Description of a Phyllostome Bat from California, in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution

116 PROCEEDINGS OP THE ACADEMY OP

Shellbroadly umbilicated_; orbicularly-depressed; solid_; lightly decussated by incremental striae,and numerous finespiral lines: colorblack orreddish brown, undertheepidermis whiteand shining; suture deeply impressed;spire depressed; whorls 6,regularly increasing, the upper ones flattened, the last (jonvex,roundedbelow, andslightlydeflectedattheaperture; umbilicusbroad, showing all the volutions clearly; aperture oblique,transversely-lunar; in youngspecimensthedecussated sculpturingof the shell onthe parietal wall of the apertureis covered with a light callus as theanimal grows, and ele- gantlymarkedwithnumerousfine,crowded, spirallines; inmature specimens this beautiful marking isentirely obliterated bythe deposition of callus,but oa breakingtheshell,thelineswillbe foundtoexistwithin

;peristomesimple, acute, thickened within, ends slightly approximated, joined with a white callus.

Thisspecies bearsnocloseresemblanceto any

known

AmericanHelix. It

belongs tothesame groupas H.Vancouvere7isis, Lea,butdiff"ersin size,color,

number

ofwhorls, umbilicus, want of peculiar depression ofthe lip,by its beautifullydecussatedsurface, and peculiar parietalwallofthe aperture. I

know

of nospecies sharingthis lastbeautiful peculiarity. Inform alone,dead specimens

may

be compared withB.algira, Lin.,of Europe, but the spire is flatterandumbilicuslarger.

Named

inhonor of Dr.J. S.Newberry,theGeologistoftheColorado Ex. Ex.

BuLiMus PATRiARCHA.

—

^T. perforata, ovata, solidissima, alba, rugosa; anfr.

6 convexi, ultimus ventricosus, 5-7 long, testes sequans

; apertura ovata;

perist.simplex, intusincrassatum, marginibuscallo albo crasso junctis,columel- lari reflexo, umbilicum subtegente. Long. 35 ; diam. 19,aperturse long. 19;

diam.13mill.

Habitat in republica Mexican^,. Specimina plurimaetmaturaet

nondum

adulta, collegitBerlandiere inBuena Vista.

Shell perforate, ovate,heavy, whiteandwrinkled; whorls6,convex,thelast ventricose, equallingin lengthb-1 of the shell;apertureovate;peristome sim- ple, thickened within, the extremities joined by a heavy white callus,the columellar extremityslightly reflectedso as partially toconcealthe umbilicus.

Belongs to the same groupas Bui. dealbatus,Say,alternatus,Say,laclarius, Mke.,Uquaiilis, Reeve,Schiedeanus,Pf.,&c.

The

characteristicswhichformits differences are alike presentin young andoldspecimens, and constantin all fromthelocality. Itherefore consideritas well entitled to^specificdistinction asthosenamed.

Named

fromits greater sizeandmore antiquated appearance,as compared withthe allied species.

Bidscription of a Phyllostome Batfrom California,in the

Museum

of the Smithsonian Institution,

BY

S. F.

BAIRD.

Macrotus CalifornicusBaird. California Leafed-nosedbat.

Theears of this species areverylarge,scantily haired,ovateand roundedat thetip. Their outer edge extends forward toalittle behind and belowthe eye; the inner edgeispartiallyfree. The twoears are connectedbya

mem-

brane, whichtakesitsriseabout one-twentiethof aninchbehindtheanterior freeedgeof theear, andisunitedto the correspondingstrip of

membrane

of the oppositeside, so as to formakindof roof over themiddleof the head, theentranceposterior. Thetragusisnarrow,lanceolate,naked andone-third theheightof theear. The nasalappendage is short,butratherhigherthan wide, andextendingonthesideandbeneath the ^nostrilsasanarrowmargin.

