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Letters, Announcements, fyc. 
XXXIII.— Letters, Announcements, fyc. 
The following letters, addressed “ To the Editor of f The 
Ibis/ ” have been received :— 
Sir, —May I be allowed a few remarks on subjects men¬ 
tioned in the April number of f The Ibis ’ ? 
First with regard to Mr. Brooks's letter (pp. 183-185). 
Mr. Dresser has shown me that Mr. Brooks is quite correct 
in saying that the eggs of Hypolaispallida (H.&E.) ( Sail - 
caria elceica, Lindermayer) differ from those of the bird com¬ 
monly known as Sylvia rama, Sykes. In my notes on Persian 
birds, I hope to enter more fully into the relations of these 
species; but I may remark that whilst the bird of Southern 
Europe, North-eastern Africa, and Western Asia is always 
distinguishable at a glance by its broad bill and larger size 
from the Indian form, a large series of skins from Persia 
shows every intermediate gradation. Mr. Brooks is also pro¬ 
bably right, and I was wrong, about the distinction of the 
small Indian bird called Jerdonia agricolensis by Mr. Hume; 
for this species appears to have a different geographical dis¬ 
tribution from its ally outside of India. In Persia I only 
obtained Hypolais caligata v. rama, whilst in the Ural Herr 
Meves found only H. agricolensis. As to which of these forms 
is the true Sylvia rama of Sykes we must suspend our judg¬ 
ment until the type specimen now buried in a warehouse is 
again accessible. 
At the same time I cannot agree with Mr. Brooks that 
allied species do not interbreed in the wild state. I may 
recall a few instances to his recollection ; I can assure him 
they are facts and not speculations. First we have the occur¬ 
rence of intermediate forms between Hypolais pallida and H. 
caligata in Persia. Precisely the same passage takes place 
betweeen the eastern and western forms of the Orphean War¬ 
bler, Sylvia orphea and S. jerdoni, which are quite as distinct 
as the two species of Hypolais; indeed Tristram (Ibis, 1867, 
p. 86) actually records his shooting a male of one form and a 
female of the other from the same nest. Another instance is 
in the two forms of Indian Thamnohiee — T.fulicata, which is 
