Vol. II. 



IQ02 



1 From Magazines^ &^c. 



Several booklets have been received from Mr. Harry C • 

 Oberholser, Assistant Biologist in the Agricultural Department, 

 Washington, U.S.A. 



To Australasian ornithologists one is of particular interest. 

 It is a paper on " Some Untenable Names in Ornithology," 

 forming part of the " Proceedings of the Academy of Natural 

 Science of Philadelphia," March, 1899. They relate principally 

 to generic terms, of which four are Australian, as follows : — 



Aviytis, Lesson, is untenable by reason of yiwj/'/j, Savigny, proposed for 

 a genus of Vermes. Diaphorillas is substituted. 



Xerophila, Gould, must be displaced on account of Xerophila^ Held, a 

 genus of Molluscs. Aphelocephala is substituted. 



Stictoptera^ Reichenbach, is untenable by reason of Siictoptera^ Guenee, 

 for a group of Lepidoptera. It is replaced by Stizoptera. 



Calornis^ Gray, is debarred by Calorms, Billberg, for a genus or 

 Lepidoptera. Lainprocorax, Bonaparte, is substituted. 



* * * 



The Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club (No. 86) 

 records the eighty-fifth meeting of this club (the inner circle, 

 so to speak, of the B.O.U.), which took place at the 

 Restaurant Frascati, 32 Oxford-street, London, on the 19th 

 February, 1902. The chairman. Dr. P. L. Sclater, F.R.S., 

 exhibited nine skins of new or rare Australian birds, and offered 

 the following critical remarks : — 



P til Otis kearttaadi, North. — This handsome species was first described by 

 Mr. North {Ibis, 1895, p. 340) from specimens collected during the " Horn " 

 Expedition to Central Australia. Examples have also been recently 

 obtained in the vicinity of North-West Cape (see Campbell's " Nests and 

 Eggs of Australian Birds," p. 402). The pair which I now exhibit was 

 procured at Derby, North-West Australia, and sent to me by Mr. Hall. 



Ptilotis leilavntensis^ North. — The history of this recent addition to the 

 Australian avifauna will be found in Mr. Campbell's new book on the 

 "Nests and Eggs of Australian Birds," p. 405. The present specimen was 

 obtained at Cardabia Creek, N.VV. Australia, on 25th March, 1899, by Mr. 

 Tom Carter, and has been sent to me by Mr. Hall. 



Miraf7'a woodiuardi, Milligan {Vict. Nat., xviii., p. 25). — Mr. Hall sends 

 me a single specimen of this Mirafra obtained at Derby, Western Australia, 

 on the 24th August, 1900. The describer appears to be correct in recog- 

 nizing this as a new species of Australian Lark, differing from M. horsjieldi 

 in the larger size and more rufous plumage. There is an example of it in 

 the British Museum, from Port Essington, North Australia, received from 

 the Gould Collection, and registered as M. horsfieldi (Cat. B., xiii., p. 604, 

 specimen /). The South Australian A/, sccunda, Sharpe (Cat. B., xiii., 

 p. 603), is also a close ally of this species, but is smaller in size and less 

 distinctly striped on the neck. 



Pseudogcrygone tcnebrosa. Hall {Vict. Nat., xviii., p. 79). — This appears to 

 be a valid species. I can find nothing like it in the National Collection. 

 The specimen is from Derby, North-West Australia. 



Ercniioniis cartcri, North ( Vict. Nat., xvii., pp. 78, 93, 1900). — Mr. North 

 kindly sends me an example of this supposed new genus and species of 

 Australian birds. The genus is closely allied to Schcciiicola of India 

 (Cat. B., vii., p. 'no), and perhaps hardly distinct ; but the specimen is not 



