N0VITATE3 ZOOLOGICAB XXIII. 191G. 85 



" Columba nigricans — corpore supra cnm nropygio ardesiaco-nigricante, sed 

 dorso inferiore, tectricibus alarum majoribus snmrno apice, rectricibus extimis 

 pogonio exteruo dimidio basali dilute coernlescente-canis ; rostro nigricante ; alis 

 220 millim. longis ; abundat in rupibas prope Tunzsanzsy, Vei-tschan." 



This appears to be a totally distinct species, hitherto unknown. There is 

 nothing in it which suggests to me that it could be a feral variety, though this 

 suspicion easily arises with new species of the genus Columba from palaearctic 

 countries. 



IV. ON THE RACES OF THE "SNOW PIGEON" 



In looking over the series of Columba leuconota in the Tri tig and British 

 Museums it occurs at once that the examples from West China are lighter, paler 

 on the npperside, than those from the Western Himalaya. In measuring them 

 they also appear to be larger, certainly reaching larger dimensions than the latter, 

 though they overlap. 



I propose to name the birds from Szetschwan 



Columba leuconota gradaria subsp. nov. 



Head not as dark as in C. I. leuconota, more slate-grey, mantle paler and more 

 greyish, upper wing-coverts lighter. Wings 239-262, as against 230-245 mm. in 

 birds from the Western Himalaya. Type in the Tring Museum, c? ad. Sungpan, 

 Sue-chan in Szetschwan, China, 6. iv. 1894, Berezowski coll. 



The distribution of this race appears to be West-China (Szetschwan, Kasun) 

 and Tibet as far west at least as the highlands north of Sikkini. While specimens 

 from Darjiling and Lachang in Sikkim (9000 ft.) still belong to the dark form, those 

 from Gnatong (12,400 ft.) and Gyantse belong to the eastern paler one. Those 

 from " Native Sikkim " in the British Museum are partially intermediate between 

 the two races. Unfortunately the exact localities and altitudes of these birds are 

 unknown, as they were collected by the late Mandelli's Lepchas in that part of 

 Sikkim which was beyond British territory, in Tibet. 



V. THE LAUREL-PIGEONS OF THE CANARY ISLANDS 



The first notice of the existence of any of these Pigeons is in the interesting 

 work by Ledru entitled " Voyage aux lies de Teneriffe, La Trinite, Saint-Thomas, 

 Sainte-Croix et Porto-Ricco,'" where we find iu vol. i. pp. 177-185 the first list 

 of birds supposed to occnr on Teneriffe. There is mentioned (p. 184) " Un pigeon 

 rainier moins gros que celni d'Europe. Bee rouge, dessus et cöte du cou bronzes." 

 An asterisk denotes that a specimen was brought to the galleries of the Natural 

 History Museum in Paris. No doubt this short description refers to Columba 

 bollii. 



The next notice is that of Messrs. Webb, Berthelot and Moqnin-Tandou on 

 p. 26 of the " Ornithologie Canarienne " in the Histoire Naturelle des lies Canaries. 

 Here the name Columba laurivora occurs for the first time. It has universally 

 been adopted for the species with the whitish tip (not subterminal bar) to the tail, 

 which inhabits the islands of Palma and Gornera. Unfortunately this is impossible 

 to accept, for the following reasons : 



Under the name Columba laurivora the authors describe the male of the 



-f 



