246 Letters, Announcements, &c. 
be new, and which I proposed to describe. I had had the 
bird in my collection for several years, and supposed it to 
be Otus abyssinicus, Guérin, of which no specimen is known 
to exist in this country. I afterwards ascertained that the 
bird I exhibited had been described by Mr. Hume in 
‘Stray Feathers,’ 1878, p. 316, as Asio butleri, from Omara, 
on the Mekran coast of Arabia. I wish to point out, 
however, that the bird is not an Asio, but belongs undoubtedly 
to the genus Syrnium, and therefore should stand as Syrniwm 
butleri (Hume). 
Yours &e., 
H. B. Tristram. 
Durham, March 2, 1880. 
Sirs,—I have read with much interest Count Salvadori’s 
remarks on my paper on the birds of the Solomon Isles (Ibis, 
Jan. 1880, p. 180), and, with your permission, will make a 
few observations on the learned Professor’s suggestions. 
Collocalia linc, H.& M. The specimen, which I only 
doubtfully identified as C. linchi, I have sent to the Count, 
who pronounces it to be C. fuciphaga (=nidifica), differmg 
from Javan and Bornean specimens in having the underparts 
a little lighter, a feature which has been already noticed by 
Gray in the Louisiade specimens. 
HMirundo tahitica, Gm. My specimen has the tail-feathers 
completely black. 
If Myzomela pammelena is distinct from M. nigrita, my 
bird is certainly the former ; for the axillaries are jet-black in 
both specimens, and the inner margins of the remiges are not 
white, but whitish brown. 
I have compared my Piezorhynchus vidua with Mr. Ramsay’s 
description of Monarcha brodii, with which it in no way 
tallies, my bird having a broad white collar, and the lower 
back and uropygium white, while Mr. Ramsay’s bird is all 
black. 
My Myiagra cervinicauda differs from Mr. Ramsay’s M. 
pallida in having the whole under surface from the chin, and 
the under wing-coverts, chestnut, without any white whatever, 
