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Show 1884.] ON SKINS OF RARE EUROPEAN AND ASIATIC BIRDS. 409 because a good Dingo x is necessarily required for the sport, which is a very difficult thing to get, as each tribe keeps only one or two tame Dingoes and these they will not easily part with. It cost me three months' work before I got m y first specimen. The flesh of the Boongary is greatly appreciated by the natives. It is very palatable ; but this animal, like a great many other Marsupials, is infested by a worm between the muscles and the skin, which of course makes the flesh less inviting. The natives never think of hunting the Boongary without the help of a Dingo trained for this kind of sport. In the morning, while the Dogs still can smell the tracks of the animals, they start for the Boongary chase. All the while they speak in a peculiar characteristic manner to the Dog, thus : Cha2, Cha-Gangary pull-pulka-cha pull - Jingery dundun-Mormango-cha pull (here, here-smell Gangary-smell him-here smell, smell his feet-smart fellow-here smell). As soon as the Dog has found the tracks, it follows them, until it stops at the tree where the Boongary has gone up. One of the blacks climbs up the tree, and either seizes hold of the long tail of the animal with one hand, while with the other he smashes its head with a stick, or compels it to jump down, when it is killed by the Dingo. June 17, 1884. Prof. W. H. Flower, LL.D., F.R.S., President, in the Chair. Mr. Henry Seebohm exhibited some skins of rare European and Asiatic birds, and made the following remarks:- Tetrao griseiventris.-This is anew species of Hazel-Grouse from the forests of Tcherdyn between the sources of the Petchora and the Kama. It was described and figured as long ago as 1880 (Menzbier, Bull. Soc. Imp. Nat. Mosc. i. p. 105) ; and is an excellent species, nearly allied to the Common Hazel-Grouse, but perfectly distinct from it. Twenty or thirty examples have been obtained ; but, so far as is known, none have ever found their way to England before. Tetrao mlokoziewiczi.-This is another example of an isolated species, being nearly allied to, but perfectly distinct from, the Common Black Grouse. It breeds in the pine-regions of the Caucasus, straying up to the rhododendron-regions to feed. Picas major pcdzami.-This is the Caucasian form of the Great Spotted Woodpecker. The West-European form of this species is intermediate between the Caucasian form, with chocolate-coloured underparts, and the Arctic form, with snow-white underparts. Haliaetus pelagicus.--This magnificent Eagle from Kamschatka is probably the largest Eagle known, and is remarkable for having 14 instead of 12 tail-feathers. Adult males with white shoulders are very rare in collections. 1 These Diugoes are obtained by the natives when puppies, and are trained for Kangaroo and other hunting, but they seldom breed in confinement, and generally run away when they become old enough to breed. 2 Cha cannot be translated literally. |
