the name of Pelecanus carunculatus, distinguished, among other, things, by having red caruncles, or elevated papillæ, behind the nostrils.

Dr. Latham in his “General Synopsis of Birds,”^* (1878), using the unpublished manuscripts and drawings of the Forsters, appears to have divided this species into two, which he called the carunculated shag and the tufted shag respectively.

Subsequently (1788) Gmelin, in editing Linnæus' “Systema Natura” took these two species out of Latham and named them Pelecanus carunculatus and Pelecanus cirrata, the last being Latham's “tufted shag.” Both are said to come from New Zealand only. P. carunculatus is said to have the face naked and “carunculated red,” and to be about 20 inches in length.^dagger

P. cirratus is said to have the crown crested, the tail composed of fourteen feathers, and in length to be about 34 inches.

In 1828 Latham published his “General History of Birds,” in which he adopts Gmelin's scientific names.

Graculus carunculatus is said to be about 30 inches in length, and to have the space between the bill and the eye much carunculated, and over the eye a tubercle much larger than the rest. It is said to be rare in Queen Charlotte Sound (New Zealand) and abundant in Staaten Land. Graculus cirrhatus is said to be 34 inches in length; no caruncles are mentioned, but the skin round the eye is said to be bare. Evidently following Gmelin doubtfully, he remarks—” tail rounded and said to have fourteen feathers.” Queen Charlotte Sound is given as the only habitat.

Captain King, R.N., described in 1830 (P.Z.S., Part I., p. 30) under the name of Phalacrocorax imperialis, a shag, from the Straits of Magellan, which has the head crested. No mention is made of any caruncles, but the tail-feathers are said to be twelve in number. Brandt (Bull. Sci. Acad., Petersburg, 1837^†) not only gives all these three species, but adds another, Carbo purpurascens, from Chili and the Falkland Islands, characterised by the absence of any white on the wing-coverts.

Mr. G. Gray in the “Zoology of the Voyage of the Erebus and Terror” (1844) united Gmelin's two species under the name of G. cirrhatus, and said that G. carunculatus was the young, “wanting the crest, the long linear feathers over each eye, and the oblong spot on each wing.” He gives P. imperialis, King, as a synonym of P. cirrhatus, Gmel.

Bonaparte in his “Conspectus Generum Avium” (1857) separates cirrhatus from carunculatus, and puts them in different genera, on account of the supposed difference in the number of the tail-feathers. Hypoleucus

cirrhatus is said to come from Chili, to be 27 in. in length, and to have 14 feathers in the tail. Leucocarbo carunculatus is also said to come from Chili and the Straits of Magellan. The base of the bill is said to be carunculated, and in the breeding season the bird is said to be crested, and to have a broad band of white on the back. He gives P. imperialis, King, as a synonym of L. carunculatus. Dr. Finsch says in 1870 (Jour. für Ornith., p. 375) that he has compared a specimen of G. carunculatus, Gm. from the Crozet Islands with those from the Straits of Magellan in the Leyden Museum, and finds them to belong to the same species. Dr. Buller in his Birds of New Zealand (1878) keeps both species together and gives Carbo purpurascens, Brandt, as another synonym. In 1874 Dr. Finsch (Jour. für Ornith., p. 213) having received a specimen from the Chatham Islands, again separates P. carunculatus from P. cirrhatus, pointing out that the South American birds have the gular and chin regions totally naked, while in the Chatham Island bird there is a central feathered strip, and the sides of the head and neck are dark. He considers the Chatham Island bird to be G. carunculatus, Gmel., and the Magellan Strait bird to be G. cirrhatus, Gmel.

Mr. R. B. Sharpe, in the appendix to the Birds of the “Zoology of the ‘Erebus’ and ‘Terror”' (1875), accepts Dr. Finsch's views; but in the same year Dr. Coues (Bull. U.S. National Museum, No. 2) identifies the shag from Kerguelen's Land as G. carunculatus, although pointing out that it has no white band on the wing, and considers G. cirrhatus as a synonym. Dr. Kidder, in the same publication, remarks that in this bird the caruncles at the base of the bill are brilliant yellow.

Such, in short, is the history of the nomenclature of these birds. The first statement (Forster) was that there is one species found both in New Zealand and South America. Then (Gmelin) that there are two species, both found in New Zealand. Then (Latham) that there are two species, both found in New Zealand, and one of them (carunculatus) in South America also. Then (Gray) there is said to be only one species, inhabiting both places. Then (Bonaparte) there are said to be three species, all inhabiting South America. Then Dr. Buller again considers them all as one species, inhabiting both places. Then Dr. Finsch and Mr. Sharpe consider that there are two species—G. carunculatus, inhabiting New Zealand and the Chatham Islands, and G. cirrhatus inhabiting the Straits of Magellan and the Crozet Islands; at the same time Dr. Coues, who has probably never seen a specimen from New Zealand, thinks that there is only one species.

