool |
Thomas Harrison, Esq. F.H.S. Alpha-Lodge,
Regent’s Park
Thomas Charles Harrison, Esq. F.H.S. York- |
terrace, Regent’s Park
William Harrison, Esq. F.R.S. and A.S. King's
Counsel, Lincoln’s-Inn-fields
George Harvey, Esq. F. R. S. and R.S. Ed. Plymouth
John Harwood, M.D. Prof. Nat. Hist. Royal In-
stitution
Rev. Henry Hasted, M.A. F.R.S. Dury, Suffolk
Charles Hatchett, Esq. F. R.S. A.S. H.S. and R.S.
Ed. Inst. Sc. Paris. Corresp. et Soc. Imp. (Econ.
Petropol. Soc. Delle-Vue House, Chelsea
Mr. John Hatchett, Kingsland
Mr. John Hatchett, jun. Kingsland
Ulrick Frederick Hausmann, Esq. Art. Veterin.
Prof. Hanover
Edward Hawkins, Esq. F.R.S. British Museum
Adrian Hardy Haworth, Esq. F.H.S. Queen's
Elm, Chelsea
Josiah Marshall Heath, Esq. Madras
Francis Henchman, Esq. F.H.S. Homerton
Henry Hoste Henley, Esq. F. H.S. Sandringham,
Norfolk
Rev. John Stevens Henslow, M.A. Reg. Prof. Bot.
Cambridge
Sir Robert Heron, Bart. M.P. F.H.S. Stubton,
Lincolnshire
George Hibbert, Esq. F. R.S. A.S. and H.S. Port-
land-place
Robert Higgin, Esq. Norwich
Robert Hills, Esq. Margaret-street, Cavendish-sq.
Rev. William Hincks, M.A. Liverpool
Samuel Hitch, Esq. Asylum, Gloucester
Sir Richard Colt Hoare, Bart. F.R.S. and A.S.
Stourhead, Wilts
Sir Benjamin Hobhouse, Bart. F.R.S. A.S. and
H.S. Berkeley-square
Thomas Hoblyn, Esq. F.R.S. and H.S. Sloane-
street
John Hogg, Esq. M.A. Fellow of St. Peter's Coll.
Camb., Norton, near Stockton-on- Tees, Durham
Charles Holford, Esq. F.H.S. Hampstead
Lawrence Brock Hollinshead, Esq. F.H.S. Stan-
well, Middlesex
Lieut. James Holman, F.R.S. Royal Navy, Naval
College, Windsor
Edward Holme, M.D. Manchester
Rev. John Holme, M.A. Freckenham, near Mil-
denhall, Suffolk
Sir Everard Home, Bart. V.P.R.S. F.A.S. and
ELS. Znst. Sc. Par. Corresp. Serjeant Surgeon to
the King, Sackville-street
Wm. Jackson Hooker, LL.D. F.R.S. A.S. & H.S.
Acad. Cas. Nat. Cur. Soc. Reg. Prof. Bot. Glasgow
Robert Hooper, M.D. Saville-row
Rev. Thomas Poole Hooper, M.A. Sompting, near
Worthing
Rev. Frederick William Hope, M.A. Upper Sey-
mour-street
Robt. Hope, M.D. Greenhill Lodge, Crickhowel
Thomas Hopkirk, Esq. Dalbeth, near Glasgow
William Horley, Esq. Hoddesdon, Herts
Edward Horne, Esq. B.C.L. Russell-square
Thomas Horsfield, M.D. F.R.S. Acad. Cas. Nat.
Cur. Soc. Raymond’s-buildings, Gray’s-Inn
| David Hosack, M.D. F.R.S. and R.S, Ed. Prof.
of Botany, New York
Joseph Houlton, Esq. Grove-place, Alpha-road
Rev. John Howson, Giggleswick, near Settle, York-
shire
William Hughes Hughes, Esq. F.A.S. and H.S.
Clapham Common, Surrey
John Hull, M.D. Manchester
Sir Abraham Hume, Bart. F.R.S. A.S. and H.S.
Hill-street, Berkeley-square
Rey. John Thomas Huntley, M.A. Kimbolton,
Huntingdonshire
Robert Huntley, Esq. Staines
Philip Hurd, Esq. F.H.S. Temple
Mr. Joseph Hurlock, St. Paul’s church-yard
"William: Elatchingon, BLD:
Rey. Stephen Long Jacob, M.A. Woolavington, |
Somersetshire
John Boote James, M.D. Acad. R. Sc. Neap. Imp. |
Florent. Patav. et Chirurg. Vind. Socius, Park-
street, Westminster
Robert Jameson, Esq. F.R.S. and R.S. Ed. Reg.
Prof. Nat. Hist. Edinburgh.
