tipped with scarlet, and the under part of the beak is also scarlet, the upper
part is of a blackish gray ; the beak is nearly five inches long by two-thirds of
an inch wide; the circumference oi the eye is also red, the feet deep yellow,
and the bird in its general form strongly resembles the stork, but its colour
is rather darker ; it is four feet high by nine in spread.
These extraordinary birds are seen in large flocks, and it is known that they
have the surprising habit of forming a kind of momentary artificial embankment
across thè rivers Saggéour and Kouweik ; having for this purpose
chosen the shallowest spot, they range themselves side by side in several close
ranks, and sit down with their tails to the current and their feathers spread
out ; by this contrivance they in some degree check the course of the water,
which in consequence overflows at the chosen spot, and one of the flock, previously
placed as a sentinel a little distance from the rest, gives as a signal a
cry not unlike that of the stork, but much more shrill, upon which the rest of
the flock dart upon the fish, frogs, toads, &c., which are then almost without
water, and make a sumptuous repast of all that are thus caught.
No. y.
R E P T I L E S . 1
Species 1. Trionyx (or Gymnopus, according to MM. Dumdril and Bebron).
T he following description is drawn up by W. Martin, Esq. from a dried
specimen, of which the sternum was unfortunately removed by the animal preserver.
Total length, from the tip of the muzzle to the end of the tail, two fe e t;
width, about one fo o t; head and neck, measuring to the anterior edge of the
carapace, seven inches and three-quarters. Carapace slightly convex and
oval, slightly truncated posteriorly; composed of nine costal plates, the ribs
being eight in number: a double mesial furrow runs along the back leaving
a slightly convex elevation between them : between the first, and most anterior,
of these plates and the second are two depressions, each about half an
inch in diameter, placed near the mesial line, and separated by a space less
than a quarter of an inch in extent. The whole upper surface of the carapace,
excepting at the margin, irregularly reticulate. The depressions between
the costal plates are well marked. The length of the carapace is nine inches,
and the breadth seven inches and three-quarters; on the sides of the body
the coriaceous membrane extends about two inches beyond the lateral margins
of the carapace, the ribs themselves extending about one inch and a half
beyond the carapace. Towards the hinder part of the body the membrane
gradually increases in width, and over the tail it had attained a width of
nearly six inches, of which about two inches and a half are free. The head
is in the form of an elongated triangle; the snout is considerably produced
and attenuated: the width of the head at the base is two inches and a quarter;
the total length of the skull is three inches five lines ; the space from the eye
to the upper lip beneath the nostrils is eleven lines; the space between the
orbits is five lines: on the vertex above and between the orbits the skull is
smooth and convex. In both the fore and hind feet the first or front claw is
the largest. The tail is rather short and thick; its length is about four
inches and a half. When alive this animal was of an uniform mud colour,
slightly tinted with olive green.
In many respects this animal agrees with the Gymnopus JEgyptiacns
( Trionyx jEgyptiacus), as described by M. Bebron; but neither the head
nor the margin of the carapace is spotted with yellowish white, as in the
latter species; besides, the two nearly confluent depressions, on the anterior
1 The reptiles named in the text of this Appendix were collected by the Officers in the
Expedition to the Euphrates, and were presented to the Geological Society of London.