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Show 2 MR. P. L. SCLATER ON CHRYSOTIS BODINI. [J Simpson, and received December 25th. This is an important acquisition, as the onlv other specimen we possess of this huge animal is the male presented by the late Arthur Grote, Esq., h.L.b., which has lately shown serious symptoms of old age. Mr. F. W. Styan, F.Z.S., placed on the table for exhibition a collection of eggs of Chinese birds, which he had made in the vicinity of Kinkiang and Shanghai. The collection contained clutches of the eggs of Cyanopolius cyanus, Chibia hottentotta, Acridotheres cristatellus, Corvus torquatus, Munia acuticauda, Rhynchcea capensis, Hydrophasianus chirurgus, Gallicrex cristatus, Ardetta flavicollis, Anas zonorhyncha, and Podiceps minor. Mr. Howard Saunders, F.Z.S., called attention to a specimen of the Mediterranean Black-headed Gull (Larus melanocephalus), shot on Breydon Water, near Great Yarmouth, on the 26th December, 1886, and sent up for exhibition by Mr. G. Smith of that town. Mr. Saunders remarked that the bird was an adult in winter plumage (i.e. without the black nuptial hood), as indicated by the primaries being of a pure white, except a narrow black streak on the outer web of the first primary, a coloration which distinguishes the adult of this species from any other Gull of the Hooded group. An immature example of the same bird, said to have been shot near Barking Creek, on the lower Thames, in January 1866, was in the British Museum; and there could be little doubt of the correctness of its history, which Mr. Saunders had given in 'The Ibis,' 1872, p. 79, and in the fourth edition of * Yarrell's British Birds,' vol. iii. p. 605. The somewhat restricted breeding-area of L. melanocephalus was known to extend from the Black Sea along the Mediterranean to the south-west coast of Spain outside the Straits of Gibraltar. Mr. Saunders had also reason for believing that this species breeds on the shores of France south of the Gironde; it undoubtedly frequented that coast up to Bordeaux in winter, and M M . Marmotton and Vian had stated that an example taken at Le Crotoy, in Normandy, on the 28th of November, 1878, was in the collection of the former. South-westerly gales, such as prevailed in December, would easily bring a straggler to our shores. Mr. Sclater exhibited a skin of the rare Amazon Parrot, Chrysotis bodini of Finsch (P. Z. S. 1873, p. 569, pl. xlix.), brought by Mr. W . L. Sclater, F.Z.S., from British Guiana. The specimen had been obtained alive from a settler on the Amacuru River, British Guiana, by Mr. E. F. im Thurn, in October last, and kept for some time living at Maccasseema, his residence on the Pomeroon. This Parrot was stated to be known to the Warrau Indians of the Amacuru district as the " Toua-toua," and to be found wild in the mountainous district of the Upper Amacuru. It was considered by the Indians to be rather a rare bird, and was much valued for its talking proclivities. |
