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Show 164 PROF. NEWTON ON NEW BIRDS' EGGS. [Jail. 24, the hope I formerly expressed, that my good Danish friends would be able to clear up the doubts on this subject; and the satisfaction is so great that I feel I need not take upon m e the invidious task of deciding who hitherto has not had the veritable egg of Nucifraga caryocatactes. I must, however, mention that Herr Fischer has published in the new series of Kroyer's 'Tidsskrift' for 1863 and 1864 two papers, giving an account of the breeding of the Nutcracker in Bornholm (Cf. Ibis, 1865, p. 226). TOOTH-BILLED PIGEON. Didunculus strigirostris (lardine). (PL XV. fig. 6.) The extinction of this species, which seems so speedily impending, makes any excuse for dwelling on so great a rarity as a specimen of its egg unnecessary. The specimen figured was entrusted to my care by Mr. Bartlett, our Superintendent, to w h o m it was delivered by the person who had "charge, during the voyage to England, of the living Didunculus presented to the Society in 1864 by Dr. Bennett (P. Z. S. 1864, p. 158). The specimen (Pl. X V . fig. 6) is of a large size in proportion to that of the bird, measuring 1*78 inch by 1*16 inch, and, notwithstanding that it was laid under very unnatural circumstances, does not appear to m e to be abnormally developed. Though it possesses the normal form, it is not of so pure a white colour as is generally seen in the eggs of the Columba;, but has a pale greenish-grey tinge. HOAZIN. Opisthocomus cristatus (Linnaeus). (Pl. X V . fig. 7.) Among the various forms of bird-life which the more cautious systematists regard as " incertce sedis," the Hoazin must be looked upon as one of the most remarkable. The egg of this species is stated by Mons. Des Murs (Oologie Ornithologique, pp. 408, 409) to have been first made known to naturalists by Mons. Alcide d'Orbigny ; but, so far as I am aware, it has never yet been figured; and the specimen I exhibit is the only one I remember to have seen, though examples should exist, according to the distinguished oolo-gist I have quoted, in the Museums of Paris and Philadelphia. It was sent by an officer of the Royal Artillery to Mr. Whiteley of Woolwich, who has kindly lent it to me. Its dimensions are 1*74 inch by 1*33 inch; and its colouring cannot be better described than in Mons. Des Murs's words:-" Le fond de la coquille est d'un blanc legerement carne, avec quelques taches de couleur de sang fige, d'autres, en plus grand nombre, de couleur de brique ro-satres, et plusieurs, assez larges, d'une teinte gris-lilas ou grisatre-violacee." Its resemblance to the eggs of some of the Rallidce (Porphyrio for example) is manifest; but I do not on that account suppose that this very strange form is allied to that family ; indeed its osteology, according to M M . Gervais, Lherminier and De Castelnau, in my opinion, entirely precludes such a view. |