 Reference Base  Descriptions of new or imperfectly known objects of the a... |
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Smith, Andrew, 1828. Descriptions of new or imperfectly known objects of the animal kingdom, found in the South of Africa [no.1]. South African Commercial Advertiser 3 (no. 144) - 1 November 1828: 2, column 4
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| Location: |
Africa - Southern Africa - South Africa |
| Subject: |
History |
| Species: |
African Rhino Species |
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Rookmaaker 2016, p. 17, no. 49
Rookmaaker, L.C., 2016. The zoological contributions of Andrew Smith (1797–1872) with an annotated bibliography and a numerical analysis of newly described animal species. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa 72 (2): 105-173 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0035919X.2016.1230078
Cutting present in the volume of Smith’s collected papers in Yale University, mentioned by Ripley 1957 (no.5). Facsimile in Branch & Bauer (2005: 28).
Descriptions of New or imperfectly known Objects of the Animal Kingdom, found in the South of Africa. South African Commercial Advertiser, 1 November 1828, vol. iii, no. 144, p.2 col. 4.
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Descriptions of New, or imperfectly known Ohjects of the /nimal Kingdom,
found in the South of Africa, by Dr. Smith.
BIRDS.
PLOCEUS PERSONATUS. Mihi. - - - Masked weaver bird.
Front, temples, cheeks, chin, and a little of the throat jet black; back greenish brown, with a shade of yellow; primary and secondary wing coverts, as well as primary and secondary quill feathers the same, the former with the edges of the outer vanes and tips green, the latter with the outer vanes only edged with that color; breast, belly, and vent yellow; tail greenish brown, with the outer vanes of feathers edged with a lightish green; legs and toes a light flesh color; bill black. Length of bird six inches and a quarter. Found in the eastern districts of the Colony; builds a pendulous nest about the banks of rivers or pools of water.
PLOCEUS OCULARIS. Mihi.
Male. - - - Front, deep shining reddish yellow; crown and upper parts of body greenish yellow; each side of head with a transverse narrow black band, commencing at base of bill, and terminating about two lines behind the outer corner of the eyes; chin and throat deep black: breast, belly, and vent shining yellow; primary and secondary wing coverts greenish; primary and secondary quill feathers with the outer vanes light green, and the inner blackish brown; tail wedge-shaped, outer vanes of feathers greenish yellow, edged with yellow, inner vanes darker, with here and there a tinge of brown; upper tail coverts light yellow; irides between a pale red and a yellow; bill black; legs and toes inclined to
purple; claws a dark horn color. Length of bird five inches.
Female. - - - Chin and throat yellowish, otherwise like the male, with the exception of the colors being less vivid. Found in similar situations with the foregoing, and, like it, builds a pendulous nest.
CREX JARDINEII. Mihi.
Head, neck, and breast dark ferruginous; back, shoulders, belly, vent, and tail black, the four first variegated with narrow short longitudinal white streaks, the latter with white dots; bill straight and pointed, dark blackish green towards base, light horn colored towards tip; legs and toes light greenish brown. Length of bird six inches. Inhabits marshy situations in various parts of South Africa.
CREX AFFINIS. Mihi.
Front, crown, and cervix light chesnut; sides of head rather paler; chin white; tail dark chestnut; other parts brownish black; each feather with one or more longitudinal white streaks; bill slender, and towards tip slightly curved; upper mandible dark horn colored, lower lighter; legs and toes pale horn colored. Length of bird four inches and three quarters. Found in damp situations, as well as about the banks of rivers and marshes in various parts of the Colony.
PHOENICOPTERUS CAPENSIS. Mihi.
Head, neck, interscapulars, back, and under parts white, with a slight rosy tinge, which is most distinct towards the head; shoulder feathers dark scarlet, each with a narrow margin of white; primary and secondary wing coverts a pale rosy hue; primary and secondary quill feathers black; tail rounded, and of a pale rose tint; legs and toes blackish green with a tinge of purple; claws dark horn colored; bill a dirty lake color towards base, grayish in the middle, and black at tip, which color also edges the superior margin of the upper mandible. Length two feet nine inches. ls a rare bird on the western coast of South Africa.
SERPENTS
Genus. - - - BUCEPHALUS. Mihi.
Head somewhat cubiform, borader than the neck; upper jaw with four rows of teeth, all solid, except a few of the posterior ones of the outer row on each side, which have each a channel extending from base to apex; body rather slender, and thickest in the middle; on each side of body a longitudinal fold of loose skin, most distinct towards the head; tail round, long, and slender, measuring somewhere about a fourth of the length of the snake; scales of the body carinated and disposed in curved transverse rows; under the tail a double series of somewhat six-sides scales.
Sp. - - - BUCEPHALUS TYPUS. Mihi. A Boom-slang of the Colonists.
Head thick and clumsy; color above, an uniform lightish brown, beneath silvery gray speckled with brown; irides green; last plate of belly divided. Length between five and six feet; thickness rather greater than that of a man’s thumb. Found upon branches of trees, as well as upon the ground, in the reastern districts of South Africa.
BUCEPHALUS JARDINEII. Mihi. - - - Boom-slang.
Head as in the last; back and sides blackish green; under parts yellow, with a black line extending along the posterior margin of each abdominal plate. In the male the first, and more or less of the second row of scales on each side of plates yellow; length from five to six feet; thickness rather greater than in the foregoing. Found on branches of trees about Cape Town and its vicinity.
BUCEPHALUS GUTTURALIS. Mihi. - - - Tellow throated Boom-slang.
Color above and on the sides greenish brown; most of the scales with a light greenish white mark; below light grayish brown mottled with a dark greenish brown; a transverse orange-colored band towards commencement of throat; length about three feet; thickness about that of a man’s forefinger. Found upon branches of trees in the forests of the eastern districts.
BUCEPHALUS BELLII. Mihi. - - - Boom-slang.
Color above a sort of blackish green, with most of the scales marked by a greenish white dot; below yellowish green, with the hinder edge of each plate margined by a blackish line. Length from five to six feet; thickness nearly that of the typical species; and is found inhabiting similar situations.
GENUS ANODON. Mihi.
Jaws without teeth; gape moderately large body carinated above, and slender; tail round and tapering.
(To be continued.)
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