Lettei^s, Announcements, l^c. 185 



Of the perfect distinctness of the two species^ H. rama and 

 H. caUgata, there can be no possible doubt. Habits vary, 

 notes perceptibly so to me ; and when freshly moulted, the 

 warm ruddy r6ma is a very different bird from the cold grey 

 caligata. In this remark Messrs. Tristram and Hume can 

 bear me out. Had I not carefully studied both birds in life, 

 I might, like Mr. Blanford, have considered faded examples 

 of each identical ; but knowing the two species as well as I 

 do, to unite them is, with me, an impossibility. 



The closely allied species are the gi'eat charm of orni- 

 thology, and, unless upon sure grounds, no such thing as 

 actual connexion or interbreeding should be supposed. 



For my own part, I have had as many birds through my 

 hands as most people, but I have never yet seen the slightest 

 proof of any connexion between closely allied species; nor 

 have I heard of such interbreeding in a wild state. 



These fascinating affine species are as distinct creations as 

 Gyps barbatus and Nitidula hodgsoni ; and in regard to the 

 most interesting subjects in ornithology let us stick to facts 



and avoid speculation. 



I am yours, &c., 



W. E. Brooks. 



Mr. Gould points out to us that the Suya super ciliaris of Hume, 

 figured in Henderson and Hume^s 'Lahore to Yarkand,^ pi. 

 xviii. p. 218, of which a single imperfect specimen was obtained 

 on the Yarkand plains, is, as he believes, identical with Rho- 

 pophilus pekinensis, Swinhoe, figured in the 25th Part of the 

 ' Birds of Asia.^ Mr. Gould has examined Dr. Henderson's 

 type, which, however, it would be well to compare with Mr. 

 Swinhoe's series. We may remark that there is another Suya 

 superciliaris, of Anderson (P. Z. S. 1871, p. 212) ; so that 

 Mr. Hume's name would not stand in any case. — P. L. S. 



Dr. Kirk has brought with him on his return from Zanzibar 

 a Grey Parrot {Psittacus erithacus) . He informs us that this 



