306 Letters, Exti-acts from Corresjiondence, Notices, S^c. 



proventriculus to "25, Stomach roundish, hard and muscular, 

 not much adpressed, with small lateral tendons ; depth and 

 breadth, '4 in.; length, "6. Epithelium sienna-coloured, rugose, 

 thin and leathery, containing remains of beetles and amber- 

 yellow oval seeds of some berry. Intestine 6*8 in. long, •! to '15 

 thick, no cseca discoverable. Heart '4 in. long, '2 broad. 



" I have been looking through the second volume of Perry's 

 * Expedition to Japan,' wherein the birds collected in China are 

 enumerated, with short notes on most of them by Mr. Heine. 

 This gentleman, who was artist to the Expedition, T had the 

 pleasure of meeting, and from the love he professed for the 

 feathered tribes, I should have expected fuller remarks on the spe- 

 cies he had had the opportunity of seeing in their native haunts. 

 If the few plates of birds in this volume can be looked upon as 

 the best the Americans can produce, I must say they are far 

 behind this age of truthful iconography. If I may be allowed 

 to criticise (and my acquaintance with Chinese birds may justify 

 me, in so far as they are concerned), I will venture on a few 

 remarks. 



" Garrulax perspiciUatus, plate 4. The bill and head of this 

 figure are by far too small in proportion to the size of the bird 

 given, which is a good deal smaller than life-size. The eye in the 

 living bird is hazel. 



" Sturnus cinereus, plate 5. The head of this figure should be 

 flatter, and the iris white. 



" Mr. Heine's reason for the scarcity of birds at Macao is rather 

 erroneous. It is not the Chinese who exterminate the birds at 

 that settlement, but the half-caste Portuguese or Macaese, who 

 sally out in numbers every Sunday, each man and boy armed 

 with a gun, and ruthlessly destroy every small bird they can set 

 eyes on. In Camoens' garden, where guns are not admitted, 

 birds are common enough, and comparatively tame. 



" Artamus fuscus. I think this species must have been labelled 

 wrong. I question much whether it is found about Macao. 



" Hrjpothymis cyanomelcena. What is meant by this species 

 " inhabiting bushes " ? If it refers to its occasionally alighting on 

 the tops of bushes, or settling on some exposed branch, it is correct 

 enough. But the species is a pure Flycatcher in habits, and never 



