148 Mr. J. H. Gurney^s Notes on 



not speak of having obtained one of those which he saw, 

 it is possible that the flock which he met with may have 

 belonged to the eastern form. 



There appears to be some doubt as to whether Radde's 

 name of " amurensis," which is in use to designate the 

 eastern Erythrojms, is in reality the oldest specific title for 

 this species. Prof. Newton has kindly called ray attention 

 to a rare work by J. P. Falk, Avho was Professor of Botany at 

 St. Petersburg in the latter half of the last century^, in 

 which the name of " Falco vcsperiinoides " is given to a 

 Falcon the description of which may be intended to repre- 

 sent a nearly adult male of E. amurensis, more particularly 

 as the underside of the wings is described as " nearly white;" 

 but, on the otlier hand, the habitat which Falk gives for his 

 Falco vespertinoides — '^ Bashkiria, Perm, and the Province of 

 Isett" — is very far to the west of any locality, except in 

 South Africa, where E. amurensis has been met with by 

 subsequent observers ; and I may add that I have seen 

 a nearly adult male of E. vespertinus, killed at Malta in 

 May, and now in the collection of Mr. Dresser, in Avhich a 

 considerable proportion of white is apparent on the under 

 wing-coverts, mingled with the brown of the immature and 

 the slate-colour of the adult plumagef. 



Japan must be added to the localities for E. amure^isis 

 quoted by Mr. Sharpe. Conf. Ibis, 1875, p. 448, where a 

 specimen obtained there in August is recorded ; also Ibis, 

 1878, p. 249. 



With regard to the distribution of this species in Eastern 

 Asia, Radde records its occurrence in the month of June 

 near the source of the Osega river J ; and a more recent 

 notice of its distribution in Siberia has been given by 



* Falk's work, wliicli was published posthumously iu St. Petersburg 

 in ]786, is entitled ' Beytriige zur topographischen Kenntniss des 

 Russischen Reichs ;' and the description of his " Falco vesiJertinoides " 

 will be found in vol. iii. p. 329. 



t Some mingling of white, though not quite so much as in the specimen 

 referred to, is usually perceptible on the under wing-coverts of immature 

 males of ^. vespertimis. 



X Reis. Sibir. vol. ii. p. 102, 



