but I believe it to be always present, and to be discoverable 

 on careful investigation. 



This feather seems at first sight to be supernumerary, as 

 there is no remex to which it appears to belong. Neverthe- 

 less it is always accompanied by a small feather, situated 

 beneath it, as has already been pointed out by Mr. Wray, 

 whose detecting eye it did not escape. The former of these 

 two feathers, however, he erroneously referred to the second 

 series of coverts, viz. the ''' median,^^ as it is frequently 

 placed, in fact in certain families always, on the proximal 

 side of the first metacarpal flight-feather. He concluded 

 that it belonged to 'the series of " median " coverts, where 

 it assumed the function of a " major" covert. 



The constant presence, however, of an accessory feather ^ 

 (generally in a vestigial or plumaceous condition) induced 

 me to trace its origin and value, as being the only means of 

 ascertaining any reliable data as to the value of the '' covert " 

 in question. 



At first sight this " covert "-feather presents all the 

 characteristics of a true major covert, and this opinion is 

 confirmed by its texture and coloration. I have been 

 fortunate enough to examine some fresh specimens of birds 

 in a state of moult, and there I have found this " covert " 

 behaving in exactly the same manner and following the line 

 of the other '"'major" coverts. 



I had before me a moulting specimen of a Jay, and here 

 the "• covert " made its appearance in the same manner and 



* [Appareufly this feather ia much more frequently absent than is the 

 '• covert." It will probably be found to be wanting in all Passeriformes, 

 possibly in niLiuy of the Coraciiformes, and some Cuculiformes, e. g. 

 Turacus persa. There seems little doubt but that it is absent in PsopJnU 

 crepitans, Dicholophui cn'sfatus, Opisthocomus cristcttus, Leptoptilus java- 

 nicus, and Plotus anhinga. 



Space, and the incomplete stage of my researches, renders all reference 

 to variations from the normal inadvisable here. 



The only examples of the species here enumerated that I have been 

 unubled to examine in a '• fresh "' condition, in this connection, are Opis- 

 thi)conuis cristatbii and Lcptoptilun Jdvanicu-s, and for this boon I am 

 indebted to the kindness of Dr. Sclater. — W. P. P.} 



