584< Messrs. Robinson and Kloss on recently [Ibis, 



the disposal of a liome zoologist, who is therefore forced 

 to cite, sometimes erroneously, the names of mere hamlets 

 not tound on any other than a large-scale topographical map 

 and probably applying to several different places. In some 

 instances, through this cause, the ascribed locality is totally 

 erroneous. 



In the ciise of races from the kingdom of Siam this 

 procedure is peculiarly undesirable and misleading, as Siam 

 is not a distinct zoological province, the fauna of the penin- 

 sular portion of it ])eing purely Malayan, while that of the 

 north is almost identical with that of the Shan States and 

 that of the central area with Tenasserim. 



Another practice that is becoming increasingly common 

 is the omission of precise differential characters. A race is 

 often described as larger or smaller than that with which 

 it is compared, and dimensions are, of course, usually given. 

 But the dimensions of the compared fOrm are almost 

 invariably omitted. 



It is rare, moreover, for the describer to state of what 

 number of specimens his series consists and with how many 

 specimens of the allied form he has compared it. These 

 details, in the present days of minute differentiation, are 

 important as enabling other workers, to whom the type- 

 series is not available, to judge of the degree of distinctness 

 of the proposed new form. 



We are all strong on " standardization " nowadays, and 

 it would be well if ornithologists would imitate the methods 

 of some of their co-workers in mammals and minutely 

 specify all the details to which we have alluded. 



"r Eupetes macrocercus griseiventris. 



Stuart Baker, Bull. B. O. C. xxxviii. 1917, p. 8. 



This race, founded on three specimens from " Tang, Song 

 Paa, Siam," lege Tung Song Paa, peninsular Siam, cannot 

 possibly be maintained. "Paa"' is merely Siamese for 

 jungle, and the place in question is a railway junction in 

 the state of Nakon Sritamarat, about Lat. 8'^ N. 



