1917-] Tardus minutus Forster. 423 



Verreaux and Des Murs *, Marie f, and the Layards %- We 

 must notice that the latter two naturalists, who have so care- 

 fully studied the ornithological fauna of New Caledonia and 

 collected so many specimens themselves, mention expressly 

 that they never obtained the species we are speaking of. 

 Sharpe, then, thought it was right to suppress it from 

 the world of birds, and to strike it out of nomenclature. 

 This he does in the following terms § : — 



" This bird {Peti'oeca forsteri Gray) is mentioned here 

 merely for the purpose of showing that it is a myth. 

 Mr. Gray refers as a synonym the name of Turdus minutus 

 Porster {Descr. Anim. p. 84), but this, from the figure and 

 description, is Petrceca macrocepliala of New Zealand. 

 At page 257 of the same work, Forster casually mentions 

 having observed Turdus minutus on Spruce-Tree Island, 

 New Caledonia ; and this is apparently Mr. Gray's authority 

 for naming the species Petroica forsteri, on the chance of 

 its turning up in the locality. Should a Petrceca occur in 

 New Caledonia, it would very likely be P. similis of the 

 New Hebrides." 



These lines show in a very striking way what mistakes an 

 author is liable to make when the references made have not 

 been carefully looked up. Had Sharpe opened Forster's 

 work, p. 84, quoted by Gray, he would have realised that 

 there was no need of Forster's assertion, p. 257, to determine 

 Gray to create his Petroica forsteri ; the description, p. 84, 

 of a specimen found not in New Zealand, but precisely 

 in one of the islands of the New Caledonian archipelago, 

 easily proves that the form mentioned is very different from 

 the bird which had been caught by Forster in New Zealand, 

 drawn by his son, and a most correct and detailed description 

 of which is to be found in his book, p. 83. Comparing the 

 two descriptions, we see directly that the birds have nothing 



* J. Verreaux et O. Des Murs, Eev. et Mag. Zool. (2) xii. 1860, p. 391. 



t E. Marie, Actes Soc. Linn. Bordeaux, xxvii. 1870, p. 327. 



t E. L. & E. L. C. Layard, Ibis, (4) ii. ]878, p. 254. 



§ R. B. Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. iv. 1879, p. 179 note. 



