438 Letter's, Announcements, £fc. 



bicincta and 0. phmjrii, the true Turtur meena, which I have 

 never before seen, with the rich vinaceous tinge on the breast, 

 and deep slaty-ash lower tail-coverts (the so-called T. meena 

 of Hutton and all other writers on Himalayan birds, from Al- 

 mora to Murree, is, I feel certain, nothing more than T. rupi- 

 cola), Arboricola atrigularis, Rallus indicus, Ardetta fiavicollis, 

 and A. cinnamomea, both very common there, with eggs of 

 each, and also eggs of Gallicrex cristata. Mr. Irwin also in- 

 formed me that, in the Sunderbunds, he procured both Todi- 

 rhamphus chloris and Halcyon atricapilla, and that he saw Ta- 

 dorna scutellata in the Megria, but failed, owing to its extreme 

 wariness, to procure specimens. 



Finally, I may note that Daptiun capensis must probably 

 be added to our Indian avifauna, as, through Mr. H. R. P. 

 Carter, Deputy Chief Engineer of the Madras Railway, I 

 received a specimen from Mr. Theobald, killed between Ceylon 

 and the mainland. It must have been a mere straggler ; but 

 still its occurrence as such, so far north of the equator, seems 

 worthy of record. 



Yours truly, 



Allan "Hume. 



March 8th, 1870. 

 Sir, — Number ii. of part I. of my ' Rough Notes,^ in which 

 I conclude the Raptores (including those of Ceylon, Burmah, 

 Assam, and so forth not noticed by Dr. Jerdon), is in the press, 

 and will reach you sooner or later. It contains notices of three 

 species, which are either new or new to our Indian avifauna. 

 The first is a large Sea-Eagle, which, on account of its large 

 size and massive bill (it is a true Haliaetus), I was at first inclined 

 to identify with H. pelagicus, but, I now incline to suppose, may 

 be a particularly fine H. albicilla. I have only two specimens, 

 both young, and procured by myself in Upper India. Adults will 

 probably be obtained hereafter, enabling us to make sure of the 

 species. In case it should prove new, I designate it Haliaetus 

 BROOKsi, after my valued friend Mr. W. E. Brooks, who has 

 recently procured a third example. The second is a large Kite, 

 fully as big as Milvus ictinus, — a female, measuring fully 27'5 



