Letters, Annoancemeats, <Sfc. 493 



parently males, which had been caught by some birdcatchers 

 in the neighbourhood, and luckily fell under the notice of 

 Senor Francisco de los Rios, Curator of the Instituto at Ma- 

 laga, to whom ornithologists are indebted for the know- 

 ledge of the occurrence of several scarce birds in the vicinity 

 of that city. 



I succeeded in securing these birds for Lord Lilford, and 

 trust they may survive the passage home. 



I believe this North-African bird has not hitherto been 

 recorded from Spain, and only in three or four doubtful in- 

 stances from the European continent, although, according to 

 Mr. Wright, it has been several times caught alive at Malta. 



Francisco de los Rios having met with so many rarities at 

 and near Malaga, we may hope that other North-African 

 stragglers will yet be noticed by him, as, constantly resident, 

 lie has every op])ortunity of observing them. 



Yours &c., 



L. Howard Irby. 



Bonaparte' s " Lophorhia respublicaf' — In the new volume 

 of his Catalogue of birds just issued Mr. Sharpe has transferred 

 the name Zo/?/iorm« respublica of Bonaparte (Compt. Rend.xxx. 

 p. 131) from Diphyllodes rvilsoni (to which it has been hitherto 

 always referred) to the newly discovered Diphyllodes gidielmi- 

 tertii, and has assigned to it precedence over the latter name. 

 His reason for doing this is that D. guelielmi-tertii is the only 

 species which answers Bonaparte^s diagnosis. But, as I have 

 already stated (P. Z. S. 1857, p. 6), and as Bonaparte himself 

 has confessed (Compt. Rend, xxxviii. p. 262, et Not. Orn. 

 p. 54"^), the name Lophorina respublica was founded upon the 

 same individual specimen as the Paradisea wilsom of Cassin ; 

 and consequently these two terms cannot possibly be applied 

 to two different species. 



The fact is, I believe, as I was informed upon the best autlio- 

 rity before I made the above-mentioned statement, that the 

 late Prince Bonaparte, having been allowed to examine the 



* This important reference appears to have escaped Mr. Sharpe's notice 

 altogether. 



