422 Mr. L. Brasil on [Ibis, 



XX. — What is Tardus minutus Forster, from Cook^s 

 ''Botany Island." By L. Brasil, F.M.B.O.U. 



Under the name Turdus minutus, J. R, Forster described 

 two very different birds *. The first one, obtained in New 

 Zealand, is, as everybody knows, the " Great-headed Tit- 

 mouse " of Latham t, upon which was founded Gmelin's 

 Parus macrocephalus %, Myiomoira macrocephala macro- 

 cephala oi the present nomenclature. In Forster's ^Unpub- 

 lished Iconography' this bird is represented on plate No. 149, 

 where, according to Sharpe§, the figure is accompanied by the 

 mention of " Queen Charlotte Sound, New Zealand,^' as the 

 locality. The second bird, the one observed on Cook's 

 " Botany Island" ||, in the close vicinity of New Caledonia, 

 has not been identified hitherto with any of the species now 

 known. It would seem that nobody has seen it again since it 

 was discovered, and as the specimen brought over by Cook's 

 Expedition has disappeared a long time ago, even if it was 

 ever introduced into Europe at all at the time, it is only by 

 going back, directly or otherwise, to the original description 

 that a few authors have been able to speak of the bird. 

 Before regarding it as a distinct and unnamed species, which 

 he ca\h Petroica forsteri^ , Gray had first spoken of it rather^ 

 vaguely as Petroica (?) **. It is under one of those ex- 

 pressions that it was later on introduced into the works of 



* J. R. Forster, Descr. Anim. 1844, p. 83. 



t Latham, Gen. ISyn. ii. 1783, p. 557, pi. Iv.. 



X Gmelin, Syst. Nat. i. 1788, p. 1013. 



§ R. B. Sharpe, Hist. Coll. Nat. Hist. Brit. Mus. ii. 1906, p. 195. 



II The sandy islet to which the name of Botany Island was given 

 by Cook is called to-day on the French maps "I'lle Amere" ("I'lle 

 Am^re" on Commandant Laporte's map, published in 1900). It lies 

 on the western edge of the group of reefs which separates the " Canal de 

 la Havannah " from the " Passe de la Sarcelle." Its distance from the 

 southern coast of New Caledonia is about 18 km.; on the other hand, 

 it lies about 25 km. from the northern side of Kuni^ (Isle of Pines). 



H G. R. Gray, Cat. Birds Trop. Isl. Pacific Oc. 1859, p. 15. 

 *• G. R. Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. Loudon, 1859, p. 161. 



