468 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



Sir, — To-day, the 16th September, I procured a fully grown 

 young bird of D. inornatus, together with one of the old birds. 



This young bird confirms the opinion (if further confirmation 

 were now necessary after your paper, IV., 407) that D. longi- 

 caudatus is the winter plumage of D. inornatus. 



The young one is in quite the longicandatus or rufous 

 plumage, and has the longicandatus tail. It is hardly so rufous 

 as an old winter bird, and its tail is a little shorter, but this 

 might be expected of a young bird. 



As the young bird is, in some cases at any rate, perfect longi- 

 candatus, (I do not forget that Captain Bingham got grey young 

 ones also,) this question is now finally set at rest ; since the 

 exception to which you drew attention, IV., 408, a typical 

 longicaudatus, shot in July, must have been in all probability 

 a fine young bird and not an adult as you supposed. 



Most, if not all, of the Drymoipi have a breeding plumage 

 distinct from the winter dress, and the plumage of their young. 

 The summer plumage is greyer and much less rufous, and the 

 lower parts lose their warm tint and become pale creamy white. 



The long winter tail of a rufous brown is changed for a dark 

 grey and shorter one, with light grey or whitish under surface. 



I think it will be found that every unstreaked or unstriated 

 Drymoipus has two plumages, differing much from each other. 

 The difference of plumage is more marked in the male. 



W. E. Brooks. 



Sir, — I am not sure whether I reported having obtained a 

 chestnut Bittern on the E. Narra. From Vol. VII., S. F., I 

 see (p. 171) that it has not been recorded from Sindh.* I shot a 

 male bird in full breeding plumage on the 13th September 

 1878, and on the 29th October (two days ago) I shot a young 

 bird, quite close here. I also saw a young one about a month 

 ago with Mr. Murray, in Kurrachee, who asked me what it 

 was. He said it had been shot by some one, in Kurrachee. 

 I got a very nice specimen of a male " Accipiter nisus" 

 the other day, also a female C. makrattensis which has the 

 white marks on the primaries, and the lateral tail-feathers with 

 af ulvous tip. 



Hyderabad ; S. Doia. 



3\st October 1878. 



Sir, — I have just returned from paying a visit to a large 

 breeding place of Phalacrocorax carbo. My egg-man brought me 

 some 50 odd eggs the other day, and said they belonged to what 



* But vide ante p. 177.— Ed. 



