254 Letters, Announcements, i^c. 



casus is totally different from that which occurs in Persia 

 and Asia Minor^ and as these two species have not been found 

 inhabiting the same mountain-range, it is evident that T. cau- 

 casicus cannot be regarded as a synonym of T. caspius, but 

 must stand by itself. 



The Lophophorus nigelli of Jardine and Selby (111. Orn. 

 pi. 7Q) appears to have been founded on a female obtained 

 from the same district as the bird described by Gmelin ; and 

 as the descriptions and figures agree suflSciently well, this 

 name must be referred (as it already has been by various 

 authors) to T. caspius. 



Other s]3ecimens which have of late attracted attention 

 are : — (1) a bird in the jSIuseum of the Jardin des Plantes, ori- 

 ginally received from Erzeroum, and described by M. Oustalet 

 under the name of Tetraogallus challayei (Bull. Soc. Phil. 



1875, p. 54, and Journ. de Tlnst. 1875, p. 353) ; (2) A series 

 of specimens collected in the Taurus by myself, and upon 

 which Mr. Dresser has based his Tetraogallus tauricus (P. Z. S. 



1876, p. 675) ; and (3) a bird mentioned as inhabiting Ar- 

 menia (?) by Herr Radde, and referred to without description 

 by HH. BoUe and Brehm as Megaloperdix raddei (Journ. fiir 

 Orn. 1873, p. 4). 



All these three names are, without any doubt, synonymous. 

 Specimens of Tetraogallus tauricus which have been com- 

 pared with L. nigelli have been found to agree with that bird, 

 and consequently with - T. caspius. The three names given 

 above are therefore synonyms of the original T. caspius; 

 and, unless the specimen recently obtained in the Manrack 

 Mountains by Messrs. Finsch and Brehm should prove to be 

 new, the genus Tetraogallus at present consists of five species, 

 viz. Tetraogallus caspius (Gm.), T. caucasicus (Pall.), T. 

 himalayensis, G. R. Gray, T. altaicus (Gebler), and T. ti- 

 betanus, Gould. 



Yours &c., 



C. G. Danford. 



