312 Miscellaneous, 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



To Richard Taylor, Esq. 



Calcutta, December 14, 1843. 

 My dear Sir, 



Up to this date the following additions have been made to my 

 catalogue of Calcutta birds, which, if not too late, you may publish 

 along with the rest* : Phcenicophaus tristis, v. Melius tristis of Lesson ; 

 Ph. longicaudatus of my monograph of Eastern Cuckoos, wherein the 

 name tristis is erroneously ascribed to Ph. swnatranus (Raffles), vel 

 Diardi of Lesson, a species common on the hill-ranges of Assam. 

 Lanius lephrotiotus, Vigors, v. nipalensis of Hodgson : I have obtained 

 three specimens. Dicrurus ccerulescens ; Scolopax rusticola. Edolius 

 retifer I believe I before mentioned to you, and I have met with ad- 

 ditional specimens of Chaitaris ruheculoides, Phylloscopus fuscatus, 

 Charadrius Cantianus, &c. But it is chiefly in other classes that the 

 past month has been productive of novelties, the most interesting of 

 which are the reputed Entellus Monkey of Southern India, which is 

 quite diatinct from that of Bengal, and will bear the appellation S. 

 pallipes, Elliot; — an apparently new Soosook Dolphin (Platanida) from 

 the Hoogly ; — and, most remarkable of all, a true Bison allied to the 

 Aurochs and to the American species, from the Shan States border- 

 ing on China, inhabiting a suitable, cold and pine-clad region, and 

 doubtless extending far to the north-east, within the Chinese domi- 

 nions. 



Calcutta, Dec. 22, 1843. 



Here are some ** more last words " for you, which as you will re- 

 ceive nearly as soon as those I sent a few days back by the " Bentinck" 

 steamer, I may as well take the present opportunity of forwarding. 

 The following are the notahilia which I have now to announce as ad- 

 ditions to my Calcutta ornithology. 



Scops sunia, Hodgson, As. Res. xix. 175. A pair of these beau- 

 tiful little birds 1 have just obtained, which were taken with bird- 

 lime. I have also received the Sc. lettia, Hodgson, ibid., from Mid- 

 napore, a species which Mr. Jerdon thinks different from his Sc.Ja- 

 vanica, but which is probably enough the Sc.javanica of Dr. Horsfield's 

 list of species procured by Dr. M'Clelland in Assam. Mr. Jerdon 

 has also obtained a very small species in Madras, which appears to be 

 Sc. bakkamcena. 



Lanius nigriceps, Franklin. 



Turdus unicolor, Gould. 



Dicrurus ccerulescens I believe that I before mentioned, but I have 

 shot a second example of this bird here. 



Botaurus flavicollis ; Ardea fiavicollis et niger, Auct. Of this I have 

 now obtained a recent example, and I have no hesitation in placing 

 it among the true Bitterns. 



Iringa alpina, for the first time ; a solitary specimen. 



Porzana akool ; Rallus akool of Sykes, but not of Jerdon's cata- 

 logue, which is my Gallinulaparvifrons. The dark under tail-coverts 



* This letter and the following arrived too late for our last Number. — 

 Ed. 



