276 
Bay; and I have been informed by J. E. Gray, Esq., that the ori- 
ginal bird deseribed by Dr. Shaw was brought from the same locality. 
As far as I am able to ascertain, all the specimens of Apteryx Man- 
telli are from the North Island. 
5. Notre upon BucEROS GINGINIANUS. By Lirut. Harpy, IN 
A Letter To CoLtonet Sykes, F.R.S., F.Z.S. erc. Com- 
MUNICATED BY COLONEL SYKES. 
My pear Cotonet,—I was out shooting one day beyond Pah- 
lunpore, when a dull slate-coloured bird, about the size and figure of 
a magpie, flew past me; my beaters roared out to me to fire at it, 
but I let it go by. They made however such a fuss about it, and 
had marked it down on a tree, that I went after it and to their great 
delight shot it. They then told me that it was very valuable to 
them; that they would chop up the flesh, pickle and preserve it in 
a bottle, and sell it as a medicine to alleviate the pangs of child- 
birth, for which it was highly prized. In the course of the day two 
sepoys came to my tent and begged to have the bird, as they had 
been sent out by the Mewab expressly to shoot one, but had been 
out two days without success. They call it ‘Seerdtra.” None of 
my brother officers had ever seen or heard of it before. I kept the 
beak, and the other day turned it out with some other little trophies, 
and had it put together ; if you will keep it as a little sporting tribute 
to my father’s friend, I shall be very proud. 
Sincerely yours, 
Epmunp Harpy. 
6. Notre uron Turpus vuupinus, Harti. By Dr. Hartriavs. 
(Aves, Pl. XXXII.) 
In presenting the accompanying figure of my Turdus vulpinus, 
from Caraccas, I have little to add to the description of it in the 
Revue et Magasin de Zoologie, 1849, p..276. The only specimen 
I ever saw of this bird is in the Hamburg Museum. It is certainly 
a very aberrant species of Turdus and its American divisions, and 
would consequently justify a subgeneric separation, which however I 
leave to another. 
7. On NEw AUSTRALIAN BIRDS IN THE COLLECTION OF THE 
ZootoceicaL Society or Lonpon. By Joun Govutp, 
F.R.S. etc. 
(Aves, Pl. XX XIII. XXXIV.) 
The first three species which I am about to describe in the present 
communication formed part of a collection presented to the Zoological 
Society of London by the late Captain Owen Stanley, R.N., whose 
