454 Letters, Announcements, ^c. 



(Orn. Bcitr. Faun. Madag. p. 23) in referring this well-marked 

 species to the genus Bubo; but it unquestionably belongs to 

 Otus. 



M. Pollen states {loc. cit.) that he saw a still larger Horned 

 Owl in Madagascar, which he mentions in connexion with this 

 species, but he unfortunately did not succeed in obtaining a 

 specimen of it. 



I may in conclusion add that, in company with M. Verreaux, 

 I have vainly searched in the Museum of the Jardin des Plantes 

 for a specimen of Melierax musicus mentioned by Dr. Hartlaub 

 (Orn. Beitr. Faun. Madag. p. 19) as having been procured in 

 Madagascar and contained in that collection. As no examples of 

 that species appear now to exist there, except such as have been 

 obtained in South Africa, it seems probable that some accidental 

 error has occurred in Dr. Hartlaub^s remark on this subject. 



XLII. — Letters, Announcements, ^c. 



The following letters addressed "To the Editor of 'The Ibis'" 

 have been received : — 



Sir, — Some of the habits of the Red-wattled Lapwing of 

 India {Lobivanellus goensis) are so curious that, even if generally 

 known to your readers, they may bear repetition, while the 

 singular places selected by it for breeding appear to me not to 

 have been mentioned by any one. 



The judge's court-house at Manipuri is a large building with 

 a terrace-roof of plaster beaten flat. Beneath it are also the 

 courts of several other officers ; and it is frequented by from four 

 to five hundred people daily. A broad ladder leads to the top 

 of the building, which is surrounded by trees and adjoins a large 

 swampy barren piece of land such as the Lapwing loves. 



While sitting in court I have often heard Lapwings making a 

 great outcry ; but I never guessed the cause, until, on inquiry, I 

 found that, for the last three or four years at least, a pair had 

 selected the bare terrace-roof to breed. They always chose the 

 same spot for their nest — a little heap of lime rubbish about a 

 couple of feet across ; and in a very slight hollow in the top of 



