^"'igls"'] Correspondence. loy 



To the Editors of " The Einuy 



Sirs, — In The Evm, vol. vii., page 36, Mr. T. Hurst mentions 

 having seen two birds along the banks of the Tamar in whose 

 identity I am afraid he was mistaken. First he mentions a 

 flock of from 20 to 30 Cape Barren Geese feeding in a stubble 

 field near the river. I am very well acquainted with the Tamar, 

 especially with its west bank — where Mr. Hurst's observations 

 were made — but never have I seen or heard of Cape Barren 

 Geese being found there. I know that several settlers have 

 flocks of the common grey Geese, and these feed along the 

 river, sometimes wandering long distances from the homesteads. 

 I am strongly of opinion it was a flock of these he saw. 



The second bird mentioned is the Stone-Plover. A flock of 

 some 30 individuals is alleged to have been seen feeding in a 

 stubble field. Here, again, I am afraid is an error in identifica- 

 tion. After the note appeared in The Emu I spoke to several 

 familiar with the district, and who would know the species if 

 seen, but they all positively asserted they had never heard of 

 or seen even a single Stone-Plover anywhere down the Tamar. 

 In this instance I cannot hazard a guess at what Mr. Hurst 

 really did see, but I feel very confident in asserting that the birds 

 were not Stone-Plovers. 



I regret the long time that has elapsed between the publication 

 of Mr. Hurst's notes and my comments on the same, but the 

 matter completely slipped my memory until Mr. Gregory 

 Mathews, to whom I had mentioned the matter, urged on me 

 the necessity of sending a note along. — I am, &c., 



FRANK M. LITTLER. 

 Launceston, 3 1/8/ 1908. 



[Having perused the above letter, Mr. Hurst replies : — " I 

 desire to state that I receive Mr. Littler's remarks in the best 

 possible spirit, but I cannot reconcile myself to the suggestion 

 that the birds I saw were other than those already stated by me. 

 In support of my statement about the Cape Barren Geese, I 

 mentioned the fact at the time to some friends (sportsmen) in 

 Launceston. They expressed no surprise at the occurrence, and 

 stated that Cape Barren Geese were not infrequently seen down 

 the Tamar. 



" Re the Stone-Plover, I heartily agree with Mr. Littler to 

 the extent that it would be a most difficult undertaking to 

 ' hazard a guess ' as to what the birds really were if not Stone- 

 Plovers." 



The editors would like to add that Mr. Hurst is an experienced 

 field observer, sportsman, and aviculturist, and unlikely to make 

 a mistake in the identification of such familiar birds. It was 

 autumn when Mr. Hurst made his observations — a season when 



