TUWNSKM) \M) WKIMOKK: Jill UlKDs. 1 S.'i 



who miuir :i «-ollf(ti(iii (if l)inl.s on ( liristiiias Island in tin- I'linniii); 

 Group in ls7l (Hnll. 7 l\ S. N. M., 1S77) did not rc<(>rd Jrrlniio- 

 rhi/nrhu.i ixirrirostris, and f'hristnias Island is two lliousand miles 

 fnun the nntrcst point at wliicli that species is known at pn-sent. 



The female shot on Whitsunday Atoll is distinctly lar^'er than the 

 spiH-imens collected l>y Pcale. The hill is longer, and the toes are 

 noticeahle for their length. As Peah-'s spe<'imens are more or less 

 stained antl yellowed there can he no direct comparison in cohtr and 

 as non(M)f his specimens have the sex indicated on the lahels it is j)rolja- 

 l)le that these tlifTerences in size may he merely sexual characters. 



It is possible that Acchtintrlujiirlui.s jKirrirostri.s is an ancient species 

 now on the verge of extinction. The Itird collect e<l on Whitsunday 

 Atoll has three white t'dgings on the scapulars of the left side, and one 

 of Peale's specimens (V. S. X. M. 15,721) possesses an extra digit with 

 two phalanges and a small claw, grow ing from the base of the second 

 j>halanx of the fourth toe on the left foot. These abnormalities may 

 mark degeneration due to inl)reeding, or declining virility in the stock. 



LARIDAE. 

 23. Angus stolidus pile.\tus (Scopoli). 



Sferna pileaia Scopoli, Deliciac florae et faunae Insubricac, 1786. pt. 2, p. 92. 

 (Philippines). 



Four specimens, all adult males, were collected as follows: — 

 Kusaie, Eastern Caroline Islands, one, S February. 1000; Funafuti. 

 Ellice Islands, one. 24 December, 1899; Makemo, 22 October, 1S99, 

 and Makatea. (i October, 1899, both in the Paumotu Islands. Mathews 

 (Birds of Australia, 1912. 2, pt. 4. p. 411) assigns the name Anoun^. 

 vnicolor (Xordmann) to birds from the Society and Paumotu Islands 

 "and other South Pacific groups." He remarks only that this pro- 

 posed form is larger than any of the others. As it is found that birds 

 from the Straits of Malacca and the China Sea are fully as large, this 

 name is rejected and the specimens are placed under A. s. pUrains 

 (Scopoli). It may be remarked also that specimens of A. s. gala- 

 pagciijti.s- Sharpe. a form distinguished by its darker coloration, have 

 the wing as long as birds from the Paumotu Islands. Measurements 

 of the specimens in the present collection are as follows : — 



