on the Sexes of Liothrix lutea.



135



reach us through the Japanese market, and thus have given rise to

the trivial name of “ Japanese Robin. - ’"'


I asked Mr. Silver to try to discover the origin of the con¬

signment in which my bird arrived, and he writes :—‘ I am sorry to

say that I cannot get reliable particulars concerning the batch of

Hill Tits, in which came our birds.”


“Clarke, of Sydenham, selected them from a June consign¬

ment at Luer’s, of Walworth : I telephoned young Luer this evening

and he said they were all a Marseilles lot, but could not, of course,

say more about them. He promised me that if he can get any

further information from his Continental dealer, he will advise me

later.”


Thus, for the present at any rate, we can get no nearer to the

origin of this interesting form.


Since, according to Darwin, common and widely-distributed

species vary most, it should surprise nobody to find, not two only,

but many local races, of the Red-billed Hill-Tit.


In conclusion, as one who, through over-zeal was tempted to

give a distinctive name to this Hill-Tit, let me caution my brother

aviculturists not to attempt to risk adding to the synonymy of

ornithological literature by naming and describing living birds. No

bird is reliable until it is dead, its plumage may change more or less

at any moult. In 1907 I described and figured what I believed, and

still believe, to be the insular form of Icterus vulgaris , chiefly relying

upon its pale colouring, as Ridg'way did in the case of I. xanthornus

curasoensis, but, at its next moult it assumed the deeper colouring of

the typical Venezuelan form and recently even the naked blue triangle

behind the eye has partly extended above and below that organ ;

nevertheless the more slender build, the pure white wing-belt and

the considerably more varied song remain constant, t


The describer of skins may separate the adult and young of

the same bird as distinct species and has done so, but he is saved

the shock of seeing his work tumble to pieces in a few weeks ; on the

contrary his supposed new species may be accepted for years, and


* I suspect that the illustration in Bird Notes , Jan. 1907 ,was taken from a

Chinese bird.


f The pale yellow colouring in Icterus appears to be merely a sign of youth.



