Letters, Extracts, and Notes. 167 



bird to Despott, who purchased it for his collection. I 

 enclose a photograph of the specimen in question^ which will 

 be seen to be a male bird. I was assured that there was 

 absolutely no possibility of its having escaped from con- 

 finement, but the beauty and freshness of its plumage when 

 I saw it towards the end of April would seem to be in them- 

 selves sufficient proof of this. 



I am, Sir, 

 Yours &c., 



J. KussELL Kennedy, R.N. 

 H.M.S. 'Prince of Wales,' 

 Lamlash, 12 Oct., 1913. 



Sir, — In ' The Ibis ' for October, p. 709, I observe a 



reproduction of an "" interview " from ' The Times ' in July 



last. I regret that several inaccuracies — not to be laid to 



the Editor's account — occur both in the general statements 



and in the nomenclature of the avian species referred to in 



the article, which would require not a few words to rectify 



(if it were worth them) and would only cumber valuable 



space. Permit me, therefore, to beg my fellow members not 



to charge them n,s father s sins. 



I am, Sir, 



Yours &c., 



Redcliffe, Henky O. Forbes. 



Beaconsfield, 



15 Nov., 1913. 



Sir, — In '^The Ibis' for July there appears an instalment 

 of Messrs, Mathews and Iredale's erudite Reference List of 

 the Birds of New Zealand. I have been studying it care- 

 fully to try and discover my old familiar friends -after their 

 re-christening, but it has proved a very difficult task. I 

 consider that such a List without any details of the why and 

 wherefore of the wholesale changes they propose as authori- 

 tative, is imposing a rather large order on their brethren. 



