Teer, TR 
NOTES ON A COLLECTION OF BIRDS MADE BY MR. HARRY V. 
HENSON IN THE ISLAND OF YEZO, JAPAN. 
BY 
LEONHARD STEJNEGER, 
Curator of the Department of Reptiles and Batrachians. 
(With Plate xLv.) 
In response to my request for the loan of material for my proposed 
manual of Japanese ornithology, several years ago, Mr. Harry V. Hen- 
son, then of Hakodate, Yezo, most generously placed in my hands for 
examination a large and interesting collection made by him in the 
neighborhood of that town. Since then the U.S. National Museum has 
aequired this collection by purchase. 
My original intention was to enumerate every specimen in the collee- 
tion, but as it now has become part of our Museum, this plan was given 
up, especially since press of other work threatened to entirely prevent 
me from finishing this paper. Consequently, only the more interesting 
species have been treated of, and, as will be noticed, in a somewhat 
uneven manner, The various species were written up ina sequence die- 
tated more by the accessibility of the material than with reference to 
a natural and systematic arrangement, and as several years have lapsed 
between the working up of species here closely associated, uniformity 
was unattainable except by rewriting the whole, an undertaking entirely 
beyond my powers at present. I have thought, however, that it would 
be better to publish the paper in the present form than to leave it un- 
published. 
Great credit is due to Mr. Henson for his successful exploits in a 
jocality which has been better worked ornithologically than any other 
in Japan, and it is to be hoped that this suecess will encourage him and 
others to continue the good work. It demonstrates how mucel.is still to 
be done even in localities which have been considered nearly exhausted 
We are as yet only laying the foundations of a solid knowledge of the 
Japanese avifauna., <A large amount of material has yet to be collected 
and discussed, and the sooner it is done the better. 
The numbers in parentheses following the specific names refer to 
Blakiston and Pryev’s “ Birds of Japan.” 
Colymbus holbeellii (REINH.). (153) 
A young female was shot near Hakodate, March 3, 1884 (U.S. Nat. 
Mus. No. 120709, H. V. Henson coll. No. 98). Being only the second 
record of this species in Yezo, it deserves special mention. 
Proceedings of National Museum, Vol. xy, No. 904, 
Proc. N. M. 92——-19 
289 
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