1921,] Letters, Extracts, a7ul Notes. 181 



Breeding-places of the Black-headed Gull. 



Sir,— In a notice of Mr. Robert Gurney's paper on 

 " Breeding-stations of tlie Black-headed Gull iu the British 

 Isles/' you quote a statement made therein that "there appear 

 to be no breeding colonies in any of the central counties 

 south of Yorkshire." This is not the case, however, for a 

 flourishing colony of some 20 or 30 pairs has existed for two 

 years past on the moors not far from Baslow, in Derbyshire. 

 I may add that Mr. Gurney's assertion that " the only 

 [central] counties in which this Gull has formerly bred are 

 Staffordshire and Shropshire " is also incorrect, as there has 

 never been a colony in Shropshire. 



Yours truly, 

 7 November, 1920. F. C. R. JoURDAIN. 



Nestling Birds. 



SiRj — A regrettable error occurs iji my paper, " A Con- 

 tribution to the Study of Nestling Birds," published iu the 

 last number of 'The Ibis.' On p. 857, under my definition 

 of the term " Mesoptile," the Baru-Owl, instead of the 

 Tawny Owl, is given as a typical example of a species 

 possessing this form of plumage. The mistake arose, 

 I believe, from an editorial misinterpretation of Aluco — 

 a pardonable mistake in view of the recent nomenclatorial 

 changes in the use of this word. The error is, however, 

 very misleading and, as it largely vitiates my definition of 

 Mesoptile, I would be very much obliged if m_embers 

 of the B. O. U. would kindly correct it by making the 

 necessary MS. alteration in their copies of ' The Ibis.^ 

 The Baru-Owls, it may be noted, are among the few 

 species of Owls that possess little or no trace of this 

 peculiar juvenile plumage. 



I remain, &c., 

 Beneuden, Collingavood Ingram. 



29 October, 1920. 



