﻿592 
  Letters, 
  Extracts, 
  Notices, 
  c^c. 
  

  

  LIII. 
  — 
  Letters, 
  Extracts, 
  Notices, 
  (Sfc. 
  

   The 
  following 
  letters, 
  addressed 
  to 
  the 
  Editor, 
  have 
  been 
  

   received 
  : 
  — 
  

  

  Kilmory, 
  Loch-Gilp-Head, 
  N.B., 
  

   August 
  28th, 
  1893. 
  

   Sir, 
  — 
  It 
  may 
  interest 
  some 
  of 
  your 
  readers 
  who 
  note 
  the 
  

   occurrences 
  of 
  migrants 
  on 
  their 
  shores 
  to 
  know 
  that 
  a 
  

   Goldfinch 
  {Carduelis 
  elegans) 
  was 
  observed 
  in 
  the 
  island 
  of 
  

   North 
  Uist 
  on 
  May 
  21st, 
  1893, 
  by 
  my 
  son 
  Arthur, 
  who 
  

   resides 
  there. 
  From 
  what 
  his 
  gardener 
  states 
  there 
  was 
  

   probably 
  another 
  in 
  its 
  company. 
  

  

  My 
  son 
  also 
  sends 
  me 
  a 
  Tree-Sparrow 
  {Passer 
  montanus) 
  , 
  

   which, 
  although 
  common 
  in 
  Barra 
  and 
  South 
  Uist, 
  had 
  not 
  

   previously, 
  I 
  believe, 
  been 
  obtained 
  in 
  North 
  Uist. 
  

  

  I 
  am, 
  

   Yours 
  &c., 
  

   John 
  Campbell-Orde, 
  

  

  University 
  Museum, 
  Oxford, 
  

   August 
  20tli, 
  1893. 
  

   Sir, 
  — 
  To 
  the 
  last 
  number 
  of 
  ' 
  The 
  Ibis,' 
  I 
  contributed 
  a 
  

   paper 
  " 
  On 
  a 
  Point 
  in 
  the 
  Mechanism 
  of 
  the 
  Bill 
  in 
  Birds,^^ 
  

   being 
  then 
  under 
  the 
  impression 
  that 
  the 
  peculiar 
  movement 
  

   therein 
  described 
  had 
  not 
  previously 
  been 
  recorded. 
  Had 
  I 
  

   looked 
  more 
  carefully 
  into 
  Bronn^s 
  ' 
  Thier- 
  Reich,' 
  I 
  should 
  

   have 
  found 
  both 
  a 
  figure 
  and 
  a 
  description 
  of 
  the 
  interesting 
  

   phenomenon. 
  The 
  fig. 
  (1), 
  Taf. 
  iv., 
  is 
  that 
  of 
  a 
  section 
  of 
  the 
  

   skull 
  of 
  a 
  Snipe, 
  the 
  extent 
  of 
  the 
  upward 
  movement 
  of 
  the 
  

   bill, 
  which 
  I 
  endeavoured 
  to 
  describe, 
  being 
  indicated 
  by 
  

   dotted 
  lines 
  as 
  in 
  my 
  figure. 
  On 
  reference 
  to 
  the 
  description 
  

   (p. 
  362) 
  it 
  will 
  be 
  seen 
  that 
  my 
  interpretation 
  of 
  the 
  pheno- 
  

   menon 
  is 
  exactly 
  the 
  same 
  as 
  Selenka's. 
  Perhaps 
  the 
  only 
  

   redeeming 
  feature 
  about 
  this 
  unfortunate 
  piece 
  of 
  carelessness 
  

   is 
  that 
  I 
  have 
  now 
  brought 
  the 
  matter 
  before 
  non- 
  German 
  

   readers 
  of 
  ' 
  The 
  Ibis,^ 
  whilst 
  had 
  not 
  the 
  above-mentioned 
  

   passage 
  escaped 
  my 
  notice 
  my 
  paper 
  would 
  never 
  have 
  been 
  

   written. 
  I 
  am. 
  Sir, 
  

  

  Yours 
  &c., 
  

   W. 
  P. 
  Pycraft. 
  

  

  