362 Letters, Exti'acts, Notices, S^c. 



respects a true Podiceps (or^ as I prefer to call the genus, 

 Colymbus), while P. occidentalis is the type of the genus 

 ^cJimophorus, Coues_, which, in my opinion, is quite as much 

 entitled to full generic rank as Podilymbus, Lesson, or even 

 more so, since the downy young of the latter are marked 

 exactly like those of the species of true Podiceps. 



If the Vancouver-Island bird which Canon Tristram sup- 

 poses to be the breeding-plumage of P. occidentalis be not 

 of an uudescribed species, may it not possibly be P. holboellii, 

 Reinh., with the throat unusually light-coloured ? 



Youi's &c., 



Robert Ridgway. 



Nortlirepps, May 1887, 



Sirs, — Having been indebted to the kindness of Mr. F. W. 

 Styan for an opportunity of examining the Raptorial birds 

 that form a portion of the collection from Foochoo which 

 he has described in the last number of ' The Ibis,' I am de- 

 sirous of offering some remarks on two of the specimens 

 there referred to. 



Mr. Styan, at p. 233, includes two Hawks in his list under 

 the name of " Accipiter virgatus," and adds, ''Mr, J. H. 

 Gurney tells me these are identical with the Japanese birds, 

 the A. gularis (T. & S,) ." As this would seem to imply that I 

 consider A. gularis to be merely a synonym of A. virgatus, I 

 wish to explain that it is, in my opinion, a good species, quite 

 distinct from A. virgatus, but identical with A. nisoides, Blytli, 

 which appears to me to be its oldest designation, 



I therefore think that the two specimens mentioned in 

 Mr, Styan's list should not stand as A. virgatus but as A. 

 nisoides. 



I may add that I have somewhat fully discussed the dis- 

 tinctness of these species, and also the synonymy of A. ni- 

 soides, in an appendix (at p. 165) to my ' List of Diurnal 



Birds of Prey.' 



Yours &c., 



J. H. Gurney. 



Labuan, April 30, 1887. 

 Sirs, — I beg to be permitted to place on record the occur 



