Zoological Illustrations Volume Iii Part 14

Lead-coloured; head and tail black; bill red; belly obscure rosy; ears (in the male) snowy.

Loxia oryzivora. _Gm._ I. 302. _Lath. Ind. Orn._ 1. 380. _Gen. Zool._ 9. 2. 316. _Brisson_, 1. 374. 7.

Java Grosbeak. _Lath. Syn._ 3. 129. _Supp._ 151. _Gen. Zool._ 9. 316.

_pl._ 51.

This elegant bird has been so distorted, in the representations given of it by the older ornithologists, that little apology is thought necessary for introducing more accurate figures of both s.e.xes in this publication. It is said to inhabit the Cape and various parts of India, causing much damage to the rice plantations, and is frequently brought to this country alive. The figure is of the size of life, the bill bright red, but whitish towards the tip; it is very strong, thickened round the basal margins, and forms a sharp angle between the frontal feathers: the nostrils are small, round, and placed _behind_ the thick margin of the bill, and not on its outer surface. Legs flesh-coloured; the orbits are said to be red in the live bird.

I have followed the example of Illiger and Temminck in uniting the greatest part of the Linnaean Loxiae and Fringillae under the latter genus, retaining only the Cross-bills under the former.

Pl. 157

[Ill.u.s.tration]

AMPULLARIA effusa,

_Ribbon Apple Snail._

GENERIC CHARACTER.--See Pl. 103.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

_A. testa globosa, laevi, fasciis purpureo-fuscis cincta; spira depressa, apice prominente; apertura angusta; umbilico magno, profundo; columella obsoleta._

Sh.e.l.l globose, smooth, with purple brown bands; spire depressed, the tip prominent; aperture narrow; umbilicus large, deep; pillar obsolete.

Helix glauca. _Linn. Dillw._ 918. Helix ampullucea, (_var._ [gamma]) _Gmelin_, 3626. Bulimus effusus. _Brug._ _p._ 296. _No._ 1.

_Lister_, 129. 29. _Seba_, _tab._ 38. _f._ 39. _tab._ 40. _f._ 3. 4. 5.

(_optime_.) _Martini_, 9. _tab._ 129. _f._ 1144-5. _Knorr_, 4. _tab._ 5. _f._ 3.

_Lam. Syst._ 6. 2. _p._ 178. 5.

I concur with Mr. Dillwyn in believing that this sh.e.l.l is the _Helix glauca_ of Linnaeus; but, as it is now removed to another genus, I think no real advantage would result from continuing its original specific name; particularly as the ident.i.ty may be questioned by others, without a chance of the question ever being settled: the adoption of the specific names given to species slightly or incorrectly described by the older naturalists, inevitably tends to increase the original obscurity, in all cases where the point cannot be cleared up. _A. effusa_ may be distinguished from all others by the columella being nearly obsolete; this part existing only in the two terminal whorls of the spire. This species therefore forms a transition to the _Planorbes_: there is a variety, with narrower stripes, double the size of that here figured.

AMPULLARIA luteostoma,

_Yellow-mouthed Apple Snail._

_A. testa globosa, striata, olivacea, lineis remotis fuscis fasciata; spira levata, apice acuto; apertura effusa intus marginata; umbilico magno._

Sh.e.l.l globose, striated, olive, with remote transverse brown lines, spire elevated, the tip acute; aperture wide, within margined; umbilicus large.

The umbilicus of this sh.e.l.l is not so deep as the last, but is larger than in any other known species; the columella is likewise perfect, and the aperture is wider and more oblique than in _A. effusa_.

Pl. 158

[Ill.u.s.tration]

PINNA bullata, (_var._)

_Rufous Pinna._

GENERIC CHARACTER.

_Testa longitudinalis, cuneiformis, aequivalvis, apice hians, basi acuta; natibus rectis. Cardo lateralis, edentulus. Ligamentum marginale, lineare, praelongum subinternum._--Lamarck, _Sys._ vol. vi.

p. i. p. 129.

Sh.e.l.l longitudinal, wedge-shaped, equivalve, the valves gaping; the umbones straight, pointed. Hinge lateral, without teeth. Ligament marginal, linear, very long, subinternal.

Generic Types. _Pinnae rudis._ _Pectinata._ _Muricata._ Linn. Pennant, &c.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

_P. testa tenui, pellucida, rufa, aequilatera, striis remotis, sulcatis, transversim squamiferis, subspinosis; marginibus lateralibus rectis; margine inferiore oblique truncato._

Sh.e.l.l thin, pellucid, rufous, equilateral, with remote sulcated striae, crossed by transverse scales and obtuse spines; lateral margins straight; inferior margin obliquely truncate.

P. bullata. _Gmelin_, _p._ 3367. _Gualt._ _tab._ 79. _f._ c.

_Chemnitz._ 8. _tab._ 87. _f._ 769. _Knorr_, 2. 23. _f._ 1.

P. marginata. _Lam. Sys._ 6. _p._ 132. 7.