is a good harbour. At Midway Island, which is uninhabited, Capt. Böhm and his companions found a species of Finch common among the scrubby bushes which cover its surface. It was so tame that it could be easily taken by the hand, and about sixty specimens were captured.

After remaining here some considerable time, and refitting as far as was possible under the circumstances, Capt. Böhm set sail for the Hawaiian Islands, which it seems he was fortunate ever to have reached, as the schooner was in a very disabled condition when it touched at Nühau, a small island adjacent to Kauai. Here Mr. George Gay, who manages the prosperous sheep-ranch established on the island by my friend Mr. Sinclair, supplied Captain Böhm with the necessary stores, and he, in return for this courtesy, made Mr. Gay a present of several specimens of the Finch from Midway Island. The schooner, after this short stay at Nühau, proceeded to Honolulu, where Captain Böhm disposed of the remainder of these interesting birds, of which he had some forty specimens in all. They arrived all housed together in a large cage, having been fed on biscuit and nothing else during the voyage. Unfortunately I happened to be away on Hawaii at the time of the schooner's arrival; but on my return to Honolulu some months later I was fortunate in procuring a single specimen, which happened to be for sale, and which, with considerable trouble and some good luck (the bird escaped twice into the car during the railwayjourney across Canada), I succeeded in bringing alive to England. I saw several more specimens of the same Finch in cages in Honolulu. All were similar in plumage to my bird, whence I conclude that the sexes are alike. My bird, by means of its powerful bill, is able to force the wires of its

United States, leaving a Kamtschatkan as a settler. On his return he kept its position a secret, and his discovery was utilized by the Pacific Mail Company, who intended forming a depot here for their Trans-Pacific steamers in preference to Honolulu, which was thought to be under foreign influence, establishing here a coaling and refreshment station.” (The 'Mary Böhm' found a quantity of coal at the time of her visit in 1887.-S. B. W.)

cage apart, and has reduced one of the wooden uprights which go to form the framework of the cage to half its original thickness by continually chipping at it. I should have procured two more specimens which the Hon. C. R. Bishop of Honolulu had promised me, but for their having severed the wooden bars of their cage and thus effected their escape let us hope to become naturalized on the island of Oahu.

This bird has a very clear metallic note, which may be expressed thus-chwit, chwee. It also twitters and chirps as it hops from side to side of the cage, and is altogether very lively in its movements. Since its sojourn in England it has learnt several notes of the Common Sparrow, but the note first mentioned is that which it most frequently utters, and a very distinct and characteristic one it is.

The Finch appears to belong to a new genus, allied to Psittirostra of the Hawaiian group, from which it differs in its thicker bill, the upper mandible being less produced, and showing a slight tendency to cross the lower mandible, as in Loxia. The feet are remarkably large and strong. The wings are moderate, reaching to about the end of the basal third of the tail-feathers. The tail is slightly forked.

I propose to describe it as follows:

TELESPYZA CANTANS, gen. et sp. n. (Plate IX.)

Head and sides of face olive-green, shading behind into dark chestnut-brown on the back, where each feather has the centre black; body beneath bright greenish yellow, which colour covers the throat and breast, shading into dull white on the abdomen and under tail-coverts; flanks, upper tailcoverts, and rump chestnut-brown, of a somewhat lighter shade than the back, the feathers on the flanks distinctly streaked with black; primaries black, edged outwardly with greenish yellow; secondaries likewise black, but with much broader edges of a clearer shade of yellow; tail black, each feather edged outwardly with greenish yellow; bill and feet horn-colour whole length (about) 6.5 inches, wing 34, tail 2.5, tarsus 1·1.

Hab. Midway Island, North Pacific.

XXXI.-Notes on some Birds collected by Dr. G. Radde in the Transcaspian Region. By H. E. DRESSER, F.Z.S. LAST year I published (Ibis, 1889, pp. 85-92) a few notes on a collection of Transcaspian birds sent to me for examination and identification by Dr. G. Radde, of Tiflis. I have recently received another small collection from the same source, which, although there are no novelties, contains examples of several species not included in the former lot, and it may therefore interest the readers of 'The Ibis' to have the following short notes. Dr. Radde writes that, ere long, he proposes to start on another journey, and as he promises to pay special attention to the ornithology of the country he will traverse, we may look forward to the announcement of some interesting and, probably, new discoveries on his return to Tiflis, which, however, will not be until late in the autumn of the current year.

The collection recently received contains specimens of the following birds, viz. :—

SAXICOLA FINSCHI, Heugl.

One old male in full breeding-plumage (Kuba-dagh, Krasnovodsk, 9th February).

PRATINCOLA CAPRATA (Linn.).

One adult male (Merv, 14th June).

CYANECULA SUECICA (Linn.).

One adult male (Germab, 4th March), not differing from specimens from Scandinavia.

DAULIAS HAFIZI (Severtzoff).

One adult male (Derbent, 9th May).

SYLVIA MYSTACEA, Ménétr.

One male (Tedschen, 20th March), which has the throat somewhat less richly tinged with vinous pink, but does not otherwise differ from the specimens in the last collection, referred to in my last notes (Ibis, 1889, p. 86).

SYLVIA ORPHEA, Temm.

One adult female (Tschikischlya, 2nd April), belonging to the eastern or large-billed form (S. crassirostris, Rüpp.).