During a late visit to Melbourne I had, through the kindness of Prof. McCoy, the opportunity of examining a specimen in the Museum, named P. cirrhatus, from the Falkland Islands, and of comparing it with specimens

from Kerguelen's Land, the Chatham Islands, and New Zealand, in the Otago Museum, and I have no hesitation in confirming Dr. Finsch's opinion that there are two quite distinct species.

The Falkland Islands and the Kerguelen's Land birds have the gular pouch naked; the white of the throat extends over the sides of the upper part of the neck, and the caruncles at the base of the bill are large, projecting considerably above the line of the front, the two meeting, or nearly meeting, in the median line above the bill. In the Chatham Island and New Zealand birds, there is a band of white feathers along the centre of the gular pouch; the sides of the upper neck are dark, and the caruncles are reduced to small papillæ, which do not project above the line of the front, and are divided by the feathers of the front.

But, although it is easy to show that there are at least two species, it is not easy to say which name should be applied to each. Forster, no doubt, first described the New Zealand bird, and afterwards erroneously identified the South American bird with it, but it is doubtful whether he had applied the name carunculatus to the New Zealand bird before he had examined those in Terra del Fuego, and as his manuscripts were not published until 1844, it is immaterial for the present enquiry whether he did or not. Gmelin was the first to name the birds, and he gave the name carunculatus to the smaller carunculated bird without a crest, and cirrhatus to the larger and crested bird.^* Gmelin says that both birds come from New Zealand only, but he took his birds from Latham, and Latham says that cirrhatus occurs in New Zealand only, while carunculatus is rare in New Zealand, and common in South America. The smaller size, the caruncles, and the locality would all point to carunculatus as the South American bird, but, on the other hand, the New Zealand bird appears never to get a crest.

Dr. Kidder gives the length of a Kerguelen's Land bird at 23 ½ in.; the specimen in the Otago Museum is rather larger. Dr. Buller gives the length of birds from New Zealand as 32 in., and of birds from the Chatham Islands at 26 in. (Trans. N.Z. Inst., IX., p. 339). The Chatham Island birds are evidently smaller than those from New Zealand, but neither Latham, Gmelin, Brandt, nor Bonaparte had seen birds from the Chatham Islands. Brandt or Bonaparte appear to be the first to state that both species came from South America, and when Dr. Finsch had to transfer one back again to New Zealand, he took carunculatus. The evidence is, how ever, I think, in favour of the New Zealand bird being cirrhatus; and, as the Magellan Straits bird truly merits the name carunculatus, while the New Zealand bird does not, I think it would be better to change Dr. Finsch's nomenclature.

The idea that the South American bird is P. cirrhatus was probably stated by Mr. Gray, who no doubt had seen Captain King's specimens, giving P. imperialis, King, as a synonym of P. cirrhatus, Gml.; but Mr. Gray included P. carunculatus with P. cirrhatus, and Bonaparte gives imperialis as a synonym of P. carunculatus, Gml.

The synonomy will therefore be as follows:—

Phalacrocorax carunculatus.

• Carunculated Shag, Latham (1775).

• I'elecanus carunculatus, Gmelin (1778). Habitat wrong.

• Graculus carunculatus, Latham (1828).

• Phalacrocorax imperialis, King (1830).

• Carbo carunculatus, Brandt (1837).

• Carbo purpurascens, Brandt (1837).

• Leucocarbo carunculatus, Bonaparte (1857).

• Leucocarbo purpurascens, Bonaparte (1857).

• Graculus carunculatus, Finsch (1870).

• Graculus carunculatus, Hutton (Cat. Birds of New Zealand, 1872, ex Layard) Hab. wrong.

• Graculus cirrhatus, Finsch (1874).

• Graculus carunculatus, Coues (1875).

Hab.: Straits of Magellan, Falkland Islands, Crozet Islands, Kerguelen's Land.

Phalacrocorax cirrhatus

• Tufted Shag, Latham (1775).

• Pelecanus cirrhatus, Gmelin (1778).

• Graculus cirrhatus, Latham (1828).

• Carbo cirrhatus, Brandt (1837).

• Graculus cirrhatus, Gray (1844).

• Hypoleucus cirrhatus, Bonaparte (1857). Habitat wrong.

• Phalacrocorax carunculatus, Buller (1873).

• Graculus carunculatus, Finsch (1874).

• Graculus carunculatus, Sharpe (1875).

Hab.: New Zealand and the Chatham Islands.

The next question is, are there more than two species? The Kerguelen's Land birds differ from those of South America in having no white bar on the wing, and in the caruncle being yellow instead of crimson. If constant these differences are sufficient to distinguish the Kerguelen's Land species, to which the name of P. purpurascens, Brandt, should be applied, unless that is only the immature P. carunculatus, which is most likely.

Dr. Buller has also suggested (Trans. N.Z. Inst. IX., p. 338) that P. cirrhatus may possibly include two species, the birds of the Chatham Islands being distinguished from those of New Zealand by being smaller and crested, and he formerly proposed to call the New Zealand bird P. finschi, but found that that name had been appropriated by Mr. Sharpe.