272 



Transactioiis.- — Zoology. 



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. gihberifrons is not given : — 





Head. 



BiU. 



Wing. 



Tarsus. 



Mid-toe 



■without 



claw. 



Hind-toe 





Culmen. 



Breadth 

 at base. 



Height 

 at base. 



without 

 claw. 



Q, gibberifrons 



A . gracilis .. 



2-15 

 2-2 



1-45 

 1-45 



•6 

 •5 



•6 

 •63 



7- 

 9- 



1-35 

 1-25 



1-5 

 1-38 



•31 

 •3 



I It thus appears to me that A. giacilis is distinct from Q. gibberifrons. 



Mr. E. P. Eamsay has compared a specimen of A. gracilis with speci- 

 mens of A. 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 •SS, 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 m 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, A. gracilis should be considered a synonym of A. 

 castanea. 



Art. XXXI. — Contributioits to the Entomology of Neiv Zealand. 

 By Prof. F. W. Hutton, of the Otago University. 



[Read before the Otago Institute, lith October, 1879.J 



In the Ninth Volume of the Transactions of the New Zealand Institute, I 

 described the caterpillars of a few of our butterflies and moths. Smce then 

 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. 

 Declava floccosa, Walker (?). 



This should be D. scabra, Walker. 



• Proc. Lin. Soc. N.S. Wales, Vol. in., p, 38. 



