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Show 210 MR. M. A. C. HINTON ON ABNORMAL [Mar. 21, 1 9 . S p e rm e s t e s b ic o l o r . Spermestes bicolor (Fraser); Buttik. Notes Leyd. Mus. vii. p. 202 (Sofore Place, St. Paul's River), viii. p. 261 (Monrovia and Junk Rivers), x. p. 62 (Schieflelinsville), xi. pp. 125, 134 (Mount Olive), xii. p. 205 (Robertsport) ; Reichen. Vog. Afrikas, iii. p. 151 (1904). No. 17. Two c3, one $ adult. St. Paul's River, Jan. 13, 1905. All three specimens are in partial moult. 20. SPORvEGINTHUS m e l p o d u s . Estrelda melpoda (Vieill.); Buttik. Notes Leyd. Mus. viii. p. 260 (Oldfield and Schieffelinsville), xi. p. 134 ; id. Reisebilder Liberia, ii. p. 417 ; id. Notes Leyd. Mus. xii. p. 205 (Robertsport). Sporceginthus melpodus Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xiii. p. 325 (1890). No. 13. A c? adult. St. Paul's River, Jan. 6, 1905. No. 13. One <5 and two 5 adult. St. Paul's River, Jan. 17, 1905. Bill red. Feeds partly on grasses. [This is a very vicious bird and has the faculty of being able (several acting in consort) to kill small snakes, first of all attacking the eyes of the snake. They then cut it into small pieces, carry them to the nests, where the snake rots-insects swarm on the decaying flesh, and on these insects the young birds feed. Native name " Pessa Silisi."] 3. On some Abnormal Remains of the Red Deer ( Cervus elaphus) from the Post-Pliocene Deposits of the South of England. By M a r t i n A. C. H i n t o n * [Received February 15, 1905.] The object of this communication is to place on record the discovery in various Post-Pliocene deposits in the South of England of certain remains of Deer which present characters of an abnormal nature. The specimens consist of more or less perfect frontal bones, each bearing a greater or less portion of a tyneless antler attached to a very long pedicle. The first specimen is in the British Museum and is thus referred to in Mr. Lydekker's Catalogue :- u Cervus elaphus. " 45379. Fragment of the frontal and antler of a very young individual; from the Pleistocene of Ilford. Brady Collection." In Mr. William Davies's Catalogue of the Brady Collection is the following description of this specimen :- " Cervus sp. undetermined. " Part of a frontal bone with a long pedicle, having the basal * Communicated by Dr. C. W. A ndeews, F.Z.S. |