292 CORRESPONDENCE. 



olive ; the greater quills dusky, edged of the tail, the same, but of a paler 

 with pale yellow ; lesser quills and and more dingy cast ; the feathers on 

 scapulars dark brown, edged with the back, scapulars, and greater and 

 grey ; the tail is dusky, and a little lesser coverts, are very dark brown 

 forked, the feathers edged with light in the middle, but the rest of the 

 brown, the outermost with white ; webs are much lighter, and of a rusty 

 the legs yellowish brown. It is some- brown ; the lower ]3art of the back 

 what difficult to describe a species of and upper coverts of the tail are also 

 bird of which no two are to be found of the latter colour ; the quills and 

 perfectly similar, but its specific cha- tail feathers are deepish brown, the 

 racters are plain, and cannot easily be former edged with light brown ; mid- 

 mistaken. The colours of the female die tail feathers the same ; the rest 

 are less bright than those of the male, plain, and the outer feathers are 

 with very little yellow about the somewhat longer than the middle 

 head. ones. The legs reddish yellow. 



Thirdly, on whose authority do I admit Falco lithqfalco as dif- 

 ferent from Falco cesalon ? — 1 reply, on that of Linnaeus, Buffon, 

 Bewick, etc., etc. — These, then, are the three offences of commission 

 with which I am charged ; and for three others of omission he 

 chooses to consider the work rendered null and void, as to its 

 utility, otherwise, as he himself allows, a very great help to 

 the ornithologist. " The very sum and substance of my wrong 

 hath this offence, no more." Now, with regard to the three former 

 objections, I think it a sufficient answer to observe that, even al- 

 lowing them — which I do not — not to be species, still, as they cer- 

 tainly are so considered by many, it is evidently better to supply 

 the names for their accommodation ; and those who entertain a 

 different opinion have nothing to do but to set aside the names of 

 those three species. It may be asked why, on this ground, I have 

 not admitted the names of the other three species ? (one of these, 

 by the bye, the fork-tailed kite, is given, by Bewick, as a synonym 

 of the Glead, but I will not affect to misunderstand what is meant) 

 — I beg, in answer, to refer your correspondent to the date of my 

 preface, before which my Guide was composed, and also, at the same 

 time, to ask him when, by what authors, these birds have been de^ 

 scribed, how often, and at what places, they have occurred in Bri- 

 tain. At the same time, he is informed that though I fully expect 

 that one (the Reguliis) or more of them will not remain considered 

 as good species, yet, for the reason adduced above, I have added them 

 in a supplement, containing, also, the emended errata to the Guide, 

 which will accompany it gratis, and any person may obtain it by 

 applying to Mr. Longman, through his bookseller. — Having thus 

 dismissed the charges which concern myself, I now come to those so 

 " rife and rank'* of the printer ; some of which I take upon myself 

 to be answerable for, as I am chargeable with them, if faults they be. 

 Whole snipe your correspondent imagines to be a misprint (for large 

 snipe, as I suppose) ; but, whatever its market name may be, it is 

 by this name that the bird is known to sportsmen from Lincolnshire 

 to Hampshire ; and, therefore, I see no reason, at present, to alter 

 it. The nice ear of this learned critic is offended, in the next place. 