Sir John Jamison, M.D. Knight of the Swedish |
Order of Wasa, New South Wales
Sir William Jardine, Bart. F.R.S. Ed. Jardine |
Hall, Dumfriesshire
Edward Jenkins, Esq. Peterborough
Robert Henry Jenkinson, Esq. V.P.H.S. Earl’s
Court, Brompton
Henry Jenner, M.D. Berkeley, Gloucestershire
Rev. Leonard Jenyns, M.A. Bottisham Hall, Cam-
bridgeshire
John Jesse, Esq. Manchester
Joseph Ablett Jesse, Esq. Manchester
William Johns, M.D. Oxford-road, Manchester
Mr. Charles Johnson, Lea-place, Bromley Marsh,
Middlesex
Rev. E. B. Johnson, M.A.
James Rawlins Johnson, M.D. F.R.S. Suffolk-
place, Pall Mall
Sir Alexander Johnston, Knt. F.R.S. Great Cum-
berland-place
John Isbell, M.D. Plymouth
Jeremiah Ives, Esq. F.R.S. A.S. and H.S. Norwich
Rey. Patrick Keith, Bethersden, near Ashford, Kent
James Kendrick, M.D. Warrington
Wm. Kent, Esq. F.H.S. Bathwick Hill, near Bath
Mr. Samuel Kershaw, East India House
Joseph King, Esq. Billiter-square
Captain Phillip Parker King, Royal Navy, F. R.S.
Rev. William Kirby, M.A. F.R.S. Soc. Nat. Scrut.
Berolin. et Cas. Nat. Cur. Mosq. Soc. Barham,
near Ipswich
John Leonard Knapp, Esq. Alveston, 'Thornbury,
Bristol
Henry Gally Knight, Esq. F.H.S. Langold, near
Carlton, Yorkshire
Thomas Andrew Knight, Esq. F. R.S. Pres. of the
Hort. Soc. Downton, near Ludlow, Herefordshire
'Thomas Knowlton, Esq. Darley, near Derby
Charles Konig, Esq. F.R.S. Acad. Monac. Soc.
Imper. Petropol. Consoc. British Museum
Anthony Joseph Michael La Beaume, Esq. South-
ampton-row, Russell-square
William Lambe, M.D. King's-road, Bedford-row |
Aytmer Bourke LamsBenrt, Esq. F.R.S. A.S.
and HS. H.M.R.I.A. Acad. Cas. Nat. Cur. et
Reg. Sc. Madrit. Socius, Soc. Bot. Ratisb. Soc.
Hon. Grosvenor-street, Vice-PRESIDENT
Sir Henry Anne Lambert, Bart. F.H.S. Manches-
ter-square
John Henry Lance, Esq. Netherton, near Andover
Mr. Charles Lane, Loughton, Essex
Larret Langley, Esq. Brampton Academy, near
Rotheram
John Latham, M.D. F.R.S. and A.S. Acad. Cees..
Nat. Curios. Reg. Holm. et Soc. Nat. Scrut. Be-
rolin. Soc. Winchester
John Latham, M.D. FRS. Harley-street
Richard Latham, Esq. F. H.S. Great Russell-street
William Elford Leach, M.D. F.R.S. Acad. Ces.
Nat. Cur. Soc. Nat, Scrut. Berol. et Soc. Philom.
Par. Soc.
Mr. B. Leadbeater, Brewer-street, Golden-square
John Leconte, Esq. Savannah, Georgia
Henry Lee, M.D. Homerton
Richard Leigh, Esq. F.H.S. Hawley, near Dart-
ford
John Lindley, Esq. F. R.S. Acad. Ces. Nat. Cur. Soc.
Dot. Ratisb. et Physiog. Lund. Socius, Soc. Linn.
Paris. Corresp. Assist. Sec. Hort. Soc. Regent-st.
Edmund Lloyd, Esq. Thornbury, Gloucestershire
William Horton Lloyd, Esq. Bedford-place, Rus-
sell-square
William Oliver Lock, M.D. Swaffham
Mr. George Loddiges, F.H.S. Hackney
GzoncE, Lord LovaixE, M.P. Lower Brook-street
John Claudius Loudon, Esq. F.IH.S. Porchester-
terrace, Dayswater
Sir John William Lubbock, Bart. F. R.S. and H.S.
St. James's-place
Nathan Lucas, Esq. Darbadoes
Charles Lush, M.D. Bombay
Richard Lydekker, M.D. Windsor
Charles Lyell, Esq. Kinnordy, Forfarshire
Charles Lyell, jun. Esq. F. RE. S. Crown-office-row,
Temple
James Lynn, M.D. Woodbridge, Suffolk
Rev. Daniel Lysons, M.A. F.R.S. A.S. and H.S.