Itiscoated rathercloselywithshort hairs. Thelowerjawisslightly fissured anteriorly,with a small narrowwartoneachside ofthefissure; a grooveor furrow extendsfromthefissurealongeachsidethe lower jaw.

[May,

NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 117

Thefeetare entirely free;thespuraboutaslong:the

membrane

extending betweenthespursisslightlyconcave, leaving the extremity of thetail free forthelast joint, orforabout one-sixthofits total length. Thegeneralcolor isa palebrownishgray, darkerabove thanbelow.

Length to occiput 1.00 Length oftragus .42

" _{to root of}tail 2.60 " of leaf ofnose .30

" _{oftail 1.50} Wing, fromcarpal joint 3.00

of ears 1.10 Fore-arm 2.00

Thisspeciescloselyresembles the

M.

Waterhousii, ofGrray, fromthe

West

Indies. It differs,however,inthelongertail and shorter appendage of the nose, aswellasinthewidelydifferent locality.

ItistothegenusMacrotus,ofthe subfamily Megadermata, that thefirstleaf- nosed bat everpositively

known

as aninhabitantoftheUnitedStatesbelongs.

Itwasdiscovered at Fort

Yuma,

California, by MajorG-. H.Thomas, U.S. A.

It is true that the Brachyphyllum cavernarum of the Phyllostomata has been givenasoccurringinSouthCarolina, butthe statement has neverbeenveri- fied

by

any of the numerous corps of excellent naturalists resident inthat State, andisprobablyanerror.

Descriptions oftwo

new

species ofBirds from the vicinity ofFortTejon, California.

BY JOHN XANTUS DE VESEY.

Tyrannula hammondii

De

Vesey. Tail moderately forked; the feathers acutely pointed. Third quill longest, secondand thenfourthalittle shorter.

First

much

shorterthanfifth,alittlelonger thansixth. Billvery narrow, dark brown.

Above

darkolivegreen,considerablydarkeronthehead. Breastand sides of the bodylight olivegreen, the throat grayishwhite; the rest of the underparts bright sulphur yellow.

A

whitish ring aroundthe eye. Wings andtail dark brown, the former with two olivaceous greybands across the coverts,thelatterwith the outer edgealittle palerthan elsewhere,but notat allwhite. Length2|-inches.

Thisspeciesis

named

afterDr.

W.

A.

Hammond

oftheUnited StatesArmy, ViREOCASSiNii

De

Vesey. Thirdandfourthquills nearlyequal,fifthshorter, second longer than seventh. Spurious primary very narrow,falcate, acute, lessthanonethirdthe secondquilland alittlemorethan one-fourththe third.

Above,including edgeof wing and tail feathers, clear olive green,becoming duskyashyonthe topand side ofhead. Beneath fulvous white, tinged with dull olivegreen onthe sides (scarcelyonthe crissum.)

Two

broad bands on thewing coverts, and theouter edgeofthe innermost secondaries greenish- white; the outeredgeof outertailfeathersandabroadringround the eyes, extendingtoa frontalband,dullwhite. Length5inches.

Descriptions of

new

Birds fromFort*Thorn,

New

Mexico.

BY

DR. T.

CHARLTON HENRY,

U. S.

ARMY.

ToxosTOMACRissALisHenry. Secondquill about aslongasthe secondaries.

Bill

much

curved_; longer than the head.

Above

olive brown, with afaint shadeof gray. Beneathnearlyuniform brownish gray,

much

paler than the back,passinginsensibly intowhiteonthe chin, buttheundertail coverts dark brownish rufous abruptly defined. There is a black maxillary stripe, cut-

ting ofl" a white one above ^it,buttheredo not appeartobe anyotherstripes

aboutthehead. Thereareno bands onthe wings,andthetipsandouteredges of thetailfeathers arevery inconspicuouslylighterthantheremainingportion.

Length 11 inches; wing4-00inches; tail 5|inches.

JuNco DORSALis Henry. Bill black above, bright brownish below.

1858.]