Letters, Extracts from Correspondence, Notices, fyc. 215 
“ Some time ago, I met a stranger who had been travelling in 
the Middle Island of New Zealand (I wonder if he will ever read 
this). Of course I was curious about the Apteryx owenii; 
and I showed him Gould's figure of the bird, and tried to make 
him comprehend some notion of its value. ( Good/ said he, 
f I know it well: we ate four of them in one pie ! 9 Alas for 
Apteryx owenii, as well as for the last surviving specimens of 
Dinornis or Palapteryx (if such there yet remain), to be put 
into a pie ! e Gather your roses while you may/ Mr. Editor, 
and collect your impennates before this pestilent civilization 
spoils and ruins everything \" 
“ Calcutta, January 19. 
“ In my small garden near the entrance of my residence is a 
tolerably umbrageous tree, the branches of which are conve¬ 
nient for hanging up dendrophytic orchids, ferns, &c. Now, 
from the foliage of this tree I have several times lately heard a 
remarkably sweet, low, continuous warbling note, and could not 
imagine what bird it came from—supposing it, however, to be 
some delicate little Becfin. This morning I was determined to 
settle the question; so I brought out my spy-glass, and, lo ! 
what should the songster prove to be but Lanius superciliosus 
(Indian variety, phcenicurus), which I had only known heretofore 
as an exceedingly harsh chatterer ? I have much pleasure there¬ 
fore in noting this redeeming point about this bird; and it is not 
the only one : for, harsh as his ordinary chattering may be, either 
that chatter, or the brisk and smart apparition of the pretty little 
sprightly Pied Wagtail ( Motacilla luzoniensis )—one or the other 
—is annually, to us here who note and observe, the earliest 
familiar token of the most welcome approach of what we desig¬ 
nate by comparison the f cold 9 season. Moreover, I have never 
observed this Lanius to be murderous; and, as regards other 
birds, I doubt if it ever is so." 
“ January 22. 
“ Babu Bajendra Mallika has just got another fine batch of 
things, including seven Victoria Crown-Pigeons ( Goura victories), 
a superb male Microglossus to match with his female (the 6 is 
considerably larger than the $), and one of those beautiful 
Ground-Pigeons ( Caloenas cruenta vel luzonica). 
