76 General Notes. 



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



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



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

 Loxia cristata Forster, 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 (Linnpeus 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 Hombronand Jacquinot (Comptes 

 Rendus, XVIII, 1844, p. 356) to Procellarm 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 .TEFFERYI 



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 PitJiecophaga jefferyi, 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 1897 (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." Ml'. Ogilvie-Grant's specimen came from the island of Samar. He 

 remarks: "The discovery of this mighty bird of ijrey 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." Resi)ecting the size of this specimen, which was a male, Mr. 

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

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

 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, which is just the reverse of the common Eagle of the Islands 

 {Pontoa'fius leucogaster). Mr. Ogilvie-Grant says : " Strange as it ma}' 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 (Circaetus) and the Serpent-Eagles {Spilornis). 



