Letters, Announcements, (Sfc. 145 



wrong identifications is attributable to tbe persons through 

 whose hands the specimens came. At the same time we can 

 rectify such mistakes by a reference to the text of the de- 

 scribers ; and perhaps Mr. Tristram is to blame for not having 

 done this before announcing his identification to the public. 



I am yours, &c., 



Robert Swinhoe. 



' P.S. I must not pass by Mr. Brooks's note on the Hako- 

 dadi Creeper without attention. I have not a specimen 

 from Cashmere to compare with ; but our bird certainly does 

 not tally with the description of Certhia hodgsoni (J. A. S. B. 

 1872, p. 74). 



1. Our bird has a shorter bill than English specimens, 

 though lighter in colour. 



2. Agrees with C. hodgsoni. Brooks, under this head. 



3. The North-China bird is much less rufescent than an 

 English or a Dutch (Ley den) specimen. 



4. The broAvn of the quills and tail is of a much lighter 

 hue, and the underparts are swoi^-white. 



I have a specimen from Pekin, one from Hakodadi (North 

 Japan), and one from Amoorland. They are all of the same 

 light boreal race, and, in my opinion, not separable from C. 

 familiaris, any more than the Kamtchatka Greater and Least 

 Woodpeckers are from Picus major and Picus minor of Europe. 

 Pere David proposed to separate the Pekin bird as Certhia 

 fasciata (Cat. des Ois. h, Pekin) ; but I never saw sufficient 

 reason for such a proceeding. I would draw Mr. Brooks's 

 attention to the remarks on the variation of this far-ranging 

 species by Mr. H. E. Dresser in his excellent ' Birds of Europe/ 

 now in process of publication. 



R. S. 



33 Carlyle Square, S.W. 

 Dec. 19, 1874. 



Sir, — I have a few more lines for insertion in the forth- 

 coming ' Ibis,' for which I would crave your indulgence. 

 In my paper "On Birds from Hakodadi," published in 



SER. III. VOL. V. L 



