Letters, Announcements, ^c. 121 



number of 'The Ibis' (1882, pp. 431-436), though it does 

 not add any new species to the Chinese list, is an interesting 

 contribution to the geographical distribution of birds in China. 

 It is, however, a pity that a collection of birds from a country 

 of which much must necessarily remain unknown, in spite of 

 of the researches of Swinhoe and Pere David, should not 

 have been submitted to a competent ornithologist for identi- 

 fication before the list was published. The three examples 

 alledged to be Monticola saxatilis are undoubtedly Monticola 

 cy anus- solit aria ; and the specimen ofLarus occidentalis is, no 

 doubt, Larus cachinnans, of which L. leucophaus is a synonym, 

 and which is by no means out of its range in the interior of 

 China. If the colour of the mantle is really the same as 

 that of L. argentatus, which is difficult of belief, it would be 

 a very extraordinary fact. L. occidentalis is almost as dark 

 as L. fuscus, and also resembles that bird in the pattern of 

 its primaries ; but I am not aware that it has ever occurred 

 in the eastern hemisphere. 



Yours &c., 



Henry Seebohm. 



22 Courtfield Gardens, S.W. 

 OctoLer 10th, 1882. 



22 Courtfield Gardens, Cromwell Road, 

 December 8, 1882. 



Sirs, — There is an old proverb which says that " prevention 

 is better than cure.'' In the fifth volume of the ' Catalogue 

 of Birds in the British Museum ' I have done my best to cure 

 some of the confusion caused by the ill-judged attempts of 

 Messrs. Newton, Sharpe, and Dresser to carry out the Strick- 

 landian code regardless of consequences. The object of the 

 present letter is to try to prevent further confusion by 

 pointing out a few of the rocks ahead on which these gentle- 

 men must rush if they persist in their present course. 



Whatever differences of opinion may exist as to the genus 

 in which the Rough-legged Buzzard ought to be placed, all 

 ornithologists agree that the specific name must be lagopus. 

 This name cannot, however, stand according to the Strick- 

 landian code. Messrs. Newton, Dresser, and Sharpe all refer 



