Vol. xxvii.] 94 



Mr. William L. Sclater exhibited the skin of a young 

 Coot from Tristan da Cunha, sent to him by Mr. Peringuey^ 

 Director of the South African Museum. It had been 

 obtained by Mr. Keytil, of Capetown, who had spent over a 

 year in Tristan da Cunha, and was the first example of a Coot 

 known from those islands. 



The bird was very closely allied to Fidica armillata and 

 F. ardesiaca from South America, though it presented some 

 differences fiom those species. As it was quite a young 

 birdj Mr. Sclater hesitated to describe it as new until adult 

 examples could be examined. 



Dr. N. F. TiCEHURST exhibited a male example of the 

 Black-throated Thrush {Turdus atrigularis, Temm.) which 

 had been shot at Wittersham, in Kent, on the 15th of 

 March, 1911. It had been submitted to him- in the flesh 

 for examination. This was the second example that had been 

 obtained in Kent, and constituted the fifth record for the 

 British Isles. 



Mr. D. Seth-Smith exhibited skins of two races of 

 the Long-tailed Grass-Finch [Poephila acuticauda) from 

 Australia, and made the following remarks : — 



"In the May number of the 'Avicultural Magazine^ 

 Mr. Gregory Mathews gives some short notes on a collec- 

 tion of birds from North-west Australia, in the course of 

 which he remarks: — 'With reference to the Long-tailed 

 Grass-Finch (Puephila acuticauda, Gould), there is absolutely 

 no difi"erence in the colour of the bill between birds from 

 Wyndham and those from Derby. It will be remembered 

 tliat a subspecies was described from captive birds and 

 called P. hecki by Heinroth, and P. auraniiirostris by North. 

 These tAvo latter names are only synonyms of P. acuticauda.' 



** In 1900 Dr. Heinroth noticed that a number of Long- 

 tailed Grass-Finches which had been received in Berlin 

 differed from the typical birds in having the bill bright 

 orange-red, and described the form as new under the name 

 of Popphila hecki. In 1902 J\Ir. North noticed the same 



