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Show 266 THE SECRETARY ON ADDITIONS TO THE MENAGERIE. [May 4, May 4, 1886. Prof. W. H. Flower, LL.D., F.R.S., President, in the Chair. The Secretary read the following report on the additions to the Society's Menagerie during April 1886 :- The total number of registered additions to the Society's Menagerie during the month of April was 170, of which 83 were by presentation, 23 by purchase, 11 by birth, 11 were received in exchange, and 42 on deposit. The total number of departures during the same period, by death and removals, was 119. Amongst these special attention was called to:- 1. A fine example of a Lizard belonging to a new species of the genus Ctenosaura, which Mr. Boulenger described at the last meeting of the Society as Ctenosaura erythromelas (see above, p. 241), obtained by purchase April 3rd. The exact locality of the specimen, which was purchased of a dealer at Liverpool, could not unfortunately be ascertained ; but it is believed to be from some part of Central America. 2. A fine male example of the Lesser Koodoo, Strepsiceros imberbis, received in exchange from M . Cornely, of Tours, on April 7th. Having lost the female, M . Cornely was good enough to part with the male of this rare Antelope in our favour. The specimen in question was originallv obtained by one of Mr. Hagenbeck's collectors in Somali-land (see P*. Z. S. 1884, pp. 45, 539). 3. A young male two-horned Rhinoceros, received in exchange from the Zoological Gardens, Calcutta, April 27th, and apparently referable to R. lasiotis, if this species is really distinct from R. suma-trensis. Dr. John Anderson, F.Z.S., has kindly favoured me with the subjoined note upon this interesting acquisition: - "The young male Rhinoceros, lately received from the Calcutta Zoological Gardens, was brought into Rangoon on the 27th of March, 1884, while I happened to be there on m y way to Japan. The animal had been captured a day or two before in the Bassein district, close to the sea, and, when first seen by its captors, it was in the company of its mother. The mother, however, escaped, I was told, by plunging into the sea and swimming away, leaving her young one behind. I at once secured it for the Calcutta Zoological Gardens. When I saw it in Rangoon it was only about 2 feet high at the shoulder, and was evidently quite a baby. Its skin was smooth and pinkish, and thickly covered with pale yellowish-grey hairs, somewhat curly, and as soft as wool, except on the front of the legs, where it was blackish-brown and much coarser than elsewhere. The positions of the two horns were well-defined, although these structures were only feebly developed. From its general appearance I concluded at the time that it was R. lasiotis." |
