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Letters, Announcements, fyc. 
XX.— Letters, Announcements, fyc. 
The following letters, addressed “To the Editor of f The 
Ibis/ " have been received :— 
5 Peel Terrace, Brighton, 
March 1, 1866. 
Sir, —In f The Ibis' for 1861 (p. 113) I expressed my be¬ 
lief that the Serin (Serinus hortulanus , Koch) would prove to be 
a not unfrequent visitor to the south coast of England, and I 
mentioned that several reported instances of its occurrence had 
come to my knowledge, but without dates or particulars. 
A specimen killed in this neighbourhood has long been in a 
bird-stuffer's window here; and a few days ago Mr. Swaysland 
sent for me to inspect a skin recently forwarded to him by Henry 
Byne, Esq., of Miligan Hall, Bishop's Hull, Taunton, who wished 
to know what it was. I requested Mr. Swaysland to obtain 
further details for me, and these I have in Mr. Byne's letter 
now before me. The bird was killed “ in the last week of January 
1866, by William Gorett, Esq., in a small garden surrounded 
by trees, in Bridge Street, North Town, Taunton. It perched 
on a tree and was shot for a Sparrow, but there were no other 
birds there at the time.I saw the Serin Finch the day it 
was killed." 
There is still, of course, the probability of the bird having 
escaped from captivity to be got over, but I dare say we shall 
have others to report in due course of time. The season of the 
year in this case is to be remarked—midwinter, while the in¬ 
stances recorded by Mr. Bond ( f Zoologist,' p. 7105) bear date 
20th June and October, 1859. 
It appears like a British bird, but I do not wish to manufac¬ 
ture one without more examples. 
1 am, &c., 
Geo. Dawson Rowley. 
10 Torrington Place, Plymouth, 
March 8th, 1866. ■ £>( q 
Sir, —The other day, in looking over f The Ibis' for 1862, I 
met with a Review of the * Memoir of Thomas Bewick/ the >7 23 
writer of which, in a note (at page 377), gives, so far as he can, 
