﻿258 
  Bulletin 
  of 
  the 
  British 
  

  

  The 
  specimens 
  had 
  been 
  procured 
  near 
  Tozari 
  in 
  East 
  Java, 
  

   7000 
  feet 
  above 
  sea-level, 
  in 
  August 
  and 
  September 
  1886, 
  by 
  

   Mr. 
  John 
  Whitehead. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Seebohm 
  also 
  made 
  some 
  critical 
  remarks 
  on 
  a 
  recent 
  

   paper 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Bvittikofer 
  on 
  the 
  same 
  group 
  of 
  Thrushes 
  

   (Notes 
  Leyd. 
  Mus. 
  xv. 
  p. 
  109), 
  and 
  exhibited 
  the 
  type 
  

   specimen 
  of 
  Merula 
  papuensis 
  of 
  De 
  Vis, 
  which 
  had 
  been 
  

   lent 
  to 
  him 
  by 
  the 
  describer 
  for 
  illustration 
  in 
  his 
  forth- 
  

   coming 
  ' 
  Monograph 
  of 
  the 
  Turdidoe.' 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Seebohm 
  next 
  exhibited 
  and 
  made 
  remarks 
  upon 
  a 
  

   specimen 
  of 
  a 
  new 
  species 
  of 
  Zosterops 
  from 
  East 
  Java, 
  

   procured 
  by 
  INIr. 
  John 
  Whitehead 
  in 
  1886. 
  This 
  species 
  he 
  

   proposed 
  to 
  call 
  

  

  Zosterops 
  neglecta, 
  sp. 
  n. 
  

   Similis 
  Z. 
  palpebrosa, 
  sed 
  magis 
  olivasccns, 
  et 
  macula 
  ante- 
  

   oculari 
  obscuriore 
  distinguenda. 
  

  

  This 
  made 
  the 
  sixth 
  species 
  of 
  Zosterops 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  

   island 
  of 
  Java. 
  

  

  Dr. 
  BowDLER 
  Shakpe 
  read 
  a 
  paper 
  on 
  the 
  Classification 
  

   of 
  the 
  RaUidce. 
  He 
  pointed 
  out 
  that 
  the 
  popular 
  division 
  

   of 
  the 
  family 
  into 
  Rails, 
  Gallinules, 
  and 
  Coots 
  was 
  an 
  un- 
  

   tenable 
  one, 
  the 
  Coots 
  alone 
  having 
  definite 
  characters 
  for 
  

   their 
  separation 
  as 
  a 
  subfamily, 
  and 
  that 
  even 
  these 
  characters 
  

   were 
  approached 
  by 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  Gallinules. 
  It 
  seemed, 
  

   therefore, 
  best 
  to 
  keep 
  the 
  whole 
  of 
  the 
  Rails 
  together 
  as 
  a 
  

   family, 
  and 
  not 
  to 
  recognize 
  minor 
  divisions 
  such 
  as 
  those 
  

   specified. 
  The 
  gradual 
  transition 
  from 
  typical 
  Rails 
  to 
  

   Crakes 
  (e. 
  g. 
  Eidabeornis 
  — 
  Rallina), 
  and 
  from 
  Crakes 
  to 
  

   Gallinules 
  {Limnobanus 
  and 
  Amaurornis 
  to 
  Gallinula), 
  was 
  so 
  

   marked 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  impossible 
  to 
  say 
  where 
  the 
  Rails 
  ended 
  

   and 
  the 
  Crakes 
  began, 
  or 
  where 
  the 
  Crakes 
  ended 
  and 
  the 
  

   Gallinules 
  began. 
  

  

  According 
  to 
  Dr. 
  Sharpe's 
  views, 
  the 
  Rails 
  were 
  an 
  ancient 
  

   group 
  of 
  birds, 
  which 
  were 
  once 
  more 
  numerously 
  distri- 
  

   buted, 
  especially 
  in 
  the 
  southern 
  hemisphere. 
  Many 
  of 
  the 
  

   surviving 
  representatives 
  of 
  the 
  family, 
  from 
  their 
  isolation 
  

  

  