house, and was the only individual of this species seen by him at Chagga; the other is an example of Scopus umbretta, a species which Mr. Fitch informs me frequents in small numbers the streams which descend the mountain's side.

Another matter to which I am desirous of alluding is the difference in size between the African Short-eared Owl, Asio (Phasmoptynx) capensis, and the allied Madagascar race, which Schlegel (Mus. P.-B. Revue, Noctuæ, p. 3) called "Otus capensis major." Mr. Sharpe, in his Catalogue of the Striges (p. 241), gives it as his opinion that "the difference in size is not sufficient to make one think that the Madagascar bird is really distinct."

I have been led to a conclusion the reverse of Mr. Sharpe's, after taking the following measurements from specimens of both races in the Norwich Museum :

I may add that the Spanish example above referred to,

which was presented to the Norwich Museum by Col. Irby, by whom it was shot on 10th November, 1870, differs from other examples that I have seen in having the back of the head and neck very regularly cross-barred with narrow bands of brown, lighter than the brown of other parts of the feather, each feather being for the most part crossed by three such bands. I suspect that this may be an indication of immaturity, though probably one that is subject to considerable individual variation.

In a very young bird from Tangier, which had evidently but just left the nest, and which was kindly lent to me by Lord Lilford, there are traces of nuchal markings somewhat similar in character to those on the Spanish specimen at Norwich, but much less regular and conspicuous, and also less sharply defined.

I may add that in this young bird the light cross-bars on the scapulars are more clearly defined than in the adult, and also that the blackish tint on the face is more extended, nearly surrounding the eyes, and reaching from thence to the edge of the disc.

Yours &c.,

J. H. GURNEY.

Smithsonian Institution,

Washington, D.C.,

Nov. 16, 1889.

SIR, A letter from Professor Alfred Newton which appeared in 'The Ibis' of October 1889, having reference to the use to which certain young birds put the terminal claw of their pollux digits, has interested me not a little. Opisthocomus I have never seen, either young or old, in the flesh, but I have seen young Grebes assist themselves in their terrestrial locomotion in precisely the manner which Professor Newton so admirably describes. These, however, are not the only birds that so use their clawed thumbs to assist themselves in their first attempts at progression. So long ago as 1882, in my 'Contributions to the Anatomy of Birds,' on page 776, I say that " Mr. James Bell, of Florida,

an excellent observer of the habits of birds in their native haunts, had that same morning (Dec. 28, 1881) narrated to Mr. Ridgway how, when he was in Florida, he had noticed that the young of Ionornis martinica actually put these claws to practical use by holding on to twigs in climbing out of their nests, and sometimes even suspended themselves as Bats do." These claws are large in the Californian Condor, and it would be interesting to know whether the young of the Cathartidæ put them to similar uses.

Yours &c.,

R. W. SHUFEldt.

United States National Museum,
Washington, November 22, 1889.

:

SIR,-In the last number of 'The Ibis ' Mr. J. H. Gurney, Jun., remarks (p. 572), that Colymbus adamsi "is only distinguished from... C. glacialis by the white colour of the bill and a slight difference in its shape." Having on various occasions compared specimens of the two birds and noted other differences, I desire to say that in true C. adamsi the whitish colour of the bill is the least important distinctive character, since C. glacialis occasionally has a more or less light-coloured bill. In C. adamsi the exposed culmen is longer than the tarsus, while in C. glacialis it is shorter in C. adamsi the head and neck are glossed with violet-blue, and the white spots on the scapulars are decidedly longer than broad; while in C. glacialis the head and neck are glossed with green, and the white spots on the scapulars about as wide as they are long. These differences are quite constant, and therefore young birds may readily be distinguished by the comparative length of exposed culmen and tarsus. (Cf. 'Manual of North-American Birds,' p. 7, where, however, by an accidental transposition of the words "shorter" and "longer," in paragraphs c1 and c' respectively, the relative length of culmen and tarsus in the two species is made to appear exactly the opposite of what is actually the case.) Yours &c.,

ROBERT RIDGWAY,

SER. VI. VOL. II.