Rodmarton, near Cirencester
Duncan MacArthur, M.D. Deal
James Macartney, M.D. F.R.S. M.R.LA. Prof.
of Anat. and Surgery, Trinity College, Dublin
John MacCulloch, M.D. F.R.S. Chemist to the
Ordnance
William Macdonald, M.D. F.R.S. and A.S. Ed.
Ballyshear, Argyleshire
Æneas MacIntyre, LL.D. Stockwell Park, Surrey
|| Mr. John Mackay, Upper Clapton
Charles Mackenzie, Esq. F.R.S. British Consul,
Hayti
Donald Mackinnon, M.D. Great George-street,
Westminster
Alexander MacLeay, Esq. F.R.S. and H.S. Acad.
Reg. Sc. Holm.
South Wales
Soc. Colonial Secretary, New
William Sharp MacLeay, Esq. M.A. Soc. Ces. |
Nat. Cur. Mosq. et Soc. Nat. Scrutat. Berolin.
Socius, Havannah
William MacMichael, M.D. F.R.S. Halfmoon-st.
John Macmillan, Esq. Culross, Perthshire
Daniel Macnamara, Esq. Uxbridge
George Magrath, M.D. F. R.S. Plymouth
Lewis Majendie, Esq. F.R.S. and A.S. Heding-
ham Castle, Essex
Mr. William Malcolm, F.H.S. Kensington
Frederick Manning, Esq. F.H.S. Coombe Bank,
near Sevenoaks
Gideon Mantell, Esq. F. R.S. Lewes
Sir Thomas Mantell, Knt. F. A.S. Dover
Captain Frederick Marryat, Royal Navy, C.B.
F.R.S. and A.S. Wimbledon
tev. Thomas Orlebar Marsh, Felmersham, Bed-
fordshire
Matthew Martin, Esq. Poet’s Corner, Westminster
William Mathew, Esq. Pentlow Hall, Essex
WirLiAM Georcr Maron, M.D. F.R.S. and A.S.
Acad. Reg. Sc. Holm. et Soc. Med. Suec. Soc.
Spring- sade VicE-PRESIDENT
Robert Maughan, Esq. Edinburgh
Mr. Benjamin Maund, Bromsgrove, Worcester-
shire
William Beville Maurice, Esq. York-street, Baker-
street
Gilbert Laing Meason, Esq. F.R.S. Ed. Linder-
tis, Forfarshire
Mr. Americo Cabrall de Mello, Porto Allegro,
Brazil
Archibald Menzies, Esq. Soc. Nat. Scrut. Lips. Soc.
Ladbroke-terrace, Notting Hill
Samuel Merriman, M.D. Tower Brook-street
Rey. Thomas Elton Miller, M.A. Bockleton, Ten- |
bury, Worcestershire
John Millington, Esq. Prof Nat. Phil. Royal In- |
| William Peete, Esq. Dartford
| David Pennant, Esq. F.R.S. and H.S. Downing,
stitution, Upper Gower-street, Bedford-square
William Mills, Esq. Willington, Durham
George Milne, Esq. Bervie, North Britain
George Moore, Esq. F.A.S. Gate-street, Lincoln's-
Inn-Fields
John Moore, Esq. Sale Hall, Chester
John Brickdale Morgan, Esq.
John Morgan, Esq. F.R.S. Broad-street-buildings
Aristides Franklin Mornay, Esq. Ashburton House,
Putney Heath
Mr. Richard Morris, Regent-street, Pall Mall
Georce Earl of Mount Norris, F. R.S. A.S. and
H.S. M. Asiat. Soc. Arley Hall, near Bewdley
Lockhart Muirhead, LL.D. Prof. Nat. Hist.
Glasgow
10
Mr. Donald Munro, Gardener to the Horticultural
Society, Chiswick
Roderick Impey Murchison, Esq. F. R.S. Bryan-
stone-place
| John Murray, Esq. F.A.S. and H.S. Stranraer,
North Britain
Charles Nayler, M.D. Everett-st., Brunsw 1e
John Nedham, Esq. Leicester
Patrick Neill, Esq. F. R.S. Ed. Sec. to the Caledo-
nian Horticultural Society, Edinburgh
William Newbery, Esq. F. H.S. St. Paul's church-
yard
Rev. Thomas Newman, M.A. Alresford Hall, Col-
chester
Rev. Thomas Newton, M.A. Coxwold, near Ea-
singwold, Yorkshire
Iltyd Nicholl, Esq. Usk, Monmouthshire
Whitlock Nicholl, M.D. Old Burlington-street
John Bowyer Nichols Esq. Parliament-street,
Westminster
Rev. Robert Nixon, B.D. F.R.S. and A.S. Ken-
mure Castle, Kirkcudbright
Henry Norman, Esq. Earl-street, Blackfriars
Peter Nouaille, Esq. Greatness, near Sevenoaks
Mr. Thomas Nuttall, Prof. Bot. Cambridge, New
England
Charles Saville Onley, Esq. F. R.S. A.S. and H.S,
Great George-street, Westminster
George Ord, Esq. Soc. Amer. a Secr.
