LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 527 



without further proof. You have yourself pointed out how 

 imperfect the evidence is, but still you apparently feel dis- 

 posed to accept the species as Indian. When you reflect how- 

 many years and how much labour have been necessary to 

 expel Emberiza hortulana and Phylloscopus trochilus from the 

 Indian list, and how an erroneous locality, once admitted, 

 sticks like a burr, causing all kinds of blunders, I am sure 

 you will agree with me that it is much better utterly to ignore 

 doubtful species than to admit them even with the most 

 liberal expenditure of notes of interrogation. 



What is the evidence in favour of the occurrence of Ruticilla 

 mesoleuca, Saxicola leucomela, Lamas auriculatus, Emberiza mili- 

 aria and Linaria cannabina in Sind ? There is not a single other 

 species obtained by Mr. Murray, the occurrence of which is 

 at all surprising. So many common Indian forms straggle 

 into the Indus Valley at times, that there is, so far as I can see, 

 nothing in the list more remarkable than some of the species 

 I myself obtained, nor is there any, the occurrence of which is 

 more exceptional than that of Mammalia like Felis viverrina and 

 Corvus davaticeli, both of which I know exist in Sind. Corvus 

 umbrinus, the only other western species procured by Mr. 

 Murray, I have shot on the Baluchistan Coast, where I found 

 it common, not 100 miles west of Karachi, and I am only sur- 

 prised it has not been shot in Sind before. But the other five 

 species are all said to have been procured by one native collec- 

 tor at one locality within a very short period. I feel assured 

 there is same mistake. I no more believe the birds were 

 procured in Sind than I believe that Mr. Murray found Unio 

 margaritifera or fresh water Cerites in the Manchhar lake ; of 

 course the same explanation will not hold good in both cases. 

 The supposed Unio margaritifera was perhaps U. marginalia 

 or some allied form, and the " fresh water Cerites" probably 

 Melania tuberculata, but of course I do not doubt that the 

 birds are correctly identified. All I urge is, that they be not 

 included in the list of Sind species without additional evidence. 



W. T. Blanford. 

 Calcutta, February loth, 1879. 



en 



Sir, — As regards the Pink-headed Duck, I have never shot one, 

 neither do I know any one who has.* My friend, Mr. Anderson, 

 says there is a stuffed specimen in the Museum at Lucknow. 

 He does not know who shot it, or who presented it to the 

 Museum. I have always been a sportsman, and I have shot a 

 great deal out in India and at, home, still I have never come 



* See my remarks, ante, p. 492. — Ed. 



