2100 The Zoologist — April, 1870. 



aflev llie first autumnal moult. I am well awiiie many auibois write ibat llie plumage 

 of the young stonechal, in first winter, &c., is like the female, but such is not the case, 

 for I have found male's feathers spioulinpr amongst the well-known mottled first 

 plumage of the young, and, as in the redstart, the only difiference between old and 

 young lying in the extravagantly deep brown or tawny fringes to the feathers of the 

 latter. The plumages of Mr. Gatcorabe are correct — "During the autumn and winter 

 the tips of the feathers are long and tinged with brownish gray, &c:" this is the first 

 winter plumage of R. tithys. An adult tilhys never has a iirown fringe to the dorsal 

 plumage, but in winter the dark feathers of the back are deeply edged with hoary or 

 steel-gray (like a jackdaw's head). T think, contrary to Dr. Bree, that it would make 

 a very great diffLience, R. Carii and R. tithys breeding in distinct localities, par- 

 ticularly in the same place and at different levels. In his concluding sentence, Dr, 

 Bree says, " It will, however, lie a curious fact, if it is proved hereafter that all the 

 year-old young tithys breed in their autumnal coats for the first time.'' By " autumnal 

 coat" are we to read first plumage or first winter plumage, or the moulting and inter- 

 niediaie stage between the two? The steel-gray bird that I had caged, and which I 

 thought a male, had no rust colour on (he abdomen, which was pure white, and a 

 brighter tail than that of tilhys. So pure, perfect, and specific-like was the dress of 

 this bird, and so unlike any other redstart, male or female, that if I had killed it out of 

 Ireland I should have no hesitation in taking it for the male of a distinct species. Has 

 Carii any rust-colour on the belly? Is the male of Carii much dissimilar from the 

 female? Are all the birds called "Carii" rightly so called — are not many of them 

 genuine females of tithys? — //. Blake-Knox ; March 4, 1870. 



Early Appearance of the Wheatear. — On Saturday last (the 5th of March) I saw 

 two whealears {Saricola cenanlhe), which had been killed near Plymouth on that day; 

 and I have no doubt that the few mild days which occurred just before that time 

 tempted them to cross the Channel. Several more were seen on the coast. — John 

 Galcombe ; Stonehouse, Plymouth, March 8, 1870. 



Early Whinchuts. — On Sunday morning last, on my way to a lillK- country church 

 near here, I vyas suri)riseil to see a pair of the pretty little whinchat, male :ind female: 

 they followed me along a hedge for some distance, and once or twice I got nearly close 

 to then). Is not this very early for them ? I do not remember to have noticed them 

 in previous years before early in April. I was more surprised to see them thus early, 

 as the part was very exposed, and it was blowing a sharp north-east wind at the lime. 

 — Edivard Sweclapple ; Eynsham Paper Works, near Oxford, March 8, 1870. 



Waylail in pure While Plumage. — Did I ever mention to you that in the autumn 

 of 1868 a specimen of the wagtail (I cannot say whether Motacilla Yarrellii or 

 M. alba) was shot here in pure while plumage, without a mark of any kind? — /. tV. 

 Harris; Derwenl Bank, Trnughlon via Carlisle. 



Anthus ludovicianus vel Anlhus rufescens P — Whether Mr. Boynton's bird is 

 Anlhus ludovicianus or not I do not believe can be said positively by Mr. Reeks, 

 Mr. Gould, or any other naturalist. The reasons given by Mr. Reeks are most 

 unsatisfactory, as a few fractional difi'erences in measurements go for very little. As 

 to the bird being A. rufescens, 1 am not convinced even by the dictum of so high an 

 autlioiity as Gould. The outer tail-feathers are those of this bird certainly; but 

 then Baird mentions an instance in which the same feathers existed in A. ludovicianus. 

 Did Mr. Gould ever see a specimen of .A. rufescens in any age or plumage which was 



