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Show 1867.] DR. J. MURIE ON CYGNUS BUCCINATOR. 9 each case was carefully compared with Yarrell's* and Hincks's figures of C. buccinator and C. passmori respectively. First.-In connexion with external characters, I shall give a comparison of the specimen still alive in the Gardens with Hincks's and Yarrell's descriptions, premising that the two birds which died presented characters perfectly identical with their companion, excepting it may be in their dimensions, which were not taken. The specimen under consideration, as a whole, seems to combine some of those characters attributed to C. buccinator, and others more distinctly connecting it with C. passmori. The entire body, including wing-feathers, upper part of head, and neck are pure white, and without any admixture of the ferruginous tint on the head and neck said to be constant and characteristic of C. buccinator, while it is also wanting in the pale grey of the same parts and fawn-coloured wing-tips of C. passmori. The legs and feet are black, but between the webs of the latter there is a somewhat lighter tinge of the dark hue. The beak is jet-black, as well as the naked skin posterior to it. This black skin only reaches the eye, as shown in the figure taken from the photograph of C. passmori given by Hincks, and not surrounding it, as that author says it does in what he considers the true C. buccinator. The contour of the upper mandible, compared with the outline woodcuts in the same paper (I. c. figs. 1 & 2, page 6), appears intermediate between the concavity of C. passmori and the convexity of his C. buccinator, being rather a straight line than otherwise. The weight of the live bird is 20 lb. ; but it must be taken into account that it is in very poor condition, and only recovering from the effects of transport; nevertheless it is 2 lb. heavier than the specimen of C. passmori, although 10 lb. less than what Hincks gives of C. buccinator ; so that, if in fair condition, it may be assumed that it would attain a medium weight between these two. The measurements of the several parts of the body, again, are intermediate between the species, or at least greater than in C. passmori, -which the subjoined table illustrates in inches. The first and last columns represent Prof. Hincks's data ; the middle one the specimen which has come under m y observation. C. passmori. Zool. Soc. sp. C. buccinator. Length from tip of beak to end of tail 51 52 60 of head in line of the meeting of mandibles 7\ 7| 9^ Distance from the back of the eye to tip of beak 5 5^ 5| between hind point of nostril and tip of beak : 2 2\ 3 It is true that Yarrell, in his paper already quoted, gives the dimensions of C. buccinator as somewhat greater than the above; but his measurements were taken from a stuffed specimen, while he adds * Transactions of the Linnean Society, vol. xvii. pp. 1-4, tab. 1. |
