Letters, Announcements, &c. 145 
that it is a very common South-American bird of the genus 
Todopleura. 
Yours &e. 
T. SALvaAport. 
News of Major St. John.— Major St. John, whose appoint- 
ment to the new Consulate of Astrabad we alluded to in our 
last number, is still with the Candahar division of the En- 
glish army in Afghanistan, but hopes to be able to proceed 
(vid Herat) to Astrabad before long. He writes to us as 
follows :— 
“ Afghanistan, as you may suppose, is not just now the 
country that the peaceful collector would choose for his ram- 
bles; but I have done pretty well in the bird-line. Mr. A. O. 
Hume lent me a skinner; and I have sent him my birds for 
identification. The fauna is very like that of Persia, the 
common lizards being identical, viz. Agama agilis, Mesalina 
pardalis, Eremias persica, and Stellio nuptus. All the mam- 
mals are Persian except the new Marten of Blanford, and 
Putorius sarmaticus. Among the birds there are few Indian 
species not found in Persia, e. g. Hirundo filifera, Corvus law- 
rencit, Milvus govinda, Myiophonus temminckii, Parus cesius, 
and Turtur senegalensis. Passer montanus is almost commoner 
than P. domesticus (sive indicus), which is the case, I believe, 
in the Malay countries, a very different climate. In Persia 
it is rare. I have got a fineseries of Wagtails, six species, I 
think. 
Pastor roseus is a bird of passage in spring and autumn, 
and must, I think, breed in the highlands of Afghanistan. 
Altogether this part of the country is a poor place to collect 
in, much more so than Persia. There is no shooting or 
fishing. 
New East-African Birds.—In number 20 of the ‘ Ornitho- 
logisches Centralblatt ? (Oct. 15, 1879) Dr. Reichenow pub- 
lished the characters of three new birds contained in Dr. G. A. 
Fischer’s collection from Eastern Africa, Spilocorydon (genus 
SER. IV.—VOL. III. 1 
