1956 SHORT COMMUNlCATIONS 537

CUCULUS SATURATUS Blyth. We can trace only seven specimens from the Bornean Province in the last

130 years, including two from Sarawak. The Loke-Harrison collection adds another five specimens from Sarawak taken in March and April, including two from Satang Island on 17 April which were presumably on return passage.

EUDYNAMIS SCOLOPACEA SCOLOPACEA (Linnmus). Three out of thirty Koels collected on the Turtle Islands in October and

November proved to be of the nominate race, previously recorded in the Bornean Province only from the South Natuna Islands (Chasen 1935).

NINOX SCUTULATA BURhUNlCA Hume. The Loke-Harrison collection has two from Satang Island, one from Santubong

on the sea within sight of Satang Island, and one from the Kelabit uplands in North Central Borneo. According to H. G. Deignan (in Zit&) these are inseparable from b u m n i c a , which has not previously been collected in the Bornean Province.

DENDRONANTHUS INDICUS (Gmelin). One from Satang Island on 18 September, the first record for Sarawak; we

can trace only one previous specimen and one sight record for the Bornean Province. ANTHUS HODGSONI YUNNANENSIS Uchida & Kuroda.

One from Talang Talang Island on 4 April is the first record for the Bornean Province. In his revision of the races of this species Ripley (1948) recognizes three races in South-east Asia, all of which might conceivably reach Borneo; the specimen has been determined subspecifically by H. G. Deignan at the Smithsonian Institute.

There is only one previous record for Sarawak, but a number for the rest of The Loke-Harrisson collection adds five, including three from Satang

LANIUS TIGRINUS Drapiex.

Borneo. Island 1-3 October.

SAXICOLA TORQUATA STEJNEGERI (Parrot). The first specimen in the Bornean Province was obtained near Kuching on

31 January 1898. A second was collected on Satang Island on 2 December. MUSCICAPA PARVA ALBICILLA Pallas.

One from Kota Batu (two miles from Brunei town) on 8 December; two from Long Buroi, upper Tinjar River, in the far interior of Bararn district, 22 and 28 October. These are the first definite records for Malaysia, although Gibson-Hill (1949 : 211) cites two visual records for the Malay Pensinula.

MUSCICAPA NARCISSINA Temminck. One from Talang Talang Island, 1 February. There are several earlier inland

records but the only previous coastal one we can trace is that of Lempri6re for Labuan in 1883.

REFERENCES.

CHASEN, F. N. 1935. A handlist of Malaysian birds. Bull. Raff. Mus. 11 . DELACOUR, J. 1947. The Birds of Malaysia. New York. GIBSON-HILL, C. 1947. An annotated checklist of the birds of Malaya.

Mus. 20. RIPLEY, S. D. 1948.

J. Bombay Nat. Hist. SOC. 47 : 622-627.

Bull. Raff.

The races of Anthus hodgsoni. Notes on Indian Birds, I.

The Sarawak Museum

11 May 1956.

B. E. SMYTHIES. Kuching. TOM HARRISSON.

INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION ON ZOOLOGICAL NOMENCLATURE.

(i) Notice is given that the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature has recently taken a series of important decisions on the names for certain birds regarding which applications to the Commission were

538 SHORT COMMUNICATIONS IBIS 98

published in October 1952 in Parts, 1/3 of volume 9 of the ‘Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature ’. Among the decisions so taken the following are of wide general interest :- (I) suppression of the generic name Colymbus Linnaeus, 1758, and acceptance of the generic name Gaoia Forster, 1788, for the divers (loons) and of Podiceps Latham, 1787, for the grebes (Opinion 401); (2) validation of the generic name Pphocorax [Tunstall], 1771, for the Chough by the suppression of the name Coracia Brisson, 1760 (Opinion 404); (3) suppression of the specific name er ice tmm Turton, 1807, and acceptance of the name philomlos Brehm, 1831, for the Song Thrush (Opinion 405); (4) suppression for nomenclatorial purposes of the names by Linnaeus published in 1776 in the ‘ Catalogue of Birds, Beasts, . . . in Edwards’ Natural History ’ (Opinion 412); ( 5 ) validation of the name Columba migratoria Linnaeus, 1766, for the Passenger Pigeon (Direction 18); (6) validation of the generic names Bubo DumCril, 1806, Coturnix Bonnaterre, 1790, Egretta Forster, 1817, and Oriolus Linnaeus, 1766, by the suppression of older homonyms (Direction 21) ; (7 ) acceptance of Gallinago Brisson, 1760, and rejection of Capella Frenzel, 1801, as the generic name for the Snipe (Direction 39). All enquiries should be addressed to the Publications Officer, International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature (address : 41 Queen’s Gate, London, S.W.7).

(ii) Notice is hereby given that the possible use by the I.C.Z.N. of its plenary powers is involved in an application for the suppression for nomen- clatorial purposes of the pamphlet by R. B. Horniman entitled “ Preliminary descriptions of some new birds ” (Z.N. (S) 782; ‘ Bull. 2001. Nomencl.’ 11 (11)). Any comments should be sent to the Secretary to the I.C.Z.N. at 28 Park Village East, Regent’s Park, London, N.W.1, as soon as possible.

3 May 1956. FRANCIS HEMMING, Secretary I.C.Z.N.

THE SPECIALIST CONFERENCE ON QUELEA HELD IN FRENCH WEST AFRICA 1955.*

During the last four years there has been growing concern at the damage done by Diochs Queleu queleu subspp. to small-grain crops in African territories. While other species of the genus are pests withn limited areas, Queleu quclen is the only one that is a general large-scale pest. With losses of wheat amounting to over two-thirds of the total crop in parts of East Africa and similar damage to rice and sorghum in Senegal and South Africa to its account, this species can be compared with locusts in the losses which it causes.

The economic importance of Quelea guelea was recognised in the Sudan some years ago, and the first close study of the habits of the race uethiopica was made by Wilson and a method of control in the off-season roosting sites was devised. More recently, the Governments of French West Africa, the Union of South Africa and Tanganyika have considered the problem so urgent that they have appointed full-time zoologists to study the biology of the species in all its aspects, while other officers have been concerned with research into methods of control and their application in the field.

* This conference is of special interest as being in some respects without precedent, an international meeting devoted to a single tropical species.-ED.