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Show 292 MR. E. BARTLETT O N T H E AFFINITIES O F MESITES. [Mar. 20, Ruminants, it seems to me that to call it a Deer is altogether the tendency of the facts at our disposal. No known Deer has a gall-bladder, or a filiform termination to its urethra. How can we place with the Cervidae, therefore, an animal which possesses both ? 5. Remarks on the Affinities of Mesites. By EDWARD BARTLETT, Esq., Curator of the Maidstone Museum. [Eeceived March 7, 1877.] Some months ago I received a small collection of Mammals and Birds obtained on the south-east coast of Madagascar by Mr. Thomas Waters. Among them was a fine pair of specimens of Mesites variegata, which are now in the collection of Mr. R. J. Bal-ston. Having examined the two skins of this rare bird very carefully, and not feeling satisfied that the genus has been arranged in its proper group by former systematists, I venture to lay before the Society the following notes, trusting that they may lead to a more careful investigation of the affinities of Mesites, and of the position which it should take in a natural classification. In the Zoological Society's 'Proceedings' for 1861, my father (Mr. A. D. Bartlett) first pointed out the affinities of Balceniceps, Eurypyga, and Cancroma, as evidenced by their " powder-down patches." Now, strange to say, while examining the skins of Mesites, I discovered two of these patches very distinct on the back of the neck. This naturally led me to search for others, which, to my surprise, I found-one on each side of the lower part of the rump, close to the tail, one on each side of the upper part of the pectoral muscles, a third pair, one on each side, running across the ribs, on to the pectoral muscle, and a fourth pair, one on each side of the abdominal region, running parallel with the vent, making in all five pairs of powder-down patches. This exceeds the number found in Cancroma (which has four pairs) by one pair, the extra pair being those placed across the ribs. I have examined skins of Eurypyga helias, and have found other characters which confirm my opinion that Mesites is an aberrant form of the Ardeine group. The bill is like that of Eurypyga, long and slender, the nostrils reaching more than half the length; the wings are rounded ; the legs long, slender, and naked above the tarsus. This is the case in Eurypyga and all the Herons, although in other respects Mesites is very Thrush-like1. Another, and one of the most peculiar characters with regard to Mesites and Eurypyga, is that the quills of the soft feathers on the back and rump are extremely fine and delicate in the centre, which causes the tip of each feather to turn the reverse way directly the 1 The legs are represented in Gray's ' Genera of Birds' as feathered to the tarsus, which is wrong ; in the specimens before m e they are naked and scaly | inch up the tibia. |