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Show 420 CANON TRISTRAM ON THE ROEBUCK OF PALESTINE. [May 2, 2. Description of a new Thrush from Taviuni, one of the Islands. By E. L. LAYARD, C.M.G., F.Z.S., H.B.M. Consul for Fiji and Tonga. [Received May 2, 1876.] I am indebted to Mr. Tempest for examples of a third species of Fijian Thrush (Turdus), which I propose to designate by his name, having given the appellation of vitiensis to the species previously discovered by him at Bua. The present bird is most interesting, as being intermediate between T. vitiensis and T. vanicorensis in colour, and likewise as being particoloured, as is the case in the first species discovered in these islands, Turdus bicolor (Ibis, 1875, p. 153). It may be described as follows :- TURDUS TEMPESTI, sp. nov. <$. Dark smoky-brown (almost as black as in T. vanicorensis) throughout, with the exception of the entire head and chest, which are drab-coloured, tinged with red, much like the colour of T. vitiensis, nobis. Bill and feet bright orange. Length 8", wing 4" 2"', tail 3" 2'", tarse 1" 4'", bill 1" 2'". The 2 is paler and ruddier, and the head and chest less distinctly marked. A young J nestling shows the dark plumage of its father, with reddish-brown shafts to many of the feathers of the back, and the same colour on the edges and tips of the feathers of the head and wing-secondaries. Underparts confusedly marked with the same. Mr. Tempest tells m e that this species has the same metallic chattering note as the European bird, but that he never heard it " sing." It inhabits the forest at the south end of Taviuni, at Selia Levu, Vuna Point, scratching under the bushes for worms and insects, on which it feeds. Some specimens killed by him had the bill covered with mud, showing that they dibbled into" the ground in search of worms. 3. Note on the Discovery of the Roebuck (Cervus capreolus) in Palestine. By the Rev. Canon T R I S T R A M. [Received May 2, 1876.] In a paper read before the Society in February 1866*, I mentioned, in giving a list of the mammals of Palestine, that I had reason to believe the Roebuck was found in that country, though I could not produce a specimen. I felt satisfied that I could hardly be mistaken in the small Deer I had more than once disturbed on the southern shores of Lebanon; and Mr. Boyd Dawkins had identified teeth of the Roebuck among the remains of other still existing mammals in * See P. Z. S. 1866, p. 86. |
