218 Letters, Announcements, ^c. 



Now it strikes me that the only possible error in the above 

 could arise from Sir L. M'Clintock not knowing the Ivory Gull ; 

 but against this we have the facts, that no species of Gull was 

 better known to him, that he was constantly on the look-out for 

 its breeding-places, that at the very moment of finding the nest 

 he was expecting to see the bird, as he had always met with it 

 further north than any of the other Gulls (the first seen on this 

 journey had been on the 12th June,in lat. 77°30'N.,long. 1 16° W.), 

 and that Larus glaucus and Stercorarius parasiticus were the 

 only other birds seen on Prince Patrick^s Island — birds not 

 likely to be confounded by Sir Leopold with Pagophila ehurnea. 



I may add that an account of the uidification of this Gull, by 

 Dr. Carte, will be found in the 'Journal of the Royal Dublin 

 Society ' for July 1856 (vol. i. pp. 57-60, pis. 1 and 2); and the 

 egg was exhibited at my request at a meeting of the Dublin 

 University Zoological and Botanical Association in February 

 1855. Sir LeopokVs journal may be found printed in one of 

 the " Blue Books " on the Franklin Searching Expeditions, but 

 the above extracts I myself took from his note-book shortly after 

 his return. I am, &c., 



E. Perceval Wright. 



[We are extremely indebted to Professor Wright for calling 

 our attention to this interesting fact, of which we and probably 

 many of our readers have hitherto been entirely ignorant. Dr. 

 Cartels paper referred to above is accompanied by a very well- 

 executed figure of the egg of the Ivory Gull brought home by 

 Sir Leopold M'Clintock, to whom our friend Dr. Malmgren 

 must certainly yield the honour of the discovery. — Ed.] 



Mr. P. L. Sclater has kindly sent us the two following notes, 

 which were addressed to him by their respective writers. The 

 first is from Captain George E. Bulger, C.M.Z.S., and is dated 

 "Bangalore, 31st July, 1865.^' 



" An interesting sight presented itself to a friend of mine and 

 myself daring our walk this evening. As we turned the corner 

 of one of the lanes at the back of the Arab lines, our attention 

 was attracted by a Crimson-breasted Barbet {Xantholama indica) 



