Letters, Announcements, S^c. 235 



plate, but does not agree with his description when he says the 

 back is " a mixture of bufif with olivaceous green." My birds are 

 brownish-buff above, without any tinge of green. Are my birds 

 S. saltatrix or S. cenanthe ? I am inclined to believe, the latter. 

 Is S. saltatrix a good species?* I have never seen the bird; 

 but the plate in Dr. Bree's work and the description strongly 

 resemble the autumnal plumage of ^. cenanthe. 



Descriptions of bii'ds which closely resemble one another are 

 generally too careless and indefinite to be of any use. Specific 

 distinctions ought to be picked out and prominently noticed. 

 For want of this, endless mistakes are made. Excessive detail 

 in measurement is not wanted ; for birds of the same species 

 vary so much, from the length of the whole body to that of the 

 shortest claw. In fact, by extreme measurements only being 

 given, I have often been led astray when my bird happened to 

 be an undersized one, with perhaps an unusually short tail. I 

 have sometimes noticed that the relative length of the primaries 

 varied a little in the same species, and sometimes even a varia- 

 tion between the right wing and the left ! 



Dr. Jerdon, in looking over a part of my collection the other 

 day, pronounced two specimens which I had called Phyllopneuste 

 rama, to belong to a new species. They are very much smaller 

 than the average P. rama, with none of the grey tinge observable 

 in the upper plumage of that bird, being much more rufous 

 both above and below. I give the measurements of these two 

 birds, and a short description, and have to observe that both on 

 dissection proved to be females. 



The first measures, whole length, 4*3125 in. ; wing 2*25 ; tail 

 nearly 2 ; bill from front -35; tarsus -6875. The other bird 

 is in whole length 4*4375 ; wing 2-3125 ; tail 1*875 ; bill from 

 front '35 ; tarsus *75. The entire upper plumage is a very pale 

 brown, with a rufous tinge; over the eye a cream-coloured 

 streak. Wing- and tail-quills somewhat darker brown, with 

 light edgings ; wing-coverts also with lighter edges ; rump 

 lighter in colour than the rest of the back. Whole of the 

 lower parts white, or, rather, cream-colour ; flanks and sides of 

 breast with a tinge of brown. Upper mandible brown ; lower 

 * [Cf. Ibis, 1867, p. 94.— Ed.] 



