272 Transactions. —Z oology. 
yellow of the lower mandible extends quite to the tip; the general plumage 
has a redder tinge; there is no white on the neck ; and the speculum is not 
bronzy in any light. The following are the dimensions of the two speci- 
mens. A. gracilis is a male, shot on the Kaitangata Lake in May, 1877. 
The sex of Q. gibberifrons is not given :— 
Bul. Mid-toe | Hind-toe 
ERE 1 : ing. |T .| without | without 
vage T Breadth| Height | Wing- |Tarsus without wine 
Q. gibberifrons eet S15 1:45 '6 6 7 1°35 1:5 “BL 
A. gracilis .. £1 29 1:45 5 *63 9: 1°25 1:38 B 
It thus appears to me that A. gracilis is distinct from Q. gibberifrons. 
Mr. E. P. Ramsay has compared a specimen of 4. gracilis with speci- 
mens of 4. castanea, Eyton,* and finds the differences between the two to 
be very slight. A comparison of the specimens in the Otago Museum shows 
that the difference in the width of the shield is not constant, it being *4 in 
A. gracilis, and :88, and +45 in two specimens of A. castanea. The leg and 
foot, however, appear to be slightly larger in A. castanea. The nail at the 
end of the bill is also narrower in A. gracilis than in either of the others. 
It is 19 in A. gracilis ; +24 in Q. gibberifrons ; and +24, and -26 respectively, 
in the two specimens of A. castanea. These differences, even if constant, 
are not of specific value, and merely mark a geographical race ; and con- 
sequently, in my opinion, 4. gracilis should be considered a synonym of A. 
castanea. 
Arr. XXXI.—Contributions to the Entomology of New Zealand. 
By Prof. F. W. Hurron, of the Otago University. 
[Read before the Otago Institute, 14th October, 1879.| 
I have been able—thanks to the kindness of Mr. Butler, of the British 
Museum—to name more correctly our collection of Lepidoptera ; conse- 
quently I am now able to state correctly the names of some of the insects 
referred to doubtfully in that paper, and also to add descriptions of a few 
more caterpillars. 
VA FLOCCOSA, Walker (?). 
This should be D. scabra, Walker. 
* Proc. Lin. Soc. N.S. Wales, Vol. IIL, p, 38. 
