Abstract
Summary: 1. H. O. Forbes briefly described from 1890 to 1893 a number of new species of subfossil birds from the New Zealand Quaternary. The original material on which they were based, long thought to have been destroyed, has been re‐discovered.2. A preliminary note is offered on the significance of this re‐discovery in relation to descriptions of subfossil birds from co‐eval deposits in New Zealand by subsequent workers.3. Full details of these and other aspects of Forbes's work will be presented later, and all the proposed changes in nomenclature will be justified.4. Information regarding H. O. Forbes and the whereabouts of his manuscript journals is sought from anyone who may have known Forbes or his biography.