Letters, Announcements, 6fc. 115 



which in some are nearly uniform rufescent, while in others 

 the middle of the throat and abdomen are white, or nearly so. 



A third species is Proparus dubius, Hume, Pr. A. S. B. 

 May 1st, 1874, 107 (when published?), and S. F. ii. 417, 

 June 1874. Is this identical with Minla mandellii, Godw.- 

 Aust. Ann. & Mag. N. H. Jan. 1876 ? 



A fourth species is Minla rufogularis , Mandelli, S. F. i. 

 416, July 1873. Is this identical with Minla collaris, Wald. 

 Ann. & Mag. N. H. Aug. 1874 ? 



Yours &c., 



A. O. Hume. 



[In accordance with Mr. Hume's suggestion, we have had 

 great pleasure in submitting the four specimens sent by him 

 to the examination of Lieut. -Col. Godwin-Austen, who has 

 kindly supplied the following notes on them. 



As regards the question at issue between Mr. Hume and 

 Lt.-Col. Godwin- Austen (whether Turdinus garoensis or Ti'i- 

 chostoma minus agrees best with Blyth's description of 

 Pellorneum tickelli), we believe it impossible to come to a 

 satisfactory conclusion. The size of the specimens sent 

 by Mr. Hume seems to us to favour his view. But if the 

 exact original types cannot be positively ascertained (as 

 would seem to be the case from Lt.-Col. Godwin- Austen's re- 

 marks in Pr. A. S. B. June 1877), it would be better, ac- 

 cording to our views, to reject the specific name tickelli alto- 

 gether, and adopt the first name certainly applicable to each 

 of these two birds. — Edd.] 



(1) Mr. Hume's "Pellorneum tickelli, Blyth, ^ (from Sadia, 

 Assam) ," is the same as my Turdinus garoensis S , from the 

 Dafla hills. Slight differences exist between it and my type ; 

 but I should hesitate to describe it as another species. 



(2) Trichastoma minor, Hume (corr. minus) ,^ Pellorneum 

 tickelli, Blyth, = Drymocataphus fulvus, Walden. See my 

 paper in Pr. A. S, B. June 1877, where I placed this bird in 

 the genus Alcip2)e. It is very close to my Turdinus garoensis, 

 which inhabits the Assam hills, and has been compared with 

 the type, from which it differs in being more rufescent in 



