1917-] Letters, Extracts, and Notes. 639 



as it bears no closer resemblance to tbat bird than to 

 P. flaveolus. It is, of course, just possible that it is a 

 hybrid between P. eleganft and P. flaveolus (a matter which 

 Australian naturalists might determine by breeding the 

 cross in confinement), but P. adelaidce differs from P. 

 elegans both in adult and immature dress. The call-note 

 is rather different, and when kept at liberty the two species 

 show no particular tendency to associate, while P. etegans 

 is of a far more wandering and migratory disposition than 

 its relative. 



In conclusion, I should like to ask whether naturalists 

 confirm the theory held by some Australian bird-fanciers, 

 that adult females of P. eximius may always be distinguished 

 from adult males by the retention of white spots on some of 

 the flight-feathers ? 



Yours truly, 



Y.M.C.A., Victoria Barracks, Tavistock 



Portsmoutli. 

 2 September, 1917. 



Moult of Owl's beaks. 



Sir, — I wonder whether any observations have been made 

 on the shedding of the tip of the upper mandible by the 

 Little Owl (Carine noctua) when in a wild state. I have 

 kept these birds in confinement for many years, and noticed 

 that the first bird I kept always lost the tip of the upper 

 mandible — which by that time had grown rather long — in 

 August or September. At first I thought that this might 

 only be a coincidence, but subsequently I found that other 

 individuals also regularly shed the tip of the mandible at 

 the same time of year. I am inclined to think, therefore, 

 that the autumn shedding of the tip of the upper mandible 

 is just as much a habit as the shedding of the nails is 

 with Grouse. 



The break takes place very neatly, the new tip being 

 perfectly shaped from the first. 



Yours truly, 



y.M.C.A., Portsmouth. TavISTOCK. 



13 September, 1917. __^ 



