Zoological Illustrations Volume Iii Part 10

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

_E. testa maculis fuscis seu purpureis tessellatis fasciata; sutura vix ca.n.a.liculata; anfractuum marginibus convexis._

Sh.e.l.l with bands of tessellated brown or purple spots; suture slightly channelled; margin of the volutions convex.

Buccinum Spiratum. _var. Linn._ _Gmelin_, 3487. _Dill._ 620. _Brug._ _p._ 262. 26. _Turton_, 4. _p._ 400. _var._ 2.

Lister, 981. 41. (_bad._) _Seba_, _t._ 73. _f._ 25. 26. _Martini_, 4.

_pl._ 122. 1120. 1121.

_E. Arcolata_, _Lam. Syst._ 7. _p._ 282. 4.

A sh.e.l.l hitherto placed as a variety of _E. spirata_, (_Buccinum spiratum_, Lin.) but from which I am disposed to consider it as specifically distinct.

The channel or sulcation round the suture of each whorl is very slight, and the adjoining margin obtuse and convex; whereas in _E. spirata_ the channel is broad and deep, having the margin sharply carinated: so far the essential characters of the two sh.e.l.ls are at variance; but their difference in colour is so obvious that no one can mistake them.

The form of the umbilicus in this species appears to be constant: it is wide, deep, placed near to the upper angle of the aperture, and margined externally by a convex belt. With the exception of Seba's figures, (which, through the carelessness of the engraver, are reversed,) not a tolerable representation of this sh.e.l.l can be found; for those given by the authors above named, are almost too inaccurate for citation. It inhabits the Indian Ocean.

Pl. 146

[Ill.u.s.tration]

EBURNA Pacifica,

_South Sea Eburna._

GENERIC CHARACTER.--See Pl. 144.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

_E. testa ventricosa, maculis fulvis fasciisque albis ornata; spirae angustae, acutae, suturis integris._

Sh.e.l.l ventricose, with fulvous spots and white bands; spire slender, acute; suture entire.

Eburna Pacifica. _Swainson, Appendix to Bligh Cat._ _p._ 6. _lot_ 904.

Eburna lutosa? _Ency. Meth._ _pl._ 401. _f._ 4.

_E. lutosa?_ _Lam. Syst._ 7. 282. 5.

A delicate and rather uncommon sh.e.l.l: first defined in the Appendix I subjoined to the Catalogue of the Bligh collection, dispersed by auction last spring. Mrs. Mawe informs me she has received this, along with other sh.e.l.ls, from the Pacific Ocean.

A species at once distinguished by the entire suture and narrow-pointed spire; the inner lip is very thick, with a longitudinal sulcation near the umbilicus.

Whether this is the sh.e.l.l represented in the _Ency. Meth._ at _pl._ 401, _f._ 4, admits of doubt: a short description would have explained the characters, but not one word is said about it. I have already adverted to this novel mode of creating species at pl. 31. If authors will not be at the trouble of defining new species, they have no right to expect their names should be adopted by subsequent and more laborious writers, to whom they leave the more scientific task, of defining characters and collating synonyms.

Pl. 147

[Ill.u.s.tration]

MUSCIPETA carinata,

_Keel-billed Flycatcher._

GENERIC CHARACTER.--See Pl. 116.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

_M. plumbea, infra ferruginea; fronte juguloque nigris; temporibus albentibus; rostri culmine carinato._

Plumbeous; body beneath ferruginous; front and throat black; sides of the head whitish; top of the bill carinated.

Mr. Brookes, the celebrated anatomist, first drew my attention to this singular bird; the peculiarity of the bill suggested to us the idea of creating a genus for its reception; but a closer comparison of its other characters with several of the exotic _Muscipetae_ induces me, at least for the present, to a.s.sociate it with those birds. The Flycatchers, as they now stand in the works of Latham, Shaw, and other Linnaean writers, undistinguished even by sections or subdivisions, present a ma.s.s of confusion, which renders the search after an individual, in this immense genus, almost hopeless.

Total length, six inches and a half; front, throat, and margin of the shoulders, deep black; the whole upper plumage is of a delicate lead colour, which is paler on the breast, and nearly white on the sides of the head and neck; body and inner wing covers rufous; the first quill is half the length of the second, which is rather shorter than the three next; feet slender, weak, and short; the outer toe united, the inner cleft. The bill at the base is triangular, but not elevated; the sides compressed; the culmin, or top, is sharp, elevated, and curved; the tip of both mandibles notched: nostrils simple, small, round, without a membrane, and partly hid by the thick-set frontal feathers, and lengthened setaceous bristles round the bill. These parts are delineated on the plate of their natural size; and must form the basis of any future generic alteration in the arrangement of this bird. The figure was from a specimen belonging to Mr. Brookes; since which, I have received two others from New Holland.

Pl. 148

[Ill.u.s.tration]

EMBERIZA cristata,

_Crested Bunting._