Letters, Extracts, and Notices. 137 



blown across, and so we get in England both Erithacus 

 rubecula rubecula and Erithacus rubecula melophilus, though 

 the former is purely an accidental visitor. 



In conclusion, J only wish once more to urge strongly that 

 the opponents of trinomials, before they criticise and run 

 down those who employ them, should for once seriously 

 consider what trinomials are. The most ardent opponents 

 ol' trinomials admit every day names such as " Pelecanus 

 fuscus, vnr. californicus" but exclaim loudly if an unfortunate 

 writer like myself ventures to leave out the abbreviated word 

 " var." for the sake of brevity, and writes the name of the 

 Western Brown Pelican, Pelecanus fuscus californicus. 



I am, Sirs, yours ike, 



Zoological Museum, Tring, Walter Rothschild. 



24tb October, L904. 



Sirs, — I am now able to give a complete account of the 

 development of Ross's (ioose, Chen rossi (see 'Ibis/ 1904, 

 j). 73). This season my female laid three eggs, and as in 

 previous years sin; had proved to be a bad mother, I took the 

 eggs away and put them under a common hen. The period 

 of incubation was 2 1 days this time, and the eggs were hatched 

 on the 10th of July. All the three eggs were hatched, but, 

 unfortunately, the hen in some way or other killed two of 

 the chicks the same day that they were born. The third 

 escaped this fate and was tenderly cared for by its foster- 

 mother. I have described in detail the colour of the down 

 in a previous letter (' Ibis/ 1903, p. 215), so that it will suffice 

 to say that the chick was a fluffy object with grey down and 

 a bright canary-yellow head. 



The little bird grew very rapidly, and when two weeks 

 old was about the size of a Japanese bantam-hen. The 

 bill was still black at this stage with a pink tip (the nail) 

 and the legs were greenish. When three weeks old the 

 feathers began to appear on the shoulders, the flanks, 

 the tail, and the wings. When four weeks old the bird 

 was about the size of a small hen. The body was almost 



