The Zoologist— March, 1870. 20G1 



back and sides wiili various while mailiings. All of these, in the flesh, 1 saw myself 

 ai the shop of Mr. Franklin. — A.M. Browne ; 369, Westminster Place, Pershore Road, 

 JBirmitiijh'tm. 



Rulicilla lith'js and R. Carii. — I am very much obliged to Mr. Blake-Knox for 

 his criticism of my account of Ruticilla Carii in the ' Birds of Europe,' and also thank 

 him, in common witli other ornithologists, for the new facts which he has given us as 

 to the moulting of Ruticilla lithys. When my work first appeared I had a long and 

 interesting communication from Mr. Gatcombe, of Plymouth, in which he expressed 

 Lis couvictiou that the so-called R. Carii was only the gray intermediate plumage of 

 R. tithys. My remark " moulting plumage" was perhaps not sufficiently precise ; but 

 Temminck used a somewhat similar expression when he remarked that probably 

 11. Carii was only R; tithys, " qui aurait conserve jusqu'au printeraps, sa robe 

 d'automne." My remark that we were not likely to see R. tithys in " moulting 

 plumage" was a hasty expression that disregarded the fact that the said bird was a 

 winter visitant. 1 do not think any British ornithologist has had so many British 

 specimens of R. tithys, in all plumages, pass through his hands as Mr. Gatcombe, and 

 therefore I drew his attention to Mr. Blake-Knox's paper, and I append his remarks. 

 Now these remarks are very important. Mr. Gatcombe says that he does not believe 

 the male black redstart ever loses the black plumage when once attained, but during 

 the autumn and winter the tips of the feathers are long and tinged with brownish 

 gray, which becomes abraded or worn off during the spring, &c. : "I have killed old 

 male black redstarts in the dark plumage at different times throughout the whole 

 winter." It is quite possible therefore that the so-called R. Carii is the young of the 

 year of R. tithys in imperfect plumage, and that in the second year it becomes 

 R. tithys. It would make no difference in the supposition that R. Carii should breed 

 together and in different localities from the older birds, as shown by the Abbe Caire: 

 and the whole difficulty would in this case be solved. It is unfortunate that we have 

 no opportunity in this country of studying the birds during the breeding periods. If 

 the supposition I have thrown out be correct, R. tithys will be found no exception to 

 the rule which obtains in the family of moulting in autumn. It matters not whether 

 the change called " moulting" lakes place by the renewal of new for old feathers or by 

 a change in the structure of the old ones. I see Mr. Gray, in his excellent ' Hand List 

 of Birds' (part 1), has placed Carii as a synonym of tithys. It will, however, be 

 a curious and interesting fact if it is proved hereafter that all the year-old young 

 tithys breed in iheir autumnal coats for the first time. — C. R. Bree ; Colchester, 

 February 7, 1870. 



Lapland Bunting near London. — Last week I was fortunate enough to obtain a 

 fine living specimen of the Lapland bunting that was captured a few miles south of 

 London, in October, 1869. I have placed it in one of the aviaries in the Zoological 

 Gardens, where I hope it will live and thrive for a long time. — F. Bond ; 203, Adelaide 

 Road, South Hampstead, N.W., February 16, 1870. 



Song of the Chaffinch. — I have been looking over the recently published second 

 edition of ]Mr. E. H. Rodd's interesting 'List of British Birds, as a Guide to the 

 Ornithology of Cornwall' with great pleasure, but am surprised to see, under 

 "Chaffinch," the statement, "Sings occasionally in open weather throughout the 

 winter," as it is quite opposed to what I, from the observations of many years, 

 consider to be the habit of the bird as regards its song, which I believe is never 



