Notes and Corrections. 237 



laboured hard one day to convince me that we were derived 

 from monkeys ; but had I taken up the position that the 

 monkey was a degenerate man, I should have had rather the 

 best of the argument. Both positions are highly absurd, but 

 the latter the least so. I think, in regard to " subspecies/^ 

 we should not go beyond facts. Speculation that one species 

 is derived from another is hurtful to our science. The closely 

 allied species are the great charm of ornithology. 



" Aquila n^via. The Lesser Spotted Eagle passes through 

 the valley of the Lower Volga on migration in spring and 

 autumn ^■' (ibid.). I thought it was a settled thing that 

 ncevia was too indefinite a term to be used. Mr. Dresser 

 contends that pomarina of Brehm is the applicable name, but 

 in his ' Birds of Europe ' he withholds the evidence. Brehm^s 

 original description, if there be a published one, should have 

 been given in extenso ; and if there be no such description 

 closely fitting the young bird, my name ought to stand, for 

 I defined the species very clearly. 



Sylvia afpinis. Ibis, 1882, p. 212. "^The Siberian form 

 of the Lesser Whitethroat.^^ No ! The Siberian and Indian 

 bird is the original form ! There are a hundred times as 

 many /S. affinis as there are S. garrula. But why confound 

 them? 



Cettia sericea, Ibis, 1882, p. 213. I closely compared 

 the two species and they are quite distinct. Hume^s first 

 published name was not C. stoliczkcs. 



" Linota linaria. The Brown Linnet," Ibis, 1882, p. 218. 

 Is Linota canabina the species intended ? for that is the 

 Brown Linnet. 



iEaiALiTis CHRONICA, Ibis, 1882, p. 222. Mr. Dresser con- 

 founds ^. curonica and jE. minuta of Pallas. Of the latter 

 Dr. Jerdon says, "Very similar to the last [jE. curonica), 

 but smaller altogether, and with proportionally much smaller 

 legs and feet. The upper plumage is of a somewhat darker 

 shade ; the quills are also blacker ; the lateral tail-feathers 

 have more white -, the base of the lower mandible is more 



