88 NOVITATES ZOOLOQICAB XXIII. 1916. 



oat value, because Herr Peters was not able to name the pigeon which he had 

 shot and lost on Curacao. It is, of course, quite possible that Columba gpnnoph- 

 thalma occurs in Northern Venezuela, especially since it has been obtained on the 

 island of Margarita by Mr. Wirt Robinson, but as yet it has never been proved 

 to be found on the mainland. 



This is another weighty reason for the rejection of the name " corensis" and 

 it is doubtless possible that Jacquin's corensis is an unknown pigeon still waiting 

 for rediscovery. Koro is close to the peninsula of Paraguana, the fauna of which 

 is so far unknown. Connected as Paraguana is with the continent by a very 

 narrow land-bridge, its ornis may have many peculiarities, and among them the 

 doubtful Columba corensis. 



Moreover, Count Salvadori {Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xx. p. 269) did not suggest 

 that Columba corensis was the proper name of C. gymnophthalma, but showed 

 clearly that he considered it undefinable, as he quoted it with a query. 



Reverting again to the List of the Birds of South America, we must thus 

 object to the distribution of the Pigeon in question, given as "Venezuela," and 

 which should be : Aruba, Curacao, Bonaire, and Margarita Islands. The name, 

 as I have explained, must be Columba gymnophthalma, and instead of the English 

 name " Bare-faced Pigeon," the name " Curacao Pigeon " would be preferable, 

 because there are other bare-faced pigeons in existence. 



The plate (14) by Mr. Grönvold cannot pass without some criticism. The 

 bare space round the eyes is painted blue, though I have (Ibis 1893, p. 323) care- 

 fully described it as a " large granulated naked space of a dark reddish-brown 

 colonr, somewhat like an over-ripe strawberry " ; the bill is coloured bright yellow, 

 but in life it is " of a whitish flesh-colour," while the iris is deep orange-brown 

 (not red), surrounded by a smooth bare ring of a bluish-grey colour. The colouring 

 of the plumage is of course rendered very well, but the tail looks too short in 

 the front figure, though fully long enough in the flying bird on the left. 



