548 Notices and Descriptions of various new [No. 164. 



Acanthylis caudacuta (v. australis), p. 211 and note, ante, would 

 seem identical with the Himalayan species, only the middle of the back 

 is represented scarcely whitish enough, and the Australian bird is 

 figured to have a white mark above the bill, which does not exist in 

 the Society's Himalayan specimens : but as the nearly allied Ac. 

 gigantea varies in this respect, as shewn by specimens in the Society's 

 museum, it is evident that no importance can be attached to this slight 

 difference.* 



Cypselus pacificus, (Lath., v. australis, Gould,) p. 212 ante, from 

 Penang, accords minutely with Mr. Gould's figure of an Australian 

 specimen (except that the chin is not so purely white), and it may 

 therefore be considered as rightly determined. 



The Totanus glottoides, Vigors, is still regarded by Mr. Gould as 

 distinct from T. glottis, and is figured by him as Australian : so also 

 is Coturnix chinensis, which is common in parts of India, and seems 

 to be found through all the intervening countries into Australia ; and 

 Mr. Gould admits it doubtfully into his Australian genus Synoicus. 

 To Hiaticula nigrifrons, (Cuv.), v. melanops, (Vieillot), must be refer- 

 red the Charadrius russatus of Jerdon. Hcematopus longirostris of 



ternon quite Cypseline, but he has distinctly represented ten tail-feathers, of very Cyp- 

 seline character: whereas all the species of the Swallow group have invariably twelve 

 tail-feathers. 



Hirundo neoxena Mr. Gray identifies with H. javanica of Vigors and Horsfield, 

 referring them both to H. pacifica of Latham ; and H. domicola, Jerdon, will come 

 in as another synonyme : but H. jewan of Sykes is considered by him to be the true 

 H. javanica of Sparrman, though I suspect its true name will be H. gutturalis, Scop., 

 v. panayana, Lath. ; an identification I owe to Prof. Behn. Mr. Gray agrees with 

 me (1 may even say as a matter of course) in referring Mr. Gould's two supposed 

 species of Collocalia to true Hirundo. 



Of Collocalia, Mr. Gray enumerates four species, viz. C. esculenta, (Lin.) C. 

 nidifica, (Lath.), C. fuciphaga, (Thunb.), and C. troglodytes, G. Ii. Gray, which 

 last he has figured. The Nicobar species which I referred to C. esculenta, appears to 

 be the fuciphaga of Dr. Horsfield's list, but not of Shaw ; the latter approaches much 

 nearer to ft concolor, (Jerdon), which last will, I suspect, bear the prior name of 

 brevirostris, McClelland, P. Z. S. 1839, p. 155. The Nicobar species (true fuci- 

 phaga?) is of the same size as C troglodytes figured by Mr. G. R. Gray, but has a 

 much larger head than is represented in that figure (doubtless incorrectly), and its 

 upper-parts are dusky-black, slightly glossed with green and purple, the lower 

 brownish with white abdomen. The name fuciphaga is, of course, an absurdity: and 

 on perusal of my remarks on the composition of the edible nests (p. 210, ante), our 

 contributor Mr. Laidley remarked "to me, that he had arrived at the same result from 

 chemical analysis, which shewed the constituent elements to be those of inspissated 

 saliva. — The Society has just received the Nicobar species from Java. 



* Ac. caudacuta of Australia, and Ac. nudipes of the Himalaya, are enumerated 

 as separate species by Mr. G. Li. Gray. 