K

Croft House, Holywood,

Co. Down, December 1, 1889.

SIR,-Allow me to record in your pages the recent occurrences in this and the adjoining county of several examples of the Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopus major), generally quite a rare bird in the north of Ireland. One was shot near Newry on or about 23rd October; a second was shot and two others seen near Gilford on 4th November; and about the same time another was shot near Donaghadeeall three places in this county; while on 29th November a fourth specimen was shot at Glenarm, co. Antrim.

Yours &c.,

R. LLOYD PATTERSON.

Extract from a Letter from Count Salvadori.—Mr. OgilvieGrant (Ibis, 1889, p. 449) states that my Turnix beccarii (Ann. Mus. Civ. Gen. vii. p. 675)" from Celebes appears to be absolutely identical with T. rufescens, Wallace." Later on (op. cit. p. 465) he is not so certain, and says that T. rufescens from the island of Semao will "probably prove to be identical with T. beccarii from Celebes." But as Semao belongs to the Timor group, a different subregion from that of Celebes, where the land-birds are mostly peculiar to the island, I think that Mr. Grant should have given the same indulgence to my species as he has to T. rufescens (kept distinct from T. saturata and T. maculosa), and should have allowed that, judging from the locality, it may prove to be different. The two type specimens of T. beccarii are in the Museum of Genoa, and may easily be obtained from the Director for comparison, if Mr. Grant wishes to settle the question.

Note on Spodiopsar fuscogularis.-With reference to Mr. Sharpe's remarks on Spodiopsar fuscogularis (Ibis, 1889, p. 580), Count Salvadori writes to say that he has washed the throat of the typical specimen very carefully, but that it remains unchanged, and the dark colour is still there. Besides,

as he has already remarked (Ann. Mus. Civ. Gen. ser. 2, vii. p. 421), S. fuscogularis is different in structure from S. burmanicus; he has compared it with many specimens of the latter, and cannot match it with any of them as regards the shape of the bill, which is longer and thinner in S. fuscogularis.

The Southern Range of the Corebida.-In his Report on the progress of Ornithology in 1886 (Wiegm. Arch. 53 Jahrg. ii. Bd. p. 114), Dr. Reichenow points out that in the 11th vol. of the Catalogue of Birds (p. 1) I have committed an error in stating the southern range of the Corebida to stop at the Gulf of Guyaquil on the western slope of South America. My statement was undoubtedly an oversight, as a species of this family, Conirostrum cinereum, has been obtained by Jelski (cf. Tacz. Orn. Pér. i. p. 425) and by Nation (Cat. B. xi. p. 16) near Lima; by d'Orbigny near Tacna (d'Orb. Voy. Ois. p. 375); and by Whitely near Arequipa (P. Z. S. 1867, p. 984). In the same district Diglossa brunneiventris was also obtained by Whitely. But Tarma, Paucartambo, and Sicasica, other localities mentioned by Dr. Reichenow as proving the existence of the last-named species in Western Southern America south of Guyaquil, are not on the Pacific, but on the Atlantic slope of the Andean range. The fact is that these two high-ranging species of Corebidæ are found on both sides of the waterparting as far south as about 18° S. lat.-P. L. S.

The Raffles Museum at Singapore.—Mr. Davison, writing from Singapore on the 1st November last, gives us a favourable account of the progress of the Museum under his charge. The collection, he says, is rapidly increasing, in fact faster than he can keep up with the additions, especially in the entomological department. In March next Mr. Davison and Mr. Ridley, the botanist, have arranged to make a collectingexpedition into the mountains of the Malay Peninsula, where, judging from what has been recently done in Perak, they ought to make some grand discoveries. Mr. Davison is planning later on to bring out handbooks on the birds and mam