301' Letters, Extracts from Correspondeiice, Notices, &'c. 



" Among his other gatherings Mr. Jerdon obtained a female 

 Caprimulgus mahrattensis, Sykes — the first I have ever seen of 

 this species. It is quite new to this part of India. 



"March 11th. — With regard to the CuprimulgidcE of these 

 countries, one grand error pervades all the books hitherto, viz., the 

 mal-identification of Podargus cornutus, Temra., with Batracho- 

 stomus javanensis, Horsfield. We have a very fine specimen of 

 the former bird, sent to us under that name by the Batavian 

 Society, and it exactly agrees with the figure in the ' Planches 

 Coloriees,' which is copied by Stephens in the continuation of 

 Shaw's ' Zoology.' W^e have also an excellent specimen oiB. java- 

 nensis from Malacca, equally according with Horsfield's figure 

 of that bird in his ' Zoological Researches in Java.' 



" The Podargus cornutus is an Otothrix, as distinguished 

 from a Bati^acJiostomus, and appears to me to be absolutely iden- 

 tical with 0. hodgsoni, G. R. Gray, P. Z. S. 1859, p. 101, Aves, 

 pi. clii., that plate representing the juvenile plumage, and Tem- 

 minck's the adult. Mr. Jerdon agrees with me in this opinion. 

 But what is Podargus crinitus of Temminck ? This, from its 

 name, should be another Otothrix. Gould's B. steltatus I do 

 not know. Moore, in his list of Cantor's specimens, makes it 

 distinct from B. javanensis. 



"The Pod. parvutus of Temminck I suspect to be identical 

 with my Batr. affinis, which is found both in Malacca and Sikhim, 

 and perhaps also in Java, as O. cornutus (v. hodgsoni) is both 

 from Sikhim and Java. 



" B. moniliger, nobis, is a good species from Ceylon ; and 

 Jerdon suspects that this must be the Batrachostomus of pen- 

 insular India, which he has heard of, but never seen. He is cer- 

 tain about its existence." 



]\Ir. Swinhoe's last letter, dated Tamsuy in Formosa, January 

 17th last, says : — 



" I am not doing much in birds just now, as we are scarcely 

 settled yet at this new port ; but by next month you may hear of 

 my making some progress. 



" Suya s/?7ff/fl, nobis, is common on these hills,and,as I imagine, 

 Cisticola volitans ; but the latter I have not seen this trip. No 



