Mr. H. Seebolim on the Ornithologg of Siberia^ 349 
p. 177), are M. hodgsoni, Middendorff^s skins of M. lugens 
in the St.-Petersburg Museum are M. ocularis. In the same 
museum there is, however, a fine series of skins of the true 
M. lugens from Kamtchatka, 
The synonymy of this bird, simple as it appears, is most 
bewildering. We have the authority of Mr. Hume (^Stray 
Feathers/ v. p. 434) for the assertion that, in the opinion of 
Professor Alfred Newton, nomenclature bears the same re¬ 
lation to real natural history that rat-hunting does to real 
sport.^^ Be this as it may, I do not know any one fonder of 
a rat-hunt of this kind than Professor Newton. In his 
article on the Pied Wagtail, in his new edition of YarrelPs 
^ British Birds,^ we have an excellent resume of a day’s rat- 
hunting.’^ The first rat he starts is Motacilla lugubris, Pallas, 
and after running it through the fourth and third parts of 
Temminck’s ^Manual of Ornithology,’ he finally loses the 
scent in the first part in 1820 (ed. 2, p. 253). The descrip¬ 
tion here given being that of a bird which, in Professor 
Newton’s opinion, is unquestionably identical ” with the 
British Pied Wagtail, that bird becomes M. lugubris, Pallas, 
apud Temminck; and since there is no evidence that Pallas 
ever gave the name of M. lugubris to any Wagtail, our British 
bird becomes M. lugubris, Temminck. The next rat ” that 
Professor Newton starts is M. lugens, Illig. This, he tells us 
in a footnote {loc. cit.), he chased as far back as 1850, where 
he suddenly lost the scent in the Fauna Japonica.’ I must 
confess that my attempts to run down this animal have been 
still less successful. I started it in Gustalet’s Oiseaux de la 
Chine ’ (p. 300), where I was at once tripped up by two errors 
F. Jap. Aves, 25,” should read F. Jap. Aves, p. 60, pi. 25 
and Swinh. (1860) 357,’^ should read Swinh. Ibis, I860, 
p. 357 ”). I picked up the scent again in the P. Z. S. 1870, 
p. 130, and stumbled on two more errors P. Z. S. 1863, 
p. 17,” ought to be ^^P. Z. S. 1863, p. 275,” and ^Mbis, 1863, 
p. 85,” ought to be ^Hbis, 1863, p. 309 ”). Becovering myself, 
I pursued the trail through Schrenck’s ^ Amur-Lande,’ 1860, 
with only a slight mishap (the page in Pall. Zoogr. Bosso- 
Asiat. i. intended to be referred to is 507, not 307), and I 
