76 General Notes. 



Loxia cristata J. R. Forster, Ihdische Zoologie, 1781, p. 41. 



Loxia butanensis J. R. Forster, Faunula Indica, 1795, p. 8. 



Loxia rubra Suckow, Anfangsgr. Naturgesch. Thiere, II, 2, 1801, p. 832. 

 Loxia crislataFoi-ster, 1781, being the oldest name for the species (assuming 

 Seba's plate to be recognizable), Mr. Hartert would probably adopt it, but 

 as it is twice preoccupied (Linnaeus 1758, Miiller 1776), the correct name ; 

 according to the American Ornithologists' Union "Code," would be Hsema- 

 ospiza indica (Gmelin). Chas. W. Richmond. 



NEW GENERIC NAME FOR THE GIANT FULMAR. 



The generic name Ossifraga, given by Hombron and Jacquinot ( Comptes 

 Rendus, XVIII, 1844, p. 356) to Procellaria gigantea Gmelin, is antedated 

 by Ossifraga N. Wood (Analyst, II, 1835, p. 305 ; VI, 1837, p. 244), applied 

 to a very different group of birds. As the Giant Fulmar is thus bereft of 

 its generic name, that of Macronectes may be suggested as an equivalent. 



Chas. W. Richmond. 



NOTE ON A SPECIMEN OF PITHECOPHAGA JEFFERYI 

 OGILVIE-GRANT. 



The United States National Museum has recently received from Mr. 

 'Fletcher L. Keller, a hemp-planter of Davao, Mindanao, and an energetic 

 member of the Philippine Scientific Association, a fine skin of the Philip 

 pine Monkey-eating Forest-Eagle, which Mr. W. R. Ogilvie-Grant made 

 known as Pithecophagajefferyi, a new genus and species, described in the 

 Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club, Vol. VI, No. XL, p. XVII, 

 1896, and subsequently figured and described in greater detail in the Ibis 

 for 1 897 (pp. 214-220, pi. V, and text figures 1 -4 ) . He speaks of it as " per 

 haps the most remarkable bird which has been discovered in the Philip 

 pines." Mr. Ogil vie-Grant's specimen came from the island of Samar. He 

 remarks : " The Discovery of this mighty bird of prey is without doubt the 

 most remarkable of Mr. Whitehead's achievements in the Philippine Is 

 lands. That so large a Raptor should have remained unknown till the 

 present time only shows how easily these great Forest-Eagles may be over 

 looked." Respecting th*e size of this specimen, which was a male, Mr. 

 Ogilvie-Grant states: "Mr. Whitehead says that it weighed between 16 

 and 20 Ibs." The bill of this species is characterized by extreme narrow T - 

 ness and very great depth ; and the high vaulted narial opening is also a 

 peculiar character. The naked tarsi and feet resemble those of the Harpy 

 Eagle although considerably weaker. The wings are short and the tail 

 very long, w^hich is just the reverse of the common Eagle of the Islands 

 (Pontoaetus leucogaster). Mr. Ogilvie-Grant says : " Strange as it may seem, 

 "we have little doubt that the Harpy is the nearest known ally of the present 

 species." In Sharpe's "Hand-List of the Genera and Species of Birds " 

 (Vol. I, page 265), this bird is given a position between the Short-toed 

 Eagles (Circa'etus) and the Serpent-Eagles (Spilornis). 



