G26 iJiiiDs vnoM T(>kv(), .iapax — stejneger. 



speciiiH'ii ill (iiicstioii was shot in -laimaiy there is every icason to su))- 

 poscthatit only \isits the eoun-liy diiriiiu- iiiiji^ration. I would thou 

 su.Q'i^cst the i)ossil)ility that this li.i;ht-i;iay lorni may be the birdbrecd- 

 inj;- iu Ivaiiitsehatka, wliei(> we know that the i)la('0 of Accipilcr p<i- 

 lumbarius is tak<Mi by the nearly Avliite A. candidiNNinius, True, the 

 Kanitseliatkau birds are said by Tac/auowski to be sinular to those 

 from Eurojie (I>ull. Soe. Zool., P'ranee, ISS.'?, p. ;>32), but this ideutili- 

 catiou cau hardly be consideiiMJ eonelusive, as in the same l)i'eath he 

 determined the A. C(ni<li(li,s,shnuN in^ A. ((fricdpilhis. It is more than 

 likely that yonnji'ei' birds of A. ixUlcns and olM. iiisns may be dillicult 

 to identify, except by the most minute eomi)arison, and it is not likely 

 that the difference would reveal itself unless he had old birds of both 

 species before him. 



Since the above was writtx'ii the lirst volume of Dr. Taczanowski's 

 •|)Osthumous work " Fauue Ornithoh),iiique de la Siberie Orientale," has 

 beeu received, and to my delight 1 find my views strongly corroborated 

 ou )). 107, where he describes "uu mfile adulte du Kamtschatka /" as 

 having "le eendre bleuatre des i>arties sui>erieures du corps beaucoup 

 plus dair quo dans les oiscaux de la Sibihie orientale et de TEuropc 

 ceutrale avee les(puMs uous Tavoiis compare, la couleur dii sommet de 

 la tete, qui est plus fonct'-e (pie sur le reste. est beaucoup iiioins foncee 

 que celU^ de la region interscapiilaire des oiscaux cites, le eendre 

 bleuatre est le jilus clair sur les scapiiiaires posti'iicurs, les remiges 

 tcrtiaires, le croupion et sur la (pieiie, les baguettes noires sontpartout 



bien dessinees la bordure terminalc des rectrices largement 



blanche;' 



Syriiiuin malense (I'liilas). 



A specimen fioiii I ianno, ])i()vinee of Musashi (November 10, 188.'i), kSc. 

 ( -oil. Mus., No. (IliO, brings up the old (piestion as to the status of this 

 lorm in Japan. Four s[)eciinens from Yezo, one colhicted by IJlakistou 

 ami three by Uensoii, are apparently true aS'. nmlcnsc. I say appar- 

 ently, because I have ai siisjiicion that tliCflapanese biids are very much 

 smaller than the continental — especially I'iUropean — s])ecimens, but as 

 1 am somewhat doubtful in regard to the sexiiig of the specimens 

 .before me I do not venture to separate them. 



Two si)ecimens from Hondo, including tlM> ])reseiit six'cimen, are i)er- 

 ceptibly darker than the Yezo birds, so miicli s(» in fact, that 1 am iii- 

 .clined to regard th(?m as a separable race. However, they are much 

 jiearer to the nortiieru than to the dark one from Nagasaki. 



Against the acceptance of three forms, vi/, (1) a S. fiificcsccii.^ from 

 Kiu-Siu, (2) the very light true «S'. i(r«lciisc from ^■«•/^), and (•'>) a darker 

 race of the latter possil)]y entith'd to a trinominal appcllatitui from 

 lIond(», there is only the dark specimen, in the Prycr collecti«)n, said 

 to come fiom Vokoliama. Tiiis occurrence seems so im]U'obable that 

 1 wish to cliallenge the accuracy of the label, a challenge the move 

 justiljabh'- as 1 have most direct information to the elVect that Mr. 



