Letters, Extracts, Notices, S^c. 287 



Sirs, — It may be worth wliile to record the occurrence of 

 a second species of Thicknee {(Edicnemus senegalensis) in 

 Egypt, which has not been noticed by Capt. Shelley. On 

 the 11th of February, 1891, on one of the islands of the First 

 Cataract at Assouan, I shot, as it rose from some rocks close to 

 me, a bird which was easily distinguishable from CE. scolopax, 

 — a common bird throughout Egypt — by its prevailing tint of 

 grey, instead of brown, and by its lighter shade. The irides, 

 of which I made a sketch at the time, were bluish black, 

 becoming yellow only at the inner margin; the bill, thicker 

 than that of (E. scolopax, was black, except at the base on 

 each side of the middle line, where it was lemon-yellow ; the 

 lower mandible black to the extreme base, where it was faintly 

 yellow ; legs pale bluish grey. The skin was kindly named 

 for me on my return to England. 



1 feel that I ought to apologize for shooting this specimen, 

 though I believe it adds a new species to the Egyptian list, 

 in which it is not included by Capt. Shelley. My excuse is 

 that, in spite of much temptation, this was the only ornitho- 

 logical toll which I took on that day. 



Few visitors to Egypt know the beauty of these many 

 islands of the First Cataract. Their freshness and their 

 flowers and birds form a most pleasant contrast to the well- 

 trodden sandy bank of the Nile. 



I am. 



Yours &c., 



2 Manchester Square, Loudon, W. F. D. DllUlTT, M.D. 



Jan. 31st, 1896. 



Sirs, — Count Salvadori's very interesting note on Anas 

 erythrophthalmns,Wied, in the last number of 'The Ibis' 

 (p. 99), makes the position of the species quite clear, and it 

 only remains to determine whether Nyroca brunnea of South 

 Africa and N. nationi of Western South America can be 

 distinguished from it and from one another. The examina- 

 tion of fresh specimens can alone settle this point. But my 

 object in writing to you is to show that Count Salvadori has 

 not quite accurately described my first introduction to Anas 



