('2 Correspondence. 



VI. — Correspondence. 



The Editors, Journal of the S. A. 0. U., Pretoria. 



Dear Sirs, — In registering the specimens in the Transvaal 

 Museum collected by Mr. Noome at Blaaiiwberg, on which 

 an article appears in the present issue o£ the Journal, I 

 have found that those recorded as Si/lria nisoria have been 

 wrongly identlHeil, as also anoth(;r specimen recorded in the 

 ' Annals of the Transvaal Museum ' last year. I am advising 

 you at once in order to prevent further misconcei)tion, and 

 I hope you will be al)le to insert this in the next issue of the 

 Journal. 



The mistake arose in the following way: — The specimen 

 from Venterskroon was not sexed, and as it often happens 

 that young birds are difficult to make out on dissection, and 

 marked with a query, as in this case, I thought it not un- 

 likely that this was a young bird. I did not, however, come 

 to this conclusion until after I had failed to locate the speci- 

 men in Reichenow's ' Die Vrigel Afrikas.' In that work 

 tlje wing-measurements of Ilifpola'is oVivctovinn are given as 

 80-8G and 'S////"/a nl.sorla as 85-lM); and as the sj)eeini('ii 

 before me exceeded even those of the latter, being i>l5 mm., 

 I concluded that it could not be the former and was more 

 likely to be a young bird of the latter ; but being in doubt 

 I sent the specimen to Dr. Ueichenow for contirmalion of 

 the identity, with the result already recorded. At that time 

 the genus flj/polais was not represented in the Museum col- 

 lection, hence my difficulty ; l)ut recently Mr. Noome has 

 collected three specimens of IfijjioUiis h_i//>o}(fls in i\\(\ Trans- 

 vaal (two at Blaauwberg and one in l*r(>t<>iia Hislrict). and 

 two specimens of Si/lvia )i'Ks<>riii from luminaiiia lia\<' Keen 

 actpiired by the ]\luseum by ex(rhange, so that I am fully 

 convinced thes(! specimens from Venterskroon and lilaauw- 

 berf^ can onlv be relVired lo I/i/jxilcis oliretonnn, and not to 



