Letters, Announcements, S^c. 399 



Sirs, — Mr. Gould, in part xxix. of 'The Birds of Asia/ 

 treating of Sturnus unicolor, quotes from part xxvi. of Dresser's 

 work ' The Birds of Europe ' a passage where it is said that 

 Sturnus unicolor is " common in Italy/' This is not exactly 

 the case; and I suppose that Dresser, by a lapsus calami, 

 wrote " Italy " instead of " Sardinia." When I wrote my 

 work on the Birds of Italy I did not know of any instance 

 of S. unicolor having been met with in the Italian peninsula ; 

 but since then I heard from my friend the Marquis G. Doria, 

 of Genoa, that in 1867 two specimens of it, caught near Genoa, 

 had come into his hands. In any case the appearance of 

 S. unicolor in Italy is quite accidental, while both in Sardinia 

 and in Sicily S. unicolor is a common and stationary bird. 



I am, yours &c., 



T. Salvadori. 

 Zoological Museum, 



Turin, June 8th, 1877. 



Roraima and its Mysteries. — The ' Spectator ' speaks very 

 appositely of Roraima, in noticing Mr. Brown's recent work 

 (see antea, p. 239) : — 



" One of the greatest marvels and mysteries of the earth 

 lies on the outskirt of one of our own colonies ; and we leave 

 the mystery unsolved, the marvel uncared for ! A great table 

 of pink and white and red sandstone, ' interbedded with red 

 shale,' rises from a height of 5100 feet above the level of the 

 sea, 2000 feet sheer into the sapphire tropical sky. A forest 

 crowns it ; the highest waterfall in the world tumbles from 

 its summit, 2000 feet at one leap. As far as I can make out, 

 only two parties of civilized explorers have touched the base 

 of the table — Sir Robert Schomburgk many years ago, Mr. 

 Brown and a companion in 1869 — each at different spots. 

 Mr. Brown cannot help speculating whether the remains of a 

 former creation may not be found at the top. At any rate, 

 there is the forest on the summit. Of what trees is it com- 

 posed ? They cannot well be the same as those at the 

 base .... For millenniums this island of sandstone must have 

 had its own distinct flora. What may be its fauna? Very 



