Mr. P. L. Sclater oa the Name of the Purple Waterhen. 195 



similis. ^ long, tota 17, alae 9.5, caudae 4, tarsi 2' 7, 

 dig. med. 1*85, unguis '1, rostri a rictu ri2. $ long, 

 tota 15*25, alse 9, caudae 4*75, tarsi 2*5^ dig. med. VQ, 

 unguis "92, rostri a rict. Tl. 



Hab. Vate Island, New Hebrides. 



I have, of course, nothing to add to Mr. Layard's spirited 

 account of his first day^s " Malou "-shooting in Vate (Ibis, 

 1878, p. 27^); but I am sure the Editors will forgive my 

 ignoring Mr. Sclater's name brazieri, and describing the 

 species under the well-earned appellation of '^ layardi," since 

 there is no proof whatever that this is the bird of Banks's 

 Island, whence the eggs of the supposed " brazieri " came. 

 In fact, the probabilities are the other way ; for I have eggs 

 from Banks's Island which are very much smaller than those 

 now received from Vate, and which certainly look as though 

 they belonged to another species. I have now eggs from five 

 islands ; and, to judge from them alone, there would appear 

 to be two more species yet to be ascertained. 



The collection on which I have reported, though not Mr. 

 Layard's first from New Caledonia, is his first from the Loyalty 

 Islands and New Hebrides ; and the list of novelties already 

 described shows how much there must yet remain to reward 

 the energetic and enthusiastic labours of himself and his son. 



XVI. — Note on the Name of the Purple Waterhen of South- 

 western Europe. By P. L. Sclater. 



Both Mr. Dresser in his * Birds of Europe,' and Mr. Elliot 

 in his recent synopsis of the genus Porphyria {' Stray Fea- 

 thers,^ vol. vii. p. 14), follow Gray's ^ Genera of Birds ' in 

 employing '^ veterum " as the specific name of the Purple 

 Waterhen of South-western Em-ope — Porphyria hyacinthinus 

 of Temminck, This, however, as will often be found to be 

 the case when these strivings after an obscure priority are 

 put to the test of a critical examination, is an error. 



In the first place, as Prof. Newton has pointed out to 

 me, S. G. Gmelin, to whom this specific name is credited, 

 never intended the term " veterum " to be used as a specific 



