+} 
290 BIRDS FROM YEZO, JAPAN—STEJNEGER. 
Podiceps nigricans (Scop.). (164163) 
Little Grebe. : Kaitsumuri. 
1766.—Colymbus auritus y LINN., 8. 12th ed., 1, p. 228. c : 
1769.—Colymbus nigricans SCOPOLI, nie I Hist. Nat., p. 77. 
1771.—Colymbus flwwiatilis TUNSTALL, Ornith. Brit., p. 3 (nomen nudum). 
1782.—?Colymbus pyrenaicus LAPEIROUSE, K. Vet. Akad. Nya Handl., 11, p. 111. 
1787.—Podiceps minutus LATHAM, Gen. Synops., Suppl., 1, p. 294.—SEEBOHM, Ibis, 1882, 
p. 369.—BLakist. & PRYER, Tr. As. Soc. Jap., X, 1882, p. 93.—BLAKIST., 
Chrysanth., Nov., 1882, p. 524.—Id., ibid., Jan., 1883, p. 25.—Jd., Amend, 
List B. Jap., p. 32 (1884). 
1787.—Podiceps hebridalis LATHAM, Gen. Synops., Suppl., 1, p. 294. 
1788.—Colymbus minor GMELIN, 8. N., 1, p. 591.—Podiceps m, SCHLEGEL, Mus. P. Bas., 
Urinat., p. 43 (1867).—SrrBoum, B. Jap. Emp., p. 367 (1890). 
1788.— Colymbus hebridicus GMELIN, 8. N., 1, 594. 
1790.—? Colymbus philippensis BONNATERRE, Ine. Méth., 1, p. 58.—DPodiceps ph. Swin- 
HOF, Tbis, 1875, p. 456.—BLakisT. & PrvyEr, Ibis, 1878, p. 211.—Jid., Tr. As. 
Soc. Jap., VIII, 1880, p. 181. 
1804.—Colymbus erythrocephalus HERMANN, Obsery. Zool., 1, p. 151. 
1831.— Podiceps pygmaeus BREHM, Hanudb. Vog. Deutschl., p. 966. 
1842.—Sylbeocyclus europeus MACGILLIVRAY, Man. Brit. Ornith., 11, p. 205. 
1855.—Podiceps pallidus BREHM, Vogelf., p. 403. 
1877.—? Podiceps albescens *‘ MANDELLL”, BLANFORD, Stray Feath., v, p. 486. 
Colymbus nigricans of Scopoli is very often quoted as a synonym of 
C. auritus LIN. (for instance, by Dresser and by Seebohm) but, I think, 
quite erroneously. Scopoli’s diagnosis, ‘¢ Duplo minor pricre | C. auritus| 
Remiges secunde interno latere semialbe,” widoubtedly belongs to the 
present species, and fits no other. The name is evidently derived from 
Brisson, whose Colymbus fluviatilis nigricans by the same authors is eor- 
rectly referred to the Little Grebe. The confusion has originated with 
Latham, whose Podiceps nigricans (Synops., Suppl., 1, p. 294, 1787) is 
entirely different from Brisson’s and Seopoli’s nigricans, being in faet 
the winter plumage of C. auritus. The name given by Scopoli (L769) 
is the oldest binominal bestowed upon this species, and should be given 
precedence over all the other names, even over that of Tunstall, C. 
fluviatilis (1771), which, moreover, is a nomen nudum, and, conse- 
quently, untenable. 
The status of the present species and its subspecies is far from settled 
yet, and several names have therefore been left out ofthe above synonymy. 
Mr. Seebohm (cf. Chrysanth., 1882, Nov., p. 524) indicates several possi- 
ble subspecies, a black-bellied (not ‘‘black-billed,” as printed there) race 
from the Moluccas, another with white wing-speculum from Madagas- 
var and India, and a third one from Asia Minor, remarkable for its short 
bill. Schlegel (Mus. P. B., Urinat., p. 43) admits that this species in 
certain localities exhibits light modifications'in the colorations of the 
adults, but regards them as but little constant. His view, that they are 
“de nulle application générale, puisqwils ne sont sensibles que dans les 
adultes” is considerably at variance with ours and would lead to very 
curious Consequences. i 
