328 Letters, Extracts, Notices, ^c. 



darius) habitually lays its eggs. Mr. Lort Phillips did not 

 bring home specimens of this Crow^^ because he thought it 

 too common^ and the exact species therefore remained un- 

 certain, though Mr. Taylor surmised that it would turn out 

 to be Corvus affinis. Mr. Taylor's conjecture is quite cor- 

 rect, as is proved by a skin of this bird which our excellent 

 correspondent, Capt. Swayne, R.E., M'hose attention I had 

 called to this subject, has lately forwarded to me. 



Supposed new extinct Gigantic Bird in Australia. — In the 

 ' Proceedings of the Zoological Society ' for May 1893 

 (p. 473) will be found a preliminary account of the remarkable 

 mass of remains of Diprotodon recently discovered by Prof. 

 E. C. Stirling in the salt lagoon called " Lake Mulligan " in 

 South Australia. A rumour has reached this country that 

 amongst these remains have been found the jaws of a gigantic 

 bird, said to be a foot in length. Further particulars of this 

 wonderful discovery will be anxiously expected by ornitho- 

 logists. 



Mr. R. C. L. Perkins in the Sandwich Islands. — Mr. R. C. 

 L. Perkins, the collector for the Committee for the Zoological 

 Exploration of the Sandwich Islands, whose progress we have 

 recorded on several occasions [cf. Ibis, 1893, p. 596), com- 

 pleted his exploration of Molokai in the autumn of last year, 

 and despatched his collections to the Committee. They con- 

 sist chiefly of birds, shells, and insects. Of the former there 

 are about 125 skins, besides a few spirit specimens. Amongst 

 them are examples of a remarkable new Drepanis, which was 

 described by Prof. Newton at the meeting of the Zoological 

 Society of London on Nov. 7th last (see P. Z. S. 1893, 

 p. 690) as D. funerea. Mr. Perkins is at present working in 

 the island of Lanai, the fauna of which, already greatly de- 

 pauperated, is at present in process of rapid extermination, 

 owing to an abundance of goats. Mr. Perkins will shortly 

 proceed to Maui, but is expected to return to England in the 

 autumn to assist in working out the materials and data that 

 he has accumulated. 



* See List of Mr. Lort Phillips's Birds, by Capt. Shelley (Ibis, 1885, 

 p. 389). 



A 



