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Show 1884.] MR . G. E- D O B S O N O N C A P R 0 M Y S M E L A N U R U S# 233 i 6. O n an apparently new Species of European Nuthatch By R. B O W D L B E S H A R P E , F.L.S., F.Z.S., & c , Department of Zoology, British Museum. [Eeceived March 29, 1884.] JOtl: J0h!' Y^1^* who ha« been resident in Corsica for the RririA M I t W° jeaVS> haS Ver^ kindIv P^ented to the British Museum a skin of a Nuthatch, shot by himself on the mountains of Corsica at a considerable elevation during an expedition in search of an Eagle s nest. Hftl^ CA™Cm Nu*ha*cb> which I P^POse to call Sitta whiteheadi after its discoverer, is of about the same size as Kriiper's Nuthatch (Sitta krueperi), and resembles it in the colour of the upper surface ; but it is easily distinguished by the absence of the chestnut patch on the fore neck and vent and by the ashy isabelline colour of the underparts. The head is rather damaged, and it is difficult to say how far the black ot the forehead reaches, but it apparently extends to about the same distance as in S. krueperi, and not over the entire crown and nape as in S. canadensis and its allies. The diagnosis of the new species may, therefore, be given as follows :- SITTA WHITEHEADI, sp. n. S. similis S. krueperi, capite eodem modo picturato sed gutture pectore pallide cinerascentibus, subcaudalibus haud castaneo lavatis et pracipue plaga pectorali castanea nulla distinguenda Long. tot. 4*9, culm. 0*7, ala 2*75, cauda 1*5, tarsi 0*7. Hab. Mountains of Corsica. 7. On the Myology and Visceral Anatomy of Capromys melanurus, with a Description of the Species. By Cr. E DOBSON, M.A, F.R.S. [Eeceived April 1, 1884.] (Plates XVIII.-XXI.) The well-preserved specimens forming the material on which the following observations are based I owe to the kindness of Messrs. H. and F. W , Rarnsden. They were obtained by the latter gentleman H.M.'s Consul at St. Jago de Cuba, in the mountains in the* southern extremity of that island, eight miles N.N.E. of Portillo. So far as I can ascertain these appear to be the first specimens of this rare species of which the complete bodies preserved in alcohol have reached Europe ; and I have therefore seized the opportunity thus afforded me of investigating the anatomy of an animal belonging to a genus so interesting as Capromys, which includes among5 its P R O C ZOOL. Soc-1884, No. XVI. 16 |