400 Letters, Extracts, Notices, &;c. 



mandible the olive-green extends about half as far as on the 

 sides, and is smoother. It has the Torni of a triangle, with 

 its base against the head. In front of this triangle is a light- 

 orange space. The nail of the bill is whitish flesh-eolour. 

 The rest of the bill is bright flesh-eolour. 



It is worthy of note that the above-described olive-grcenish- 

 grey base of the bill looks biuuh grey in the distance, so 

 that, if not examined closely, the bill gives one the impression 

 of being flesh-coloured, with a bluish-grey base. I was there- 

 fore much surjjrised, when I took the bird up in my hands, 

 to find that the base of the bill is olive-greenish-grey. 



The iris is dark brown. The legs and feet are flesh- 

 colour. 



So far as I can judge from the voice, my bird is a female. 



Yours &:c., 



F. E. Blaauw. 



Gooihist, s'Graveland, North Holland. 

 February 3900. 



Destructimi of Grebes in California. — In 'Science' (u. s. 

 xi. p. 188) we are told " where the Gi'feibe-skins come from," 

 and how the birds are killed by thousands among their nests 

 on the lakes of Eastern Oregon and California. Three 

 species — the Western, the Eared, and the Pied-billed Grebes 

 — are found breeding in the shallow waters of Tula Lake, 

 California, and there the hunters are engaged during the 

 breeding-season in shooting the old birds, stripping the skins 

 from their breasts, and shipping them to San Francisco. 

 From 20 to 50 cents are received for each skin, and a hunter 

 makes from 20 to 80 dollars a day. At the present rate of 

 destruction the birds will not last many years. 



Ornithophi/ous Plants. — In the 'American Naturalist' for 

 December last (vol. xxxiii. p. 953), Mr, R. C. McGregor 

 shows that cross-fertilization in a garden shrub of the genus 

 Salvia (S. coccinen) is effected by the bill of a Humming- 

 bird {Calypte annte), which resorts to its flowers to obtain 

 nectar. Dr. W. Trelease had previously described a similar 



