Vol. xxxiii.] 40 



distinct forms being found on very small islands. The tiny 

 islet known as Stephen Island, Cook Strait, New Zealand, was 

 inhabited by a different Rock Wren (Traversia) from that 

 found on the main islands of New Zealand. 



Dr. P. R. Lowe sent for exhibition an example of the 

 Grey Phalarope {Crymophilus fulicarius) and forwarded the 

 following notes : — 



"This specimen of the Grey Phalarope flew on board the 

 yacht 'Sapphire/ R.Y.S., 200 miles to the north of the Cape 

 Verde Islands, while we were on a passage from St. Vincent 

 to the Canaries, homeward bound from the West Indies ; 

 the exact position being Lat. 21*11 N. Long. 22*55 W., and 

 the date being the 4th of April, 1905. 



" I think it is worth recording ; firstly, because so little 

 is actually known in regard to the migrations of the 

 Phalaropes, and secondly, because as far as I can discover 

 this is only the second record of a Phalarope having been 

 taken on the West Coast of Africa. 



" The first record was reported by Mr. C. Chubb in an 

 appendix to Sir Harry Johnston's book on 'Liberia,' vol. ii. 

 p. 790. This bird is now in the British Museum collection, 

 and is labelled ' Crymophilus fulicarius No. 31. $ . ad. 

 E. Liberia (J. Maitland Pye Smith) 23. iii. 1905.' 



"Neither Shelley, ( Birds of Africa/ nor Dr. Reichenow, 

 ' Vogel Afrikas/ record the Grey Phalarope in their 

 respective books. Boyd Alexander did not find it in the 

 Cape Verde Islands, nor does he mention having seen it in 

 Fernando Po. The bird has, however, been recorded by 

 Irby, ' Ornithology of Straits of Gibraltar/ as having oc- 

 curred two or three times near Tangier in N.E. Africa. 

 Mr. Godman, ' Birds of Azores/ makes no mention of it, 

 and Mr. Ogilvie-Grant did not meet with it in those islands, 

 although he records a specimen taken on^St. Michaels and 

 preserved in the Pouta Delgada Museum, and was informed 

 by Major Chaves that it is a rare straggler to the group 

 (cf. Nov. Zool. 1905, p. 107). 



" As regards the Canary Islands I have looked in vain for 

 any reference to the bird in the papers by Mr. Meade-Waldo 



