408 
the person who shot it by its note : it was solitary, proved a female 
on dissection. Mr. Audubon has examined the specimen & pro- 
nounces it to be the T. pectoralis of the United States. 
I am just leaving home for a visit of a few weeks to Holland & 
some parts of Prussia where I hope to meet with some of our rarer 
Water Birds, among the genus Tringa, Totanus & Podiceps, breeding: 
should 1 meet with specimens of eggs which may be desiderata in 
your cabinet, I shall have pleasure in presenting you with them. 
I remain Sir your ob dt - ser vt - 
J. D. Hoy. 
P. J. Selby Esq rr - 
Twizell House near Belford 
N ORTHUMBERLAND. 
VIII. 
Redland near Bristol. Feb rt - 9 th [1S31.] 
Dear Sir, 
I take the liberty of forwarding a bird* to you, 
which does not appear to have been recognized as a British species, 
and hope you will do me the honour of accepting it. It was killed 
* This bird was undoubtedly the Hooded Merganser ( M erg us cucullatics ), 
first introduced by Selby to the list of stragglers to Britain, and the specimen, 
bearing Mr. Eton’s name on the ticket, is still in the collection at Twizell. 
In connexion with this matter, some things are to be remarked. First, the 
fact that Elton, who (as his other letters to Selby shew) was a diligent col- 
lector of birds, should have given this specimen to Selby, when the mere loan 
of it would have answered the latter’s purpose. Secondly, that a specimen 
of this purely American species should have been obtained by Elton with two 
of the as purely American species, Tringa pusilla or T. minutilla } - m - the 
occurrence of which in England had not then been recorded— said to have 
been shot at the same place. Thirdly, that the Merganser should have been 
preserved as a skin, without having been mounted— a most unusual thing at 
that period ; and fourthly, that more than a year had elapsed between the 
time ot the reputed occurrence of the bird and the transmission of its skin to 
Seloy. All these circumstances combined tend to throw some doubt on the 
statement in the text. 
