Letters, Announcements , ^c. 369 



British birds, to none of which does Mr. Dresser give ade- 

 quate, much less separate, notice in his admirable work, now 

 approaching its completion, the ' Birds of Europe/ These 

 three are the large form of Saxicola oenanthe, the small form 

 of ^gialitis hiaticula, and the red-breasted form of Anthus 

 obscurus. 



As regards the Wheatear, Mr. Dresser says, " ornithologists 

 living on the south coast of England say that the birds which 

 arrive first vary in size from those that arrive later; but I 

 find that the size of examples from various localities varies 

 considerably,^'' &c. I confess I fail to see the force of this 

 "but^'' as neutralizing the undoubted results of observations 

 by several ornithologists, Mr. Gould, Mr. E. T, Booth, and 

 others. Whatever may be the variations in the size of S. 

 oenanthe, if we take its wliole range from Greenland to Egypt, 

 it is quite certain that on our south coast it is sharply divided 

 into two races, the larger of which is not seen till late in 

 April, and oftener not till May. Gould found it in May on 

 the Kentish coast ; Schlegel found it in May on the opposite 

 coast ; and the only one I ever saw in Kent was on the 1st of 

 May. Now Mr. Dresser does not even say which race arrives 

 first ; still less does he give dates, and much less does he ac- 

 knowledge that there are other differences. But Mr. E. T. 

 Booth and other authorities on the larger race agree in saying 

 that it is a much more arboreal bird than the other, which I 

 can corroborate ; for the Kentish specimen above alluded to 

 was shot from the top of a high walnut-tree. But, besides 

 this, it retains a rich reddish buff throat and breast in May, 

 while the smaller bird has. the same parts pale buff. 



It is the same as regards Mr. Dresser and the smaller Riuff- 

 Dottrel, and again with the Vinous -breasted Rock-Pipit. Mr. 

 Dresser assumes that the small size of the former and the 

 vinous breast of the other are the only marks of distinction. 

 Now the lesser Bing-Plover is distinctly darker on the upper 

 surface, as has been repeatedly pointed out in ' The Ibis ;' 

 and the legs are of a deeper shade of orange. Mr. Dresser 

 does not mention the fact that it is only a summer migrant 

 to these shores, arriving in May, when the large form is 



