Letters, Extracts, Notices, fyc. 387 



occasional stragglers being met with in Western Europe, 

 though this is the first recorded example killed in Great Britain. 



Phylloscopus superciliosus in the Stilly Islands. — Mr. J. 

 H. Jenkinson (Crowborough, Tuubridge Wells) sends to 'The 

 Field' (April 12th, 1890, vol. lxxv. p. 518) the following 

 letter : — 



" In ' The Field ' a short time ago it was announced in a 

 letter from Brighton that Messrs. Pratt had identified a 

 bird temporarily in their possession as ' Phylloscopus super- 

 ciliosus/ the Yellow-browed Warbler, which had been shot 

 several years ago in the Scilly Islands. More definite in- 

 formation respecting its capture was asked for, but was not 

 given, and it would probably therefore be supposed by readers 

 of ' The Field ' that some mistake had been made, and that 

 the bird in question did not belong to this rare species. It 

 is therefore satisfactory to be able to state that Messrs. Pratt 

 were quite right in believing the bird to be the ' Yellow- 

 browed Warbler/ and that it has been duly identified at the 

 Natural History Department of the British Museum. The 

 bird was shot in October, 1867, by Mr. A. Pechell, in the 

 Scilly Islands. I found on writing to him, that I had been 

 with him there at the time, and on looking back to my notes 

 of that year, 1 found that I had written a careful description 

 of the bird, and of its general appearance, &c, before it was 

 shot. The note especially was observed to be unlike that of 

 either the Goldcrest or the Firecrest, and there were other dif- 

 ferences, which made it very doubtful whether the bird be- 

 longed to either of those species. However, having been sent 

 over to Mr. Bodd, it Mas settled by him and Mr. Vingoe that 

 it was an immature Firecrest, and as such it has remained in 

 Mr.Pechell's possession ever since. A few days before this bird 

 was obtained, Mr. Pechell had shot one exactly similar to it, 

 but it was so injured by the shot that no attempt was made 

 to preserve it. I found, a day or two ago, that I had kept a 

 wing of this bird, which is of itself quite sufficient to identify 

 the bird as being of the same species as the other. These 

 two birds make the third and fourth specimens which have 