Phil. Soc. Philadelphia
Rev. William Otter, M.A.
Robert Brisco Owen, M.D. Poonah
Charles Nicholas Pallmer, Esq. M.P. F.H.S. Nor-
biton Place, near Kingston, Surrey
John Ayrton Paris, M.D. F. R.S. Dover-street
John R. Park, M.D.
Thomas Lister Parker, Esq. F. R.S. and A.S
street, Derkeley-square
John Parkinson, Esq. British Consul, Pernambuco
Algernon Peckover, Esq. Wisbech, Cambridgeshire
Acad. Se.
. Hill-
near Holywell, Flintshire
William Hasledine Pepys, Esq. F. R.S. and H.S.
Poultry
Hon. William Henry Percy, Captain Royal Navy,
Portman-square
Frederick Perkins,
Southwark
Henry Perkins, Esq. Springfield, near Wands-
Esq. F.ILS. Park-street,
worth
Louis Hayes Petit, Esq. M.P. F.R.S. A.S. and
H.S. New-square, Lincoln’s-Inn
Thomas Joseph Pettigrew, Esq. F. R.S. and A.S
Phil. Doct. Univ. Gott. Saville-row
Roger Pettiward, Esq. F. R.S. A.S. and H.S. Park-
street, Grosvenor-sq uare
11
Sir Thomas Phillipps, Bart. F.A.S. Middle Hill, |
Worcestershire
Brighton
Richard Phillips, Esq. F. R.S. and R.S. Ed. Bir-
mingham
Benjamin Cruttal Pierce, M.D. St. Mary Axe
William Pilkington, Esq. F.A.S. Whitehall
Rev. Edmund Poulter, M.A. Prebendary of Win- |
chester
Rev. Alexander Power, B.A. Ashford, Kent
Charles Prideaux, Esq. Kingsbridge, Devon
Francis George Probart, M.D. Bury, Suffolk
Thomas Purton, Esq. Alcester, Warwickshire
Thomas Haswell Quigley, Esq. Assistant Surgeon
Royal Artillery
Francis Quiros, Esq. Lima
Rev. Thomas Rackett, M.A. F.R.S. and A.S.
Gower-street
Peter Rainier, Esq. Albany
Francis Hopkins Ramadge,
Holborn
Marmaduke Ramsay, Esq. M.A. Jesus College,
Cambridge
William Rashleigh, Esq. F. R.S. and H.S. Mena-
billy, Cornwall
Richard Sparrow Redman, Esq.
John Reeves, Esq. F.R.S. Canton
Thomas Forbes Reynolds, Esq. F.H.S. Plough-
court, Lombard-street
John Evans Riadore, Esq. Tavistock-square
John Richardson, M.D. FRS. Surgeon to the
Chatham Division of Royal Marines
Edward Roberts, Esq. Ealing
Matthias A. Robinson, Esq. Red-lion-st., Holborn
Robert Robinson Watson Robinson, M.D. Preston
John James de Roches, M.D. Geneva
Gzonar, Lord Bishop of Rocnesrer, D.D.
Bromley-Palace, Kent
George Roddam, M.D. Naval PAysician to the
M.D. Ely-place,
King, and Physician to H.R.H. Prince Leopold, |
Colchester
Lieut. John Septimus Roe, Royal Navy
William Rodwell, Esq. Ipswich
Mr. Samuel Rootsey, Bristol
William Roscoe, Esq. Allerton, near Liverpool
Capt. James Clark Ross, Ztoyal Navy
Edward Rudge, Esq. F.R.S. and A.S. Wimpole-
street
Jesse Watts Russell, Esq. D.C.L. F.R.S. Ilam
Hall, Staffordshire
Edward Sabine, Esq. Capt. Royal Artillery, Sec. |
to the Royal Society, Acad. Imp. Sc. Petrop. Soc. |
Phil. et Hist. Nov. Ebor. Soc. Hon. Soc. Reg.
Gütting. Corresp. Soc. Reg. Nor. Socius, Beau-
mont-street, Portland-place
| Joseph Sabine, Esq. F.R.S. and A.S. Sec. to the
Henry Phillips, Esq. F.H.S. Bedford-square, |
Horticultural Society, Acad. Ces. Nat. Cur. Soc.
Ces. Nat. Cur. Mosq. et Reg. (Econ. Borus. Socius.
Soc. Phil. et Soc. Hist. Nov.- Ebor. Socius Hon.
King-street, St. James's
Sir John St. Aubyn, Bart F.R.S. and A.S.
