136 NOTES. 



(for I canuot find out the dates on which the committee's pro- 

 ceedings were actually published) that Grould's plate may have 

 appeared first, but even then the advertisement of Gould's book 

 distinctly states that the nomenclature and letter press are by 

 Vigors. 



I have satisfied myself that the black Turdulus, for which 

 {ante p. 63) I proposed, if really new, the name of T. Davisoni, 

 can be nothing" more than an extremely old T. sibericus, Pall. 



I have never however seen or read of any specimen, either 

 so dark in colour or with so little white about it. 



The most mature specimens I have seen, resembled the figure 

 of the old adult in Naumanns Vog. Deutschl, (Suppl. XIII. 

 t. 363) in which the body is very blue, and the whole centre 

 of the abdomen, vent, and almost the whole visible portions of 

 the lower tail-coverts, aud broad tips to the outer lateral tail- 

 feathers were white. 



I did not therefore recognize this bird, which is almost black ; 

 has no white on the abdomen, has not even according to Pallas 

 " crissum albovarium" but has only narrow white tippings to 

 the lower tail-coverts and outer lateral tail-feathers. The bird 

 looks quite different, but there is the characteristic white bar 

 on the under surftice of the wing and the white axillaries, and 

 comparison satisfies me that the birds are the same. 



Ramsay got this in Karenuee, and now we get it at Mooleyit 

 and it probably extends during the cold season (our bird was 

 killed on the 15th February) the whole way down the back 

 bone ridge of the Malay peninsular, just as it does to China 

 and Japan. 



I should be very glad to understand how Pomatorhhms 

 maria, Wald. (A. and M. N. H. June, 1875 ; S. P. III., 

 404) differs from P. albogularis, Bly. (J. A. S. B. XXIV., 

 274, 1855). 



To my idea they must be identical. 



I can discover no essential difference so far as descriptions 

 go. I have numerous specimens from the locality whence 

 Blyth's type came, and these answer perfectly to Blyth's indi- 

 cations and to Lord Walden's more elaborate description. Lord 

 Walden described a female, — wing, about 35 ; Blyth, a male of 

 which the wings run from 3"8 to 39. 



So few birds, comparatively speaking, are named after ladies, 

 that one grudges the loss of even one of these delicate tributes 

 of affection, but still I much fear that Maria's Pomatorliinus 

 must disappear into the shadow-realms of synonyms. 



