116 Letters, Extracts fmra Correspondence, Announcements, S^c. 



Phedina horhonica. Peculiar to the island. 



Geopelia striata. Introduced from the East Indies. 



Coturnix argoonda. Introduced from India. 



Si/noecus sinensis. Introduced from Asia. 



Gallinula (?). Probably aboriginal, and possibly peculiar. 



Porphyrio mndagascariensis. Probably aboriginal. 



Pliaetonfluvirostris. Widely distributed over the Tropical seas. 



Puffinus assimilis. The southern representative of P. ohscurus, 

 and perhaps hardly distinct from it. 



The Gallinula, of which one specimen only is included in the 

 collection, is regarded by Mr. E. Newton as distinct from the 

 common G. cliloropus, to which species Dr. Hartlaub (Journ. f. 

 Ornith. I860, p. 173) refers the Water-hen found in Madagascar, 

 Bourbon, and Mauritius, and to which species it undoubtedly 

 has a very great general resemblance. The chief points of dif- 

 ference are in the colour of the legs and of the under tail-coverts, 

 which in Mr. E. Newton^s bird are bright yellmv and buff xe- 

 spectively : but, in the absence of more specimens, it would not 

 be desirable at present to characterize Mr. E. Newton's example 

 as of a new species ; though, if it be, as he thinks, not identical 

 with G. chloropus, it will probably prove to be so. In a later 

 communication, that gentleman mentions that the call-note of 

 the Mauritian bird differs decidedly from that of the European; 

 and it will be remembered that the same peculiarity has been 

 noticed {' Ibis,^ i. p. 260) with respect to the American species 

 [G. galeata). 



The following are extracts from Mr. E. Newton's letters : — 



"Sept. 2, 1860. 



I hope, about the middle of the month, to get down to Sa- 



vaune, where I have no doubt I shall be able to get a good many 



more birds, and very likely some fresh species of land-birds, as 



1 fancy the country there is quite different from anything about 



here [Port Louis] . S is really off to ]\Iadagascar as soon 



as he can get a ship to take him. I wish to goodness I could 

 go with him ! and he is just the fellow to suit me. The trip, 

 however, will be rather expensive — ^£150 for a couple of months, 

 which is about the time he means to be away, i. e. if he is 

 allowed to go up to the capital. He has promised to collect ; 