Clowance, Cornwall
"Thomas Salter, Esq. Poole, Dorsetshire
| Rev. Thomas Salwey, M.A. Fellow of St. John’s
Coll. Camb. Oswestry
Don Joseph Micuarnt Dr Carvasat, Duke de
San Cantos, Knight of the Order of the Golden
Fleece, &c. Madrid
William Sankey, Esq. Dover
Sir Claude Scott, Bart. F.H.S. Bruton-street
William Scrope, Esq. Pavilion, near Melrose,
Roxburghshire
Prideaux John Selby, Esq. Twizell House, Nor-
thumberland
Hercules Sharp, Esq. Geneva
Daniel Sharpe, Esq. New Ormond-street
James Sharpe, Esq. Tavistock-square
John Shaw, Esq. Gower-street
Mr. Henry Shepherd, Botanic Garden, Liverpool
Edmund Sheppard, Esq. Capt. Royal Artillery
Rey. Revett Sheppard, M.A. Wrabness, Essex
George Sigmond, M.D. Dover-street, Piccadilly
Richard Simmons, Esq. F.R.S. and A.S. Albany
John Sims, M.D. F.R.S. Cotmandene House,
Dorking
Mr. George Sinclair, F.H.S. New Cross
| Rt. Hon. Sir John Sinclair, Bart. F.R.S. A.S.
and R.S. Ed. M.R.LA. Acad. Reg. Sc. Berolin.
Soc. Edinburgh
Joseph Skey, M.D. PAysician to the Forces, Corfu
Howe PrrEn, Marquis of Stico, K.P. Westport
House, Mayo, Ireland
| John Smirnove, Esq. F. R.S. Secretary to the Rus-
sian Embassy, Wigmore-street, Cavendish-square
Major Charles Hamilton Smith, F. R.S. Anight of
the Military Order of William, Portland-square,
Plymouth
Mr. Edwin Dalton Smith, Stewart's-grove, Chel-
sea Common
George Smith, Esq. Secretary to the Navy Board,
Somerset-place
Joseph Smith, Esq. F.R.S. Field-court, Gray's-
Inn
William Smith, Esq. M.P. F.R.S. and A.S. Upper
Seymour-street
Richard Horsman Solly, Esq. F.R.S. A.S. and
H.S. Great Ormond-street
Epwarp AporPnuus, Duke of Somerset, F.R.S. |
and A.S. Park-lane
William Somerville, M.D. F.R.S. and R.S. Ed.
Royal Hospital, Chelsea
James South, Esq. F. R.S. and R.S. Ed. Camden- |
hill, Kensington
John Flint South, Esq. St. Thomas’s-street, South-
wark
Mr. George Brettingham Sowerby, Regent-street
Mr. J. De Carle Sowerby, Mead-place, Lambeth
Hinton Spalding, M.D. Edinburgh
Mr. Joseph Sparshall, Norwich
George Spence, Esq. North-terrace, Camberwell
William Spence, Esq. Exmouth, Devon
Epwarp, Lord Srantey, M.P. F.H.S. Upper
Grosvenor-street, PRESIDENT
Rev. Edward Stanley, M.A. Alderley, Cheshire
Sir George Thomas Staunton, Bart. F.R.S. AS.
and H.S. Devonshire-street, Portland-place
James Francis Stephens, Esq. Leigh-street, Bur-
ton-crescent
Simon Stephenson, Esq. Great Queen-street, West-
minster |
Robert Stevens, Esq.
Major-General David Stewart, C.D. F.R.S. Ed.
Garth, Perthshire
Sir Walter Stirling, Bart. F.R.S. Albany Court-
yard
lev. William Stockdale, M.A. Mear’s Ashby,
Northamptonshire
Charles Stokes, Esq. F.R.S. and A.S. Verulam- |
buildings, Gray's-Iun
tobert Stone, Esq. Beddingham Hall, Norfolk
Rev. George Henry Storie, Camberwell
Daniel Stuart, Esq. F.H.S. Upper Harley-street
George Such, M.D. Rio de Janeiro
William Swainson, Esq. F.R.S. Tittenhanger
Green, near St. Albans
Mr. Robert Sweet, King's-road, Chelsea
John Symmons, Esq. F.R.S. A.S. and ILS.
Boulogne
Rev. Jelinger Symons, M.A. Boulogne
Ricuanp Tayior, Esq. F.A.S. M.A.4.S. Red-
lion-court, Fleet-street, UNDER SECRETARY
Simon Taylor, Esq. Harley-street
Thomas Taylor, M.D. M. R.I.A. Prof. Bot. Cork
William Temple, Esq. Bishopstrow, Wiltshire
Rev. George Thackeray, D.D. Provost of King's
Coll. Cambridge
Charles John Thompson, Esq. Fulham
Henry Thompson, M.D. Stratton-st. Piccadilly
John Vaughan Thompson, Esq. Cork
Anthony Todd Thomson, M.D. Hinde-street,
Manchester-square
Edward Deas Thomson, Esq. Somerset-place
12
Mr. James Thomson, Primrose, near Clitheroe
John Deas Thomson, Esq. F.R.S. Somerset-place
Robert Thomson, Esq. Newington-place, Ken-
nington
Thomas Thomson, M.D. F.R.S. and R.S. Ed.
