Letters, Extracts from Correspondence, Notices, 6fc. 543 



self with my gun, a cage, and some string, returned to the spot. 

 I tied the young ones inside the cage, and, fastening a long string 

 to the door, left a China-boy at the other end to watch for the 

 bird. When I came back from my wanderings, I found the old 

 one had been seen, but would not enter the cage. The young- 

 were uttering their cry, to which an angry purring sound re- 

 plied from the neighbouring bushes, and out trotted the old 

 bird, clucking like a hen, but in a lower note. It beat the sides 

 of the basket-cage, but would not enter, and ran backwards and 

 forwards to the bushes, calling for the chicks to follow. When 

 my man tried to catch it in his hat, it shuffled away, seldom 

 attempting to fly. It was then getting dark, and, rather than 

 lose the bird, I shot it. It was the only parent in attendance 

 on the chicks, but, curiously enough, on dissection it proved to 

 be a male. Perhaps the female had been previously destroyed, 

 or, what is more likely, she was hatching another brood; for the 

 chicks had lost their down, and feathers like those of the adult 

 were sprouting in all directions. 



This is the bird I formerly referred (Ibis, 1863, p. 398) to 

 Turnix ocellata (Scop.), but I had not then met with the adult. 

 The bird from Amoy belongs to the same group as T. maculosa, 

 and has been determined by Mr. Blyth as identical with his 

 T. hlanfordi from Moulmein. From Canton, in Capt. Blakis- 

 ton^s collection, I saw a Turnix belonging to the same group as 

 T. ocellata-, but, being an imperfect specimen, I could not with 

 any certainty refer it to any of the numerous conspecies of that 

 particular form. At Tamsuy I got a pair of adult birds, which 

 I did not sufficiently examine, but I cannot help thinking that 

 they were distinct from the Apes^-Hill bird. This, however, to 

 my astonishment, I find to be allied to T. maculosa, but quite 

 distinct from the Amoy form. It is at once to be distinguished 

 by its strong bill; and the specimen being a male, and in adult 

 plumage, I do not hesitate to recognize it as new : — 



Turnix rostrata, sp. nov. 



Bill approaching in form that of the genus Mirafra. General 

 style of plumage similar to that of T. maculosa from Amoy. 

 Upper parts brown, finely mottled with black ; some of the 



2 p 2 



