Letters, Announcements, h^c. 251 



light scarlet. The majority of specimens I have seen have the 

 yellow of the head less in extent. 



7. C. ALBiFRONS. Frojn Costa Rica, Yucatan {Schntt) ; 

 S.W. Mexico (Sumichrast) ; Mazatlan {Grayson). 



I have never seen C. auripalliata, C. coccineifrons, C. ochro- 

 cephala, or C. xantholora in any of the collections I have had 

 for examination. 



I am yours &c., 



Geo. N. Lawrence. 



[We have to thank Mr. Lawrence for calling our attention to the 

 misquotation at p. 97 ; the passage should run, " and the latter {i. e. C. di- 

 ademata) has the under suiface &c." 



As regards the Panama specimen called by Mr. Lawrence C fan'nosa, 

 we have only to say that, having identified the Costa-Eica bird called 

 C. ptdvendenta with C. guatemalce, in the absence of specimens we could 

 only refer the Panama bird called by the same name to C. ffuatemalcB 

 also. — Ed.] 



The *Zeitschrift f. d. gesammten Naturwiss.' of Halle, for 

 October 1870, contains an account of the forthcoming publica- 

 tion by Professor Giebel of an important ornithological work, to 

 be entitled 'Ornithologischer Thesaurus.' The MS. would appear 

 to be in a forward state ; and the general object of the work is 

 not only to improve upon Mr. G. R. Gray's useful lists, but 

 also to treat of the systems of arrangement of families, genera, 

 and species. The habits of birds, their distribution and ana- 

 tomy, will also be touched upon ; nor will extinct and fossil forms 

 be neglected. Prof. Giebel regrets the growth of '' species- 

 making," which is daily rendering the study of ornithology 

 more difficult; but we are disposed to attribute the system quite 

 as much to the inherent intricacies of the subject as to the love 

 which some ornithologists evince for the minute subdivision of so- 

 called species. Should the ' Ornithologischer Thesaurus ' fulfil 

 the expectations held out in the notice given of it, it will doubt- 

 less be a most valuable work. 



Mr. Stevenson's subject grows in his hands, and the second 

 volume of his ' Birds of Norfolk ' only brings him to the end of 

 the Gralla — a fact not so very astonishing when it is considered 



