138 Letters, Extracts, and Notices. 



entirely feathered, but the head and neck were still in down. 

 The legs were bluish and the bill was getting lighter in 

 colour. When five weeks old the whole body was feathered, 

 and when six weeks old even the flight-feathers were of their 

 full length. The first plumage may be described as follows : — 



General colour white. A brownish-grey spot on the 

 occiput, which runs down along the back of the neck. The 

 base of the neck and the mantle brownish grey, forming a 

 crescent of that colour, of which the points are turned forward 

 on each side of the base of the neck. The smaller wing- 

 coverts are of the palest brownish grey, Avith a dark spot at 

 the tip of each feather. The flanks are grey ; the large flight- 

 feathers black. The first five secondaries have a dark spot 

 in the centre; those that follow are white, with only a very 

 slight sprinkling of brownish; the three innermost have dark 

 centres, and the white edges are finely spotted with grey. 

 The tail is white, with only a suspicion of a greyish tint on 

 the middle feathers. The legs are greenish grey with pink 

 shining through. The bill is pinkish ; the lores are blackish 

 grey, which colour extends over and behind the eyes. 



When ten weeks old the bird began to moult, and the grey 



feathers of the juvenile dress were rapidly replaced by white 



ones. Also the large tail-feathers were moulted, the central 



rectrices being dropped first. The legs now began to turn 



pink in earnest, and the bill assumed its double coloration 



of a greenish base and a pink tip. 



I am, yours &c, 



Gooilust, 'sGraveland, Holland. F. E. Blaauw. 



October, 1904. 



Sirs, — I wish to point out that an unfortunate mistake 



has occurred in my remarks on the birds of Jamaica ( f Ibis/ 



1904, p. 577). The Vulture that is so common in the town 



of Kingston is the red-headed Cathartes aura, and not the 



black-headed C. atratus. 



I am, yours &c., 



10 Charles Road, St. Leonard's, Michael J. Nicoll. 



October, 1904. 



