Letters, Announcements, <^c. 133 



Ceryle maxima. 



Seen on one or two occasions on the Limpopo, but appa- 

 rently not very common there. 



Irrisou erythrorhynchus. 



Common in the Bamangwato district, going about in parties 

 of from six to eight ; they are noisy and restless. 



Laniarius atrococcineus. 



I took a nest of this species out of a small thorn-tree on 

 the 7th of November : it was placed in a fork of the tree, very 

 small indeed for the size of the bird, and was made entirely 

 of soft dead reeds, no other lining ; it contained three eggs, 

 white ground, very much spotted with light brown. The bird 

 was extremely tame, coming down to the nest, though I was 

 not more than a foot directly underneath it. 



Megalophonus apiatus. 



One specimen, obtained on the '' High Veldt,^^ in the 

 Transvaal. 



EUPODOTIS KORI. 



This splendid Bustard I only saw on one or two occasions 

 in the bush country, and always singly. 

 Rallus c^rulescens. 



I obtained one specimen close to Pietermaritzburg ; but it 

 was too much injured for preserving. 



I am, dear Sir, yours truly, 

 T. E. Buckley. 



Sir, — In a recent article on the birds of the Pelew Islands 

 (Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, pt. viii. p. 18), Dr. O. Finsch leaves 

 it to be inferred that the Philippines are inhabited by two 

 distinct species of the genus Artamus. One species (which 

 he identifies as being the true Lanius leucorhynchus, L.), Dr. 

 Finsch states, is restricted to the Philippine and Pelew groups 

 of islands. The second, according to the same author, is 

 Artamus leucogaster, Valenc, and is said by Dr. Finsch to be 

 common to both the Philippine and the Sunda Islands. The 

 closely allied New- Caledonian species of the genus, A. mela- 

 hucus (Forst.), Dr. Finsch considers specifically distinct from 

 the Pelew form. 



