Letters, Extracts, Notices, ^c. ^77 



The chestnut colour of the forehead^ cheeks^ superciliary 

 streak, and throat is very bright in these Spanish examples, 

 but can be matched in birds from the south of Europe, 

 notably in a bird of mine from the Naples market. The 

 horse-shoe on the breast is certainly small and very dark, 

 but that can be matched in Hungarian examples. Many 

 Partridges from different localities have a faint hair- streak of 

 dark brown near the tip of the shaft of the tail-feathers, but 

 in one of the Ponferrada females this is developed into a 

 dark spot to an unparalleled extent. The male from the 

 same locality shows no trace of this streak, so that it cannot 

 be considered constant. Whether, however, the Spanish form 

 is entitled to specific distinction or not must, as has been said, 

 remain a matter of opinion. 



Dr. V. L. Seoane, in the ' Mdmoires de la Societe Zoologique 

 de France' (1894, p. 93), claims, inter alia, to have already 

 named this Spanish bird Perdix cinerea charrela, and I have 

 before me a pamphlet in which that title appears, dated La 

 Corufia, 1870 — 22 years before Dr. Reichenow's. Upon the 

 validity of this claim, however, reference may advantage- 

 ously be made to Mr. C. Davies Sherborn's remarks in Ann. 

 & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1894, xiv. p. 154. 



I am, Sir, 



Yours &c., 



August 1st, 1894. Hov^TARD Saunders. 



The new extinct Gigantic Bird of Australia. — In the 

 number of this Journal for April last (above p. 328) we 

 mentioned from hearsay the supposed occurrence of a new 

 extinct gigantic bird in the Diprotodon beds of Lake Calla- 

 bonna (formerly Mulligan) in South Australia, which Dr. 

 Stirling is now exploring. In a recent number of ' Nature ' 

 (vol. 1. p. 206, 1894) Dr. Stirling gives a preliminary account 

 of his discoveries, from which we reprint the following pas- 

 sages relating to this wonderful new bird : — 



" Of the great Birds, which appear to be all of one species 

 and nearly of one size, we have, as stated, two skulls of 

 extraordinary size, in passable condition ; but, as these have 



