Letters, Extracts, Notices, S^c. 259 



had not escaped me, but as it added nothing to our previous 

 knowledge of the subject, I did not allude to it. The 

 description as given on page 422 of the ' Water-birds of 

 North America ' is : — 



"Adult, full breeding-plumage. Pileum and nape slaty 

 black, &c. 



"Adult (and young) in winter. Similar, but pileum and 

 nape brownish slate, like the back.''^ 



This is the only distinction given. It is therefore perfectly 

 evident that the writer had not seen a breeding bird, but pos- 

 sibly an adult just about to assume the nuptial dress. There 

 is no mention of the glossy green- black crest, the silvery- 

 white throat and ear-coverts, with the rich chestnut border, 

 by which, as Prof. Baird anticipated, it makes " a grand dis- 

 play,^' and not a mere deepening of the winter grey colour 

 of the head. It would have been strange, indeed, were the 

 largest and finest of the Grebe-kind content with merely 

 darkening its head-dress at the nuptial season. 



Yours &c., 



H. B. Tristram. 



Birds of the Afghan Boundary. — In his memoir on the 

 '^ Fauna and Flora of the Afghan Boundary,^^ read before the 

 Linnean Society on February 3rd last. Dr. Aitchison gives 

 the following account of his ornithological work : — " As 

 regards birds, 123 species, belonging to some 84 genera, were 

 collected, while 14 other species were identified, though not 

 preserved. Two new species only were procured, viz. a 

 Pheasant, Phasianus princijjalis, and a Woodpecker, Gecinus 

 gorii. The birds in Afghanistan are chiefly migratory, with 

 the exception of the above new Pheasant, Raven, Rook, 

 Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Sparrow, Starling, Sky Lark, Crested 

 Lark, Bokhara Lark {Melanocorypha biniaculata). Wall Creeper 

 {Tichodroma wiwraria). Bittern {Botaurus 5/e//am), several Rap- 

 tores, Sand Grouse {Pterocles arenarius), and Red-legged Par- 

 tridge {Caccabis chukar). As spring advances, birds are seen 

 to arrive, following each other rapidly, such as Aedonfami- 



