No. 2. — Sonic Critical Xotcn on Birds. 

 By OiTKAM Bangs and Thomas E. Penard. 



For some time past we have been working together on the Lafres- 

 naye Collection of birds which a few years ago the Boston Society 

 of Natural History most generously and wisely ga\'e to the Museum 

 of Comparative Zoology. 



We intend later to publish an account of the collection, ita types, 

 a sketch of Lafresnaye's life, a list of his published papers, etc., etc. 

 Of this we have already done much. 



In the meantime we publish the following rather random notes — 

 mostly changes in names antl descriptions of new forms, noticed 

 while identifying the Lafresnaye tx-pes. 



We are much indebted to Dr. C. W. Richmond for his valuable 

 opinion, always cheerfully given, on many points of in\-olved nomen- 

 clature in connection with our study of the Lafresnaye Collection, 

 and to the authorities of the U. S. National Museum, the American 

 Museum of Natural History, and the Field ^Museum of Natural 

 History for the loan of specimens. 



Pterodroma haesitata CKuhl). 



Procellaria haesitata Kuhl, Beitr. zool., 1820, p. 142 ("Mers de 

 I'Inde"). 



Procellaria diaholica Lafresnaye, Rev. zool., 1844, p. 168 (Guade- 

 loupe). 



Cotype. — M. C. Z. 73,221, Lafr. coll. 8,000. 



Cotype.—:SL C. Z. 73,222, Lafr. coll. 8.002. 



Procellaria meridionalis Lawrence, Ann. Lye. nat. hist. N. Y., 1848, 

 4, p. 475. 



There were originally three cotypes in the Lafresnaye Collection. 

 One of these, 8,001, was exchanged in 1886 with Prof. Alfred Newton. 

 The original labels of all three specimens are now missing. 



Noble (Bull. M. C. Z., 1916, 60, p. 370) discusses this species at 

 length, and gives measurements of A. diabolica and of some specimens 

 which he considers different, and to which he applies the name Aestre- 

 lata haesitata (Kuhl). He assmnes quite correctly that the larger 



