Letters, Announcements, ^c. 421 



in the centre of a green tuft of grass, the blades of which are 

 carefully beut over the top, and the openings by which the bird 

 enters and leaves the nest closed up on her being frightened 

 from it. A few tracks in the surrounding grass are the sole 

 traces of the existence of the nest. 



I am, sir, your obedient servant, 



W. Vincent Legge. 



London, July 1866. 



Sir, — I wish to make a few remarks which have occurred to 

 me on reading Mr. Blyth's very interesting commentary in the 

 last Number of ' The Ibis,' on that portion of Dr. Jerdon's work 

 which relates to the birds of prey. 



In the first place allow me to correct the error, which I pre- 

 sume, from the footnote to p. 242, that I have accidentally 

 committed, of calling the Spilornis obtained by Mr. Swinhoe in 

 Formosa S. orientalis, instead of S. huya, by which name that 

 gentleman then designated it, and under which he has since 

 described it (p. 304). 



With reference to Mr. Blyth's suggestion in the note to 

 p. 236, that Falco subniger may possibly be the immature bird 

 of F. hypoleucus, it is worthy of remark that the former occurs, 

 as I have been informed by M. Jules Verreaux, in New Zealand, 

 where, so far as I am aware, the latter has not hitherto been 

 noticed. Specimens of both species are, however, at present so 

 rare, that a sufficient series scarcely exists to settle this question 

 satisfactorily. But my own impi-ession is that these two Falcons 

 are specifically distinct. Nor can I agree with Mr. Blyth in 

 thinking that either of them belongs to " the Sakir and Lanner 

 group;" and I further demur to F. sacer being regarded as 

 belonging to the " Lanner group," as it appears to me to be 

 referable to a small distinct section, of which the other members 

 are F. jugger and F. polyagrus. 



In confirmation of Pennant's notice of Eagles being trained 

 by the Tartars to attack Wolves (quoted in the second note to 

 p. 240), allow me to call attention to the following testimony of 

 a traveller in Southern Russia, who, though not a naturalist, was 

 an observer of undoubted veracity: — 



N.S. VOL. II. 2 F 



