414 letters to the editor. 



Sir, 



In Vol. VII., p. 168, you noted the occurrence of 

 Halcyon chloris on the West Coast, as found by me in a man- 

 grove swamp in a village at the extreme north of the Katna- 

 giri District. I have since found a small colony of these birds 

 in a similar place close to the Ratnagiri station, some sixty- 

 five miles south of the locality from which I first obtained 

 the species,. I have also seefi a specimen on the Vashishti river 

 intermediate between these two localities. I have no doubt 

 now that it will be found to occur sparingly all down the 

 Coast in the swamps at the estuaries of the numerous creeks. 

 As the bird, however, keeps pretty close within the cover of 

 thick mangroves, and feeds only when the tide has left the 

 mud flats exposed, it easily escapes observation. 



G. ViDAL. 



Ratnagiri, 

 June BOthj 1879. 



Sir, 



When a few weeks ago I received the concluding 

 number of Vol. VII. of Stray Feathers, containing (p. 506) 

 your remarks on Pennant's ' Indian Zoology,' I resolved that, 

 on the first opportunity which occurred to me, I would try and 

 determine the points to which you called attention. Last week 

 I was at the British Museum, and — thanks to the kindness of 

 Dr. Giinther — I was able to satisfy my curiosity. The Museum 

 contains a copy of the original, but incomplete, edition of that 

 work from the Banksian Library, and for the convenience of 

 any one wishing to consult it, I may mention that its press- 

 mark is 460. b 2. It is a folio with no title page, nor is any 

 wrapper bound up with it, but on a fly-leaf is written in pencil 

 *' Indian Zoology, by Thomas Pennant, Esq.,'' and the first 

 page bears the book-stamp " Jos. Banks." The head line 

 throughout is "Indian Zoology." The descriptions are given 

 in English and French in parallel columns, and the plates are 

 coloured. The species are described and figured under Latin 

 names as follows : — 



Sciurus macrouims, p. 1, pi. i. 



Falco melanoleucus, p. 2, pi. ii. 



Otus hakhamcena, p. 3, pi. iii. 



Picus miniaceus, p. 4, pi. iv. 



Trogon fasciatus, p. 4, pi. v. 



Cuculus pyrrhoeephalus, p. 6, pi. vi. 



Columba melanocephala, p. 6, pi. vii. 



Motacilla sutoriuj p. 7, pi. viii. 



