Letters, Extracts from Correspondence, Notices, fyc. 211 
collection, which Mr. Stevens has kindly allowed us to inspect, 
contains specimens of Lorius superbus, Fraser (P. Z. S. 1845, p. 16), 
from the islands of Mysor or Jobie; andjEos cyanogenia, Bp., from 
the Mafors Islands; thus giving precise habitats to these two 
little-known species. The more information we obtain about the 
birds of these and similar island-groups, the more examples we 
find of the occupancy of distinct geographic areas by repre¬ 
sentative species—one of the fundamental truths of the still im¬ 
perfectly developed theory of the distribution of animal life upon 
the surface of our globe. 
A communication from Mr. Blyth, dated Calcutta, February 8, 
1859, informs us that one of the remarkable Pheasants ( Diardi - 
gallus fasciolatus), mentioned above, was then still living in a 
private menagerie in Calcutta, and “ in first-rate plumage—the 
tail very remarkable—a most gracile, elegant, and game-looking 
bird.” 
Mr. Blyth also mentions the arrival of some more birds from 
the Andaman Islands —Hcematornis cheela , Irena puella (the 
Indian race), Pericrocotus peregrinus, and an Oriolus, probably of 
a new species. It is much smaller than O. macrourus of the 
Nicobars, with a very narrow nape-mark, only half as broad as 
in the Burmese O. tenuirostris, one-third as broad as in O. in- 
dicus and O. macrourus , and one-fourth as broad as in O. chi- 
nensis. A new typical Sturnopastor , also said to be from these 
islands, he proposes to call S, niger. It is “ one-third smaller 
than S. contra, and all black, except a small whitish-grey patch 
on the centre of the belly, some white lunules on the rump, 
and some brightish yellow under the wing and orange naked 
skin round the eye.” Mr. Blyth goes on to say, “ The Burmese 
Kestrel is a very distinct new species, Tinnunculus atratus , nobis. 
I have long had one, but hesitated to describe it on one speci¬ 
men only. I still want the adult male.” 
Prof. Baird, of Washington, is intending to reissue his 
General Report on N. American Birds, as a separate publication, 