Soc. Imp. Œcon. Petropol. Soc. Reg. Prof. Chem.
Glasgow
, Louis. Edmund Thornton, Esq. Norton-street,
Fitzroy-square
Rev. George Augustus Thursby, F.R.S. and ELS.
Wimpole-street
| Charles Tomkins, M.D. Abingdon
| Rev. John Montgomery Traherne, M.A. St. Hi-
lary, near Cowbridge, Glamorganshire.
Mr. James Trimmer, Brentford
James Perchard Tupper, M.D. Paris
Charles Hampden Turner, Esq. F. R.S. and H.S.
Rooksnest Park, near Godstone, Surrey
Dawson Turner, Esq. M.A. F.R.S. and A.S.
M.R.LA. Acad. Ces. Nat. Cur. et Reg. Sc. Holm.
Soc. Yarmouth
Francis Turner, Esq. King’s Bench Walk, Temple
Arthur Tyton, Esq. Wimbledon Common, Surrey
GEORGE ARTHUR, Viscount VALENTIA, F.H.S.
Arley Hall, near Bewdley
Rev. Benjamin Kerr Vaughan, LL.B. F.H.S. Ave-
ton-Gifford, near Kingsbridge, Devon
William Vaughan, Esq. F.R.S. and H.S. Clap-
ham
Nicholas Aylward Vigors, Esq. M.A. F. R.S. Bru-
ton-street
| William Wadd, Esq. Surgeon Extraordinary to the
King, Park-place, St. James’s
Felix Wakefield, Esq. Charles-street, St. James’s
| Thomas Walford, Esq. F.A.S. Birdbrook, Essex
| Joseph Walker, Esq. Eton Lodge, near Liverpool
Sir Patrick Walker, Knt. F. R.S. Ed. Drumseugh,
near Edinburgh
| Nathaniel Wallich, M.D. F.R.S. Ed. M. Asiat.
Soc. Botanic Garden, Calcutta
Mr. Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward, Well-close-square
Mr. Tilliard Ward, Berners-street
Richard Waring, M.D. Duke-street, Manches-
ter-square
Mr. Peter Wm. Watson, Cottingham, near Hull
White Watson, Esq. Bakewell, Derbyshire
William Wavell, M.D. F.R.S. Harewood House,
near Barnstaple, Devon
| Rev. William Webb, D.D. Master of Clare Hall,
Cambridge
John Wedgewood, Esq. F.H.S. York-street, St.
James's-square
| Rich. Weeks, jun. Esq. Hurst-pierre-point, Sussex
| Mr.
John Obadiah
Chelsea
Westwood, Jubilee-place,
Mr. James Lowe Wheeler, Dem. Bot. Chelsea, St.
Bartholomew’s Hospital
Mr. Thomas Wheeler, St. Bartholomew’s Hospital
Joseph Whidbey, Esq. F. R.S. Plymouth
John White, M.D.
Rev. Robert Meadows White, M.A. Woolley |
Park, near Wakefield
Mr. William Nicholas Wickham, F.H.S. Win- |
chester
Rev. Henry Watson Wilder, Purley Hall, near |
Reading
Simon Wilkin, Esq. Norwich
Jacob Wilkinson, Esq. Springfield House, near
Bath
George Williams, M.D. Reg. Prof. Bot. Oxford
John Williams, jun. Esq. Scorier House, near
Redruth, Cornwall
William Henry Williams, M.D. Ipswich
Sir John Eardley Eardley Wilmot, Bart. F.R.S.
and H.S. Berkswell Park, near Coventry
13
Robert Montague Wilmot, M.D. Hastings
Thomas Wilson, Esq. Maidenhead
| Mr. John Windsor, Piccadilly, Manchester
William Withering, LL.D. Wyke House, near
Bristol
Rev. Henry John Wollaston, M.A. Scotter, near
Gainsborough
Rev. William Wood, B.D. Fulham
Mr. William Wood, F.R.S. Strand
Joseph Woods, Esq. F. A.S. Furnival's-Inn
Robert Wray, Esq. Chancery-lane
Francis Boucher Wright, Esq. Hinton Blewitt,
near Old Down, Bath
Mr. William Wykes, Clumber Park, near Retford
William Yarrell, Esq. Ryder-street, St. James's
Rev. James Yates, M.A. Birmingham
Thomas Young, M.D. F.R.S. Ins. Sc. Paris. Cor-
resp. et Soc. Med. Suec. Soc. Park-square, Re-
gent's Park
William Younge, M.D. Sheffield.
l
4
FOREIGN MEMBERS.
