Letters, Announcements, ^c. 327 



Allahabad, ISth March, 1872. 



Dear Sir, — Dr. Jerdon, in some additional notes on the Birds 

 of India, in 'The Ibis' for January 1872, p. 11, mentions that 

 " Messrs. Marshall disbelieve in the species Megalama marshal- 

 lorum of Swinhoe." Since the publication of the ' Monograph 

 of the Capitonidse ' we have been fully convinced that the species 

 will hold good. We made mention of it in an Appendix, which 

 unfortunately arrived from this country too late for publication 

 with our last part. 



We regret the oversight in the book, and take this oppor- 

 tunity of acknowledging its occurrence. 



The plate in the Monograph named M. virens is really M. 

 marshallorum, while of the true M. virens, the Chinese bird, no 

 figure is given. Mr. Swinhoe's diagnosis, published in the 

 Annals (Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 4, vol. vi, p. 348), suffici- 

 ently points out the specific distinctions ; it is therefore unneces 

 savy to repeat them here. 



While on the subject, we would wish to acknowledge the cor- 

 rectness of Lord Walden's remarks in ' The Ibis' for April 1871, 

 page 163, regarding Caloramphus lathami, the true name being 



Caloramphus hayi. 



Yours truly, 



C. H. T. Marshall & G. F. L. Marshall. 



Sir, — I am desirous of recording in * The Ibis ' the following 

 miscellaneous notes : — 



1st. In a collection of birds of prey recently submitted to me 

 for examination by Mr. Edward Gerrard, jun., were three from 

 the island of Formosa, which I think worthy of notice, viz. : — 



iEsALON LiTHOFALCO (Gmel.), an immature male beginning 

 to assume adult plumage. This is the most south-easterly spe- 

 cimen of the Merlin which has come under my notice, though 

 further to the north this species occurs as far eastward as the 

 shores of the Sea of Okhotsk, an example from that locality being 

 preserved in the Norwich Museum, where the present specimen 

 is also about to be placed. 



Scops japonicus, Tem. & Schl. — This is the fii-st individual 

 of this species, which, so far as I know, has been satisfactorily 



