Orcasiimal J^^oU'.^. 119 



XVI. — Occasional Notes. 



1. Apology to Mr. J. Buckland. — We reoret having to 

 announce that the article appearing in the December 1912 

 number of tliis Journal, being Vol. viii. No. 2 (" The Value of 

 Birds to Man "), was inserted without the Author's knowledge 

 or consent, owing to a misconception, and we hereby tender 

 a public apology to the Author thereof, Mr. James Buckland, 

 and have agreed in respect of our infringement of his copy- 

 right in such work, to pay the sum of £5 ds. i)d. to the 

 West London Hospital, Hammersmith, as a Donation, and 

 also to pay his costs. 



2. On Faico rujicollis and F. horshrugln. — To my note in 

 the last number of the Journal (December 1912), on the 

 New Falcon (^Falco Iwrsbrughi) you add a footnote to the 

 effect that, as the type and only known specimens of this 

 species were shot at the nest, it is to be presumed that they 

 are adults, not young as I suggested. If they were shot at 

 the nest, i. e. sitting on it or feeding the young, this is no 

 doubt true, as, so far as I know, few, if any, of the Falconidce 

 have been found breeding in young plumage ; but in the 

 original description it is stated that " these two specimens 

 were shot by Mr. Horsbrugh near a nest, discovered by us a 

 few minutes later, in which there were three newly-hatched 

 young and an egg . . . ." This is no proof that the two 

 birds belonged to the nest; it is possible that they may have 

 been the young of a previous brood or of another nest. I 

 have examined both these specimens carefully, and the 

 plumage has all the soft appearance of birds in the first or 

 nestling plumage. Another point is that it seems to me 

 most unlikely that a new species of Falcon should be dis- 

 covered in a locality like Pretoria, where numerous collections 

 have been made by naturalists for many years. However, 

 this is only my opinion, and I would be only too glad to see 

 another species of Falcon added to the S. African Avifauna. 

 I have done coloured drawings of both tho type specimens, 



VOL. IX. 9 