D. Adam Afzelius, M. D. Soc. Reg. Lond. Soc. Bo- |
tan. Demonstr. Upsal.
D. Aubert Aubert Du Petit Thouars, Equ. dur.
Instit. Sc. Paris. Soc. Hort. Lond. Soc. Parisiis
D. Henricus Ducrotay de Blainville, M.D. Instit.
Sc. Paris. Soc. Zool. Prof. Parisiis
D. Johannes Frid. Blumenbach, M.D. Equ. Ord.
Guelph. Soc. Reg. Lond. Soc. Med. Prof. Geet-
tingze
D. Carolus Lucianus Bonaparte, Princeps de Mu-
signano, Soc. Amer. Socius, Rome
D. Franciscus Andreas Bonelli, Zool. Prof. Acad.
Reg. Sc. Taurin. Soc. Mus. Iteg. Taurin. Director
D. Ludovicus Augustus Gulielmus Bose, Agricult.
Prof. Instit. Sc. Paris. Soc. Parisiis
D. Gustavus Broling, Acad. Reg. Sc. Holm. Soc.
D. Felix de Avellar Brotero, Bot. Prof. Coim-
bricae
D. Leopoldus, Baro de Buch, Acad. Reg. Sc. Be- |
rolin. Soc. Inst. Sc. Paris. Corresp. Berolinæ
D. Augustus Pyramus de Candolle, Soc. Reg.
Lond. et Instit. Sc. Paris. Soc. Hist. Nat. Prof:
Geneve
D. Henricus, Vicecomes de Cassini, Znst. Sc. Paris.
Soc. in Aula Reg. Paris. Preses
D. Georgius Leopoldus Christianus Fridericus
Dagobert, Baro Cuvier, Soc. Heg. Lond. Soc.
Instit. Sc. Paris. Secret. Parisiis
D. Renatus Louiche Desfontaines, M. D. Bot. Prof.
Instit. Sc. Paris. Soc. Parisiis
D. Fridericus Ernest. Ludovicus Fischer, AD.
Hort. Imp. Petropol. Director
D. Gotthelf Fischer, M. D. Acad. Imp. Sc. Petropol.
Soc. Hist. Nat. Prof. Mosque
D. Carolus de Gimbernat, Genevae
D. Augustus de St. Hilaire, Inst. Sc. Paris. Cor-
resp. Parisiis
D. Stephanus Geoffroy St. Hilaire, qu. Aur. Instit.
Sc. Paris. Soc. Parisiis
D. Alexander, Baro de Humboldt, Soc. Reg. Lond.
Instit. Sc. Paris. et Acad. Reg. Sc. Berolin. Soc.
D. Josephus Franciscus a Jacquin, Vindobonze
D. Antonius Laurentius de Jussieu, Bot. Prof. In-
stit. Sc. Paris. Soc. Parisiis
D. Carolus Sigismundus Kunth, dead. Reg. Sc.
Berol. et Inst. Sc. Paris.
'orresp. Parisiis
D. Jacobus Julianus Labillardière, M.D. Instit. |
Parisiis
Sc. Paris. Soc.
D. Johannes Baptist De Monnet de Lamarck, Equ.
Aur. Zool. Prof: Instit. Sc. Paris. Soc. Parisiis
D. Petrus Andreas Latreille, Znstit. Sc. Paris. Soc.
Parisiis
D. Henricus Fridericus Link, M.D. Bot. Prof.
Acad, Reg. Sc. Berolin. Soc. Berolinæ
D. Franc. Josephus Maerter, M.D. Friburgi
D. Carolus Frid. Philippus de Martius, M.D.
Equ. Ord. Coron. Civil. Acad. Reg. Sc. Monac.
Soc. et Hort. Reg. Monac. Director, Instit. Sc.
Paris. Corresp.
D. Lambertus Lucas Van Meurs, Anat. Prelect.
Amstelodami
D. Christianus Godofredus Nees ab Esenbeck,
M.D. Acad. Ces. Nat. Cur. Praeses, Hist. Nat.
Prof. Bonnæ
D. Josephus Pavon, Acad. Reg. Med. Madrit. Soc.
Madriti
D. Carolus Henricus Persoon, 4. M. Parisiis
| D. Godofredus Christianus Reich, M.D. Med.
Prof. Berolinæ
D. Carolus Asmund Rudolphi, M.D. Med. Prof.
Acad. Reg. Sc. Berolin. Soc. Mus. Reg. Anat.
