Letters, Announcements, ^c. 345 



careful descriptions in the ' Proceedings of the Linnean So- 

 ciety of New South Wales ' for 1878, iii. pp. 286, 287. 



Yesterday, for the first time since I first wrote about them, 

 I had an opportunity of reexamining the specimens of Car- 

 pophaga from Cape York which I had put down as C. puella. 

 The under surface of the tail-feathers is of a dark blackish 

 brown, but certainly not quite black. I believe this bird to be 

 the young of C. assimilis ; but there is indeed very little differ- 

 ence between Cape-York specimens and those from the south- 

 east coast of New Guinea Avhich Count Salvadori calls C. 

 poliura, and it is quite possible they may be identical. 



Ornithologists may be pleased to hear that I have lately 

 received two collections of birds from the Solomon Islands, 

 and a number of specimens in spirits, so that I have had an 

 opportunity of myself ascertaining the sexes of some species 

 that I had very grave doubts about. I regret to say the fine 

 Astur which I have called A. versicolor will probably prove to 

 be the male oVA. albogularis of Gray. I have a fine series of 

 ten examples of this bird now before me. Mr. Tristram's 

 Myiayra cervinicauda is the female of a black-throated species 

 which, being new, must retain his name. Our collection from 

 these islands now includes all the species hitherto recorded 

 from this group, except Ceya? gentiana, Tristram, which your 

 readers may be glad to learn was shot at Kakiri harbour, on 

 the island of St. Christoval [Richards] . 



In all there are about 100 species known from the Solo- 

 mons, including several new species which I have recently 

 described. 



Yours &c., 



E. P. Ramsay. 



Deepdale, Keigate, 



26th January, 1882. 



Sirs, — In the last number of 'The Ibis' (January 1882) 

 Mr. F. B. Simson gives an account of the appearance of 

 Hirundo tytleri, Jerdon, at Dacca, and some other interesting 

 notes regarding the neighbouring districts, which recall a 



SER. IV. VOL. VI. 2 a 



