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 specimens. A. gracilis is a male, shot on the Kaitangata Lake in May, 1877. The sex of Q. gibberifrons is not given:— Bill. — Head. Culmen. Breadth at base. Height at base. Wing. Tarsus. Mid-toe without claw. Hind-toe without claw. Q. gibberifrons 2·15 1·45 ·6 ·6 7· 1·35 1·5 ·31 A. gracilis 2·2 1·45 ·5 ·63 9· 1·25 1·38 ·3 It thus appears to me that A. gracilis is distinct from Q. gibberifrons. Mr. E. P. Ramsay has compared a specimen of A. gracilis with specimens of A. castanea, Eyton,* Proc. Lin. Soc. N.S. Wales, Vol. III., p, 38. 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 ·38, 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 in 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 consequently, in my opinion, A. gracilis should be considered a synonym of A. castanea.

Art. XXXI.—Contributions to the Entomology of New Zealand. By Prof. F. W. Hutton, of the Otago University. [Read before the Otago Institute, 14th October, 1879.] In the Ninth Volume of the Transactions of the New Zealand Institute, I described the caterpillars of a few of our butterflies and moths. Since then I have been able—thanks to the kindness of Mr. Butler, of the British Museum—to name more correctly our collection of Lepidoptera; consequently 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.