40 Observations on Mr. BlytUs List of Birds from Calcutta. 



212. Is this certainly the Totanus glareola of Europe, or is it the 

 T. affinis of Horsfield> which is said to be 10 inches long, and is there- 

 fore probably distinct ? 



223. Mr. Hodgson mentions a variety of Scolopax gallinago with 

 16 rectrices. This is probably the S. brehmi of Europe. 



224. Scolopax heterura ; the earliest specific name is stenura, 

 Tem. ; it is S. horsfieldi. Gray, and probably also biclavus, Hodgson. 



231. Is the " Porphyrio smaragnotus" of Indian naturalists cer- 

 tainly the same as the true smaragnotus, Tem., of S. Africa, or is it 

 the P. indicus, Horsf. (P. smuragdinus, Tem.) of Java ? 



Page 230. The Anous temiirostris of Mr. Blyth is probably the 

 same as Sterna tenuirostris, Tem. PI. Col. 202, from W. Africa. 



Page 231 . I had long suspected that Ninow lugubris (N. nipalen- 

 sis, Hodgs.) was synonymous with Strix hirsuta, Tem. ; but' Mr. H. 

 described his bird as wholly unspotted above, while in S. hirsuta 

 there are large white patches on the scapulars. Granting, however, 

 these names to belong to one species, I should hesitate in referring 

 it to the species very vaguely described by Raffles as S. scutulata, 

 unless there be evidence that the Indian species has also been pro- 

 cured in Sumatra. 



All naturalists who may consult the valuable paper which has 

 given rise to the above criticisms will join with me in hoping that 

 Mr. Blyth may long be enabled to continue his zoological labours. 

 The impulse which has at last been given to the study of Indian 

 zoology will speedily clear up the doubts which still attach to the 

 subject. I would especially recommend to the naturalists of India 

 to identify the numerous species of birds described by Latham from 

 the drawings of Lady Impey and others, many of which have not 

 been subsequently recognised. Unfortunately the original drawings 

 of Lady Impey were sold by auction at her death, and I have never 

 been able to trace into whose possession they passed, so that there 

 is now no other clue to follow than the brief descriptions made by 

 Latham from those drawings. Still these descriptions will in most 

 cases enable an Indian ornithologist to recognise the species and 

 correct its synonymy ; a process which, in the present state of tie 

 science, tends almost as much to its advancement as the discovery of 

 new species. Another desideratum in the ornithology of India is 

 the investigation of many of the species described by Lieut. Tickell 

 in the Journ. As. Soc. Beng. vol. ii. p. 569. The following species 

 there described are not sufficiently ascertained, and any information 

 as to their exact generic characters or synonyms will be acceptable : 

 Falco lathami, Strix dumeticola, S. candidus, Muscicapa tyrannides, 

 M. ccerulea (apparently not M. ccerulea, Gm.), Motacilla luzonia, M. 

 cantator, Sylvia longicaudata, Motacilla affinis, M. dumeticola, Turdus 

 lividus, Emberiza sylvatica, Fringilla agilis, Emberiza olivacea, Capri- 

 mulgus albonotatus, Hirundo coronata, Columba agricola. The * Voy- 

 age aux Indes Orientales ' of Sonnerat also contains several unde- 

 termined, though determinable, species of Indian birds, to which 

 Scopoli in his * Deliciae Florae et Faunse Insubrise, Ticino, 1786,' as- 

 signed one set of systematic Latin names, and Gmelin subsequently 

 gave another. 



