288 Letters, Announcements, &;c. 



stant. I have specimens of A. rosaceus with legs, toes, and 

 claws as short and stout as any P. arboreus, and P. arboreus 

 with these same parts as long and slender as any A. rosaceus. 

 Again, I have the dark green A. rosaceus with the vinous breast 

 and with greyish-white axillaries and wing-hning, and a browu 

 P. arboreus with the edge of the wing and lining pale primrose- 

 yellow. Typical examples of both species seem unmistakably 

 distinct ; but intermediate forms of the most puzzling character 

 occur of such a nature that it really seems to me impossible to 

 decide to which species they ought to be referred. 



I have not, of course, been able to come to any final con- 

 clusion on this subject ; but I am particularly anxious to know 

 whether this excessive amount of variability which seems to cha- 

 racterize many of our Indian so-called species is equally notice- 

 able in European birds. For instance, are intermediate forms 

 between P. arboreus and A. pratensis ever met with ? or, again, 

 between either of these and A. obscurus ? Good typical speci- 

 mens, such as have been sent to me from England, are of 

 course distinct enough. What I wish to learn is whether, with 

 a large series of each from different parts of Europe, intermediate 

 or transitional forms are observable. 



Yours truly, 



Allan O. Hume. 



Etawah, December 11, 1869. 



SiR,~In my letter to you (Ibis, 1869, pp. 234-237) I find 

 that some corrections are necessarj'. 



The birds I mistook for Saxicola cenanthe are certainly S. sul- 

 tatrix, which is the larger bird and of a purer and lighter 

 brownish-grey above ; but the great distinction is the colour of 

 the under wing-coverts, which are unspotted white in S. saltatrix, 

 and black and white in S. cenanthe. 



The small bird resembling Phyllopneuste rama is a new and 

 good species"^. I understand Mr. Hume has given you full 

 particulars of it, for which he had ample materials ; for the entire 

 table was covered with specimens of both sorts. I have recently 

 sent Mr. Tristram fresh specimens of each, not skinned, but 

 • [Jerdonia agricolensis, vide supra, pp. 180-185, — Ed.] 



