468 Letters, Announcements , ^c. 



and yet he says " this race is wholly peculiar to Ceylon, and 

 therefore is neither the Psittacus indicus of Gmelin, nor P. 

 asiaticus of Latham." Now as this form is not found in India 

 proper, we may follow Messrs. Horsfield and Moore (Cat. E. Ind. 

 Mus. ii. p. 628) and suppress Gmelin's title, otherwise the 

 oldest ; but what reason is there for not adopting the next in 

 succession, P. asiaticus, Latham ? 



With reference to the same paper you will pei'haps permit me 

 to add that Lanius lucionensis is a Linnsean title originally 

 given to a Philippine race which is totally distinct from that of 

 Ceylon, as I have already endeavoured to show in your Journal 

 {antea, pp. 212 et seqq.); that Dicrurus edoliiformis, Blyth, 

 is D. lophorhinus, YieiW. (N. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. 752), founded on 

 le Drongup of Levaillant (Ois. d^Afr. iv. pi. 173), the type of 

 which is still preserved at Leyden, where it was shown me by 

 my amiable and most learned friend Professor Schlegel ; that 

 D. leucopygialis, Blyth, is Oriolus furcatus, Gm. (Syst. Nat. i. 

 p. 395), founded on Brisson's Icterus cauda bifida (Orn. ii. 

 p. 105), which in its turn was founded on Seba's " Turdus niger 

 mexicanus" (Locupl. Rerum Nat. Thes. i. p. 102, pi. 65. fig. 2), 

 and referred by Wagler (Syst. A.v. fol. 23. p. 12) to D. ccerules- 

 cens (Linn.) ; and that Temenuchus albofrontatus (Layard), 1854, 

 must give way to " Pastor senex, Temm. Mus. Lugd.", Bp. 

 (Consp. i. p. 419). Examples in the senex-sidXe. of plumage, that 

 is with the entire head grey, appear to be rare ; for in a consi- 

 derable series of Ceylon specimens of the species I have only 

 met with one as described by Bonaparte. Its Bengal origin, 

 as given in the ' Conspectus,' is of course erroneous. 



I have, &c., 



Chislehurst, Kent, August 25, 1867. Walden. 



Sir, — I was unfortunately absent from the meeting of the 

 Zoological Society held on the 8th of May, 1866, when the first 

 specimen of Sylvia aquatica. Lath., known to have been obtained 

 in England was exhibited ; but in November last, when on a visit 

 to Mr. Borrer, I had an opportunity of examining it, and was at 

 once struck with its similarity to a bird in my own collection 



