388 Letters, Announcements, S^c. 



Sirs, — In my additional notes to Mr. Blyth's "Catalogue 

 of the Birds of Burma/^ when dealing with Otothrix hodg- 

 soni, I gave a bare list of all the species of the genus Batra- 

 chostomus then known to inhabit the Indian region, and 

 their synonymy. With regard to two species I simply wrote 

 "no. 2. B. affinis, ^]jth,=P. parvulus, Tem.,=B. castaneus, 

 Hume.," and " no. 3. B. moniliger, ljKyaYd, = B. punctatus, 

 Hume." For these identifications of two of Mr. Hume's 

 new (?) species " the editor of the ornithological part '' [sic) 

 " of Blyth's Birds of Burma " (Str. F. iv. p. 376) has been 

 assailed by Mr. Hume with a fretful levity and poverty 

 of analytical perception which would have rendered it un- 

 necessary for me to notice his remarks^ had not Mr. Blanford 

 addressed you a letter on the subject^ published in the April 

 number of ' The Ibis ' (antea, p. 249) ; for it need hardly be 

 said that I receive opinions formed by Mr. Blanford on orni- 

 thological questions with the respect that those who know 

 him personally or through his writings cannot fail to entertain. 



The general conclusions I had arrived at (/. c.) were formed 

 after repeated and anxious study of a comprehensive series 

 of specimens and of the literature on the subject. But Mr. 

 Blanford, I observe, makes a statement so diametrically at 

 variance with one of my principal conclusions that, if it can 

 be established"^", my assertion (I.e.) that B. castaneus, Hume, 

 = B. affinis, Blyth, must be erroneous. Its accuracy or in- 

 accuracy turns on the fundamental question. What is B. 

 afjinis, Blyth ? Mr. Blanford asserts that " conspicuous 

 white spots " " occur on the wing-coverts of i?. affinis " (/. c), 

 and that the " feathers of the breast and abdomen are pale 

 isabelline, with rufous edges, which are broader on the breast/' 

 but that "in B. castaneus the greater portion of the lower 

 surface is the same colour as the back, chestnut ; but many 

 feathers on the throat, breast, and upper abdomen are white, 



* [Since this letter has been in type we have received a letter from Mr. 

 Blanford requesting that his former letter (already published in our last 

 number, p. 249) should be cancelled. lie has " looked at one of Blyth's 

 types of Batrachostomus, and fouxid that Lord Tweeddale is right and 

 Mr. Hume wrong !'^ — Edc] 



