234 Letters, Extracts from Correspondence, Notices, ^c. 



A Rail [Rallus striatus) that I examined had the remains of 

 grasshoppers in its stomach. 



I shot a female Dendrocitta sinensis, yar., the other day. It 

 was sitting in the middle of a large tree, uttering a loud hoarse 

 chatter. Its stomach contained remains of Coleoptera, and seve- 

 ral hard black seeds. 



Anthus richardi is pretty common here. Buphus coromandus 

 is scattered in small parties among cattle j a few yellow feathers 

 still remain about their heads at this season. 



The Button-Quails {Turnix) bother me immensely; but I will 

 not trouble you with any remarks till I find some clue to unravel 

 the mystery of their variations. 



If I have dwelt too long on the Snipes, pardon my garrulity. 

 It is a subject that interests me much. 



I am, &c., 



Robert Swinhoe. 



Auckland House, Willesden, 

 February 24, 1865. 

 Sir, — As Mr. A. G. More, in his paper " On the Distribution 

 of Birds in Great Britain during the Nesting-season " (Ibis, 1865, 

 pp. 1-27), does not mention Subprovince 8 as a locality for the 

 Pied Flycatcher, I copy the following from the ' Flora of Harrow ' 

 (London: 1864), p. 99:— 



''Pied Flycatcher. {Muscicapa atricapilla.) 

 " I know of one authenticated instance of the occurrence of 

 this rare bird here : a nest with three eggs was taken in the 

 Grove, about the year 1836, and the eggs are still preserved.'^ 



I am, &c., 



Charles B. Wharton. 



Sir, — I have read with much pleasure Mr. Tristram's notes 

 on the nesting of Cypselus galilceensis, Antinori, published in the 

 last Number of the 'Ibis' (page 7Q et seq.). As I am now 

 engaged in preparing some notes on the species of this genus 

 for a paper to be read before the Zoological Society, it may 

 interest your readers to learn that, by aid of specimens sub- 

 mitted to my examination by several friends and correspondents, 