Berolin. Director
D. Julius Cesar Savigny, Znstit. Sc. Paris. Soc.
Parisiis
D. Antonius Scarpa, Soc. Reg. Lond. et Instit. Sc.
Paris. Soc. Anat. Prof. Ticin.
D. Johannes Schaub, M.D. Casselis
D. Henricus Adolphus Schrader, Bot. Prof: Geet-
tingae
D. Christianus Fridericus Schumacher, zn». Acad.
Reg. Chirurg. Prof. Hafnize
D. Fridericus Schwægrichen, M.D. Hist. Nat
Prof. Lipsiæ
D. Curtius Sprengel, M.D. Equ. Ord. Suec. Stelle
| Polar. Bot. Prof. Halæ
|! D. Nicolaus Sam. Swederus, Reg. Suec. a Sacris
| D. Fridericus Tiedemann, M.D. Inst. Sc. Paris.
| Corresp. Zool. Prof. Heidelbergae
D. Conradus Jacobus 'Temminck, Soc. Sc. Harlem,
Soc. Amstelodami
| D.Carolus Petrus Thunberg, M. D. Equ. Ord. Wasei,
| Soc. Reg. Lond. Soc. Med. et Bot. Prof. Upsalize
|
D. Octavius Targioni Tozzetti, M.D. Florentiæ
D. Casparus, Baro de Voght, Soc. Reg. Edin. Soc.
Altonæ
D. Jacobus Samuel Wyttenbach, S. 7: P. Berne.
ASSOCIATES.
Mr.
Mr.
Mr.
Robert Ballard, Upton
William Baxter, Botanic Garden, Oxford
Nathaniel Bingham, Piccadilly
Mr. William Beattie Booth, Turnham-green
Mr. Edward William Brayley, Hatton Garden
Rev. Robert Francis Bree, Chichester
Mr. David Cameron, Bury Hill, near Dorking
Rey. Bartholomew Dacre, Moseley, near Man-
chester
Mr. Davin Don, Acad. Cas. Nat. Cur. et Soc. Bot.
Ratisb. Soc. Soho-square, CLERK and Lipranran
Mr. George Don
Rev. William Fitt Drake, B.A. Norwich
Mr. James Drummond, Botanic Garden, Cork
Andrew Duncan, jun. M.D. F.R.S. Ed. Prof. Mat.
Med. Edinburgh
Mr. John Haxton
John Heysham, M.D. Carlisle.
Mr. Nathaniel Shirley Hodson, Bury St. Edmunds |
Mr. Thomas Hoge, New York
Thomas Charles Hope, M.D. F.R.S. and R.S. Ed.
Prof: Chem. Edinburgh
Mr. Abel Ingpen, Harrison-street, Gray’s-Inn-
road
Mr. William Lyons, Tenby
|
Mr. James Townsend Mackay, M.R.I.A. Dublin
Mr. William Macnab, Botanic Garden, Edinburgh
Mr. Andrew Mathews, Turnham-green
Mr. John Samuel Miller, Hillsbridge-place, Bristo!
Mr. Thomas Milne, F.H.S. Fulham
Mr. Edward Osler, Swansea
Rev. William Willox Peete, M.A. Dartford
Henry Penneck, M.D. Penzance
Rev. William Pulling, Willow-lane, Cambridge
Mr. George Samouelle, Chester-street, Kenning-
ton
Mr. William Smith, Turnham-green
| Jonathan Stokes, M.D. Chesterfield
Mr. Charles Edward Sowerby, Mead-place, Lam-
beth
Mr. Samuel Stutchbury, Lisle-street, Leicester-
square
Rey. Charles Sutton, D.D. Norwich
Rey. John Thomas Thomson, Penzance
Mr. James Traill, Turnham-green
Mr. John Underwood, Botanic Garden, Dublin
Mr. Lilly Wigg, Great Yarmouth
Nathaniel John Winch, Esq. Newcastle-upon- Tyne
Mr. John Youell, Great Yarmouth
| Mr. William Weston Young, Swansea.
ocr Communications intended to be made to this Society may be addressed to the President, or to the Secretary, at the
House of the Society, Soho-square, London.
Printed by Richard Taylor,
Red Lion Court, Fleet Street.
^x^
Uu LD LN
- D
0 _ y
17
“ | 7
D
m
| 7
D f
7 LR
:
h 7 E
n
Á
= A
| an
E
R1 ! i
|
»
| |
Lu »
e ry
]
=
Ph. Lee
A E a0
Lu "s
LU H E ,
^e 7
B 7 ‘ " M
| L5 Uu
» re 3
d PE
: an |
"e
E.
f i Ae
JEUN T
| L i m (ri
à | | |
7
M 1
a Well |
ED -
’ ] I
, NIIS
! £9 ] 4
i
|
Il
IÍI—
—
|
Il
|
o
[s]
co
e
o
e
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11