298 LETTEES TO THE EDITOR. 



Captain Elwes informed me that he once received a skin, 

 which he had good grounds for believing came from the Malay- 

 Peninsula, and which he had come to the conclusion belonged to 

 this present species. This quantum valeat, possibly his skin 

 may have first come from elsewhere to Singapore, or may 

 belong to come other species of the genus of which there are 

 several. Amongst these are E. moccoa, Smith, of Southern 

 Africa, (the female of which much resembles that of our bird,j 

 E. australis of Western Australia, and E. rubida, ferruginea 

 and dominica from America. 



Ifotte to tfa (ftdttor. 



Sir, 



It may perhaps interest some of your readers to hear 

 that a young female Calornis, probably of the same species as 

 occurs in the Andamans and Nicobars, C. tytleri was captured 

 at Poonawallee, about twelve miles to the west of Madras, on 

 the 9th October last. It was feeding on a Banyan (Ficus 

 bengalensis) tree among a lot of Mynas, (Sturnia pagodorum) , 

 Barbets (Xantholama hamacephala), and other birds that usually 

 infest these trees when in fruit. 



I may also record the following interesting captures : — 



1. On the 6th March 1878 a lovely male Chrysococcyx 

 maculatus was caught with bird-lime in a garden at the Adyar, 

 a few miles to the south of Madras. This specimen has the 

 " entire breast uniform emerald green." The hen bird was 

 never found, though search was made for it. 



2. A fine adult Surniculus lugubris w T as caught on the 14th 

 October 1879 in the museum compound. It was at first taken 

 for a Drongo {Btichanga atra) ; but was found on examination 

 to be the present species. Length of wing, 5 "2 inches. 



W. F. Dique. 



Sir, 



Referring to Major Swiuhoe's letter, p. 237, in which 

 he says, " Captain Butler may be in error in statiug that Mr. 

 Murray expressed any doubts on the subject, &c," I beg to 

 inform him that I am not in error, neither has my memory 

 failed me in this instance as suggested by him. The Wood- 

 Pigeon, I referred to in the Kurrachee Museum, was certainly 

 labelled Columba livia when I saw it, otherwise I should not 

 have stated so, and how Major Swinhoe can state positively in 

 the face of my assertion " that it never could have been thus 

 labelled," is more than I can comprehend. That it may be 

 a Sind specimen is not improbable, and if it is casiotis, as Major 



