Mr. E. Hargitt on the Genua Geclims. 157 



he takes to be the young of G. squamatus . Judging from 

 Herr Pelzehi^s description, the specimens agree with what 

 I also take to be the young of this species. One would think 

 that Hodgson must have been well acquainted with the full- 

 plumaged G. squamatus, and if so, it is a matter of surprise 

 that he did not designate iiis figures as those of the young, 

 and it is to be regretted that the specimens figured are not 

 in the British Museum collection. I have not seen a single 

 Nepalese example of t!ie present species, and as it was not 

 obtained by Dr. Scully, it is probably rare in that country. 

 Under the titleof Gecinus Jlavirostris , Dr. Menzbier (Bull. Nat. 

 Mosc. 1886, pt. i. p. 440) has described a Woodpecker from 

 the Murgab river, of which tlie following is the diagnosis : — 

 ^' ^ . Gecino virldi similis, sed rostro flavo; stria superciliari 

 lata alba, supra nigro marginata; vitta mystacali nigra, albo- 

 varia ; abdomine virescenti, fu^co striato. Habitat ad fl. 

 Murgab.^' Judging from the above diagnosis of the bird, 

 and from its having baen compared, in the first instance, 

 with G. viridis, and not with G squamatus, its nearer ally, 

 I fail to see in what respect it differs from the latter species. 

 Dr. Menzbier makes no mention of i\\e jjale green colour of 

 Iiis bird, nor of the darker green barring on the wing-coverts 

 possessed by G. gorii, and he distinctly states, in the German 

 description of the species, that the feathers of the underparts 

 have black central stripes, which do not occur in G. goi'ii. 

 I therefore see no reason for concluding that our birds are 

 identical. Since the pu])lication of Dr. Menzbier 's paper in 

 1886, this author has stated in 'The Ibis ' for 1887, p. 301, 

 that he has received the typical specimens of his G. fiaiiros- 

 tris, and that he has seen ray description of G. gorii, and has 

 pronounced both birds to belong to the same species. In 

 the latter paper in ' The Ibis,'' Dr. Menzbier tells us that, 

 while writing, he has before him a specimen of G. squamatus 

 for comparison, and it is to be regretted that he has not 

 pointed out the differences between it and his new species, 

 which he says are nearly allied. Dr. INIenzbier considers 

 that my name of G. gorii must rank as a synonym of tlie 

 species originally described by him as G. flavirostris, but 



