J52 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. X. 



these birds for years, and the opinion expressed is the result of a mass of 

 measurements and other notes taken during a period extending over about 

 eight years. Again, he says that I have " laboured hard to make them " — my 

 specimens—" into two species." Quite the contrary. The fact is that I have 

 certain birds which are frater cuius, and certain which are speciosus, as defined 

 hy Mr. Gates, but on the other hand I have many more which can be placed 

 definitely under neither of these names, but appear to me to form the 

 connecting link between the two; and so far from trying to split my specimens 

 into two lots, I am anxious to prove that they all belong to one and the same 

 species. 



Mr. Gates seems to think that I wish to personally hurt his feelings, and 

 that I differ from him solely for this purpose. I again express my regret that 

 he should be hurt at my— or any one else's— opinion being different to his own, 

 I may add that much of what I know of ornithology has been learnt from his 

 works, and that he can have no greater ornithological admirer than myself. 

 As regards Mr, Hole's criticism, surely an ornithologist of Mr. Gates' standing 

 can afford to utterly ignore such and to treat the matter as a ludicrous one, as 

 does every one else. 



Finally, I may mention that I am sending home a series of minivets to the 

 Hon'ble W. Rothschild, and I hope that either he or Mr. E, Hartert will 

 look still further into the question. 



E. 0. STUART BAKER, f.z.s. 



No. X.— AN ANT-LIGN UP A TREE. 



1 saw something in a spider's web in a mango tree. Thinking it was the 

 owner of the premises, I bottled it straight away, without preliminary inquiry. 

 You cannot be too inquisitive about a spider beforehand if you think of catch- 

 ing him afterwards. Like the opossum he does not wait for you to shoot : he 

 comes down. Imagine my surprise on discovering that I had caught a dead 

 ant-lion. Now what was he doing in that web six feet from the ground, and 

 how did he get there ? I say an *' ant-lion, " because I believe that is the 

 popular nick-name. Will you kindly supply its proper christian name and sur- 

 name,* titles and dignities ? Professionally, as far as I have seen, he is 

 a garotter with a taste for grave digging ; for " when the cut-throat 

 ip not occupied with crime, " he buries himself, and does it as if he liked it. 



It is a little creature about as big as an undersized shirt-button, but more 

 oval than round and humped. To put it vulgarly, very like a wood-louse, 

 only hairy on the top. So much for the body. From one end of it projects 

 a neck like a turtle's. At the end of the neck is a small flat wicked-looking 



* The ant-lioDS are the larvje of those beautiful N&uropterous insects, popularly known 

 as" lace-wings." They belong to the family of Myrmeleonidce and are closely allied to the 

 termitoe. — Editor. 



