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2nd, 1878,

WYNNE, A. B. ;-Notes on the Earthquake in the Punjab of March

WOOD-MASON, J.;-List of Hymenoptera,

Page

131

167

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Date of issue of the different numbers of Journal, Part II, 1878. No. I.-Containing pp. 1–52, with Plates 1, 2, 10, 11, and with four wood-cuts,—was issued on 24th May, 1878.

No. II.-Containing pp. 53-124, and one plate unnumbered-was issued 10th July, 1878.

No. III.-Containing pp. 125-174, with Plates 6, 7, 8,-was issued 28th October, 1878.

No. IV.-Containing pp. 175-237, with Plates 3, 4, 5, 5A, 9, 12, 13, 14, was issued April 6th, 1879.

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JOURNAL

OF THE

ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL.

Part II.-PHYSICAL SCIENCE.

No. I.-1878.

I.-Description of Ruticilla schisticeps, Hodgs.-By W. T. BLANFORD, F. R. S.

(Received October 11th, 1876;-Read March 7th, 1877.)

(With Plate I.)

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Since the original description of the male of this bird was published in the appendix to the first Catalogue of the specimens and drawings of Mammalia and Birds of Nepal and Thibet' presented by Mr. Hodgson to the British Museum, I am not aware that anything has been added to its history. It does not appear to have been seen by Blyth or Jerdon, there is no specimen in the Society's old collection, nor to the best of my belief has there hitherto been one in the Indian Museum, and the bird has not yet, so far as I know, been found in the western Himalayas or in Turkestan. Unless Colonel Prejevalski has obtained it in Mongolia, I do not think it has hitherto been procured elsewhere than in the Tibetan region north of Sikkim and Nepal. The female, so far as I can learn, has not been described, although there appears to be a figure of it amongst Mr. Hodgson's drawings.

I have just received a pair of this rare bird from Mr. Mandelli, and the following is a description of both sexes.

Male. Crown of head and nape, greyish blue, paler in front, becoming rather darker on the nape. A narrow band on the forehead, lores, sides of head and neck, chin and sides of throat, and back glossy black. Scapularies

ferruginous or rich chestnut,

Quills black
Quills black; a broad white

black at the base, but with a broad tip of lower rump and upper tail coverts the same. band, formed by the whole of the median coverts, and the basal portions of the greater coverts, together with the outer edges of the last 3 or 4 secondaries (tertiaries of some writers), traverses the wing longitudinally. Tail black. Beneath, there is a white spot in the middle of the throat, in contact with the rich ferruginous tint of the breast, abdomen and lower tail coverts, which are the same colour as the rump; axillaries white, under wing coverts black and white mixed, inner margins of quills dusky grey. Wing, 3.5; tail, 2.95; tarsus, 0·93; culmen, 0-62; bill from front, 0·4.

Female.

Olive brown above, forehead, lores and sides of head paler and more rufous; rump, upper tail coverts and basal portion of all the tail feathers, except the middle pair, ferruginous; central rectrices and terminal portion of all the others black, rather browner than in the male however quills brownish black with paler brown edges, and a white bar over the wing as in the male. Chin, throat, breast, sides of abdomen and flanks rufescent brown with an olive tinge; a white spot, as in the male, in the centre of the throat; middle of the abdomen paler, lower tail coverts pale rufous. Wing 3.2, tail 2.8.

Of course I have no means of ascertaining certainly that the female is correctly identified, as the birds were obtained by Mr. Mandelli's collectors, but the white breast-spot leaves very little doubt on this head. As regards the locality, the only information Mr. Mandelli can give me is that these birds were obtained in Tibet in the month of November 1875.

II-Aberrant Dentition of Felis Tigris.-By R. LYDEKKER, B. A. (Read 6th February, 1878.)

(With Plate II.)

In the accompanying plate (No. II), there is represented the right ramus of a mandible of an individual of Felis tigris which was killed in British Burma; this jaw is remarkable in that it carries an additional premolar. The normal number of lower molar teeth in the genus Felis is three, namely, two premolars, which are respectively the penultimate and ultimate of that series, and one true molar, which is the first of the latter series, and which is often known as the "carnassial tooth."

In the figured specimen, there is between the canine tooth and the penultimate premolar, a small and simple tooth, which is the ante-penultimate

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