884 
Letters, Announcements , tyc. 
It has subsequently been applied, but incorrectly, as it seems 
to me, to some other allied species, including the Hawk of 
the Fiji Islands ( Astur rufitorques of Peale). 
Mr. Layard, following Drs. Finsch and Hartlaub, has re¬ 
ferred to this species under the name of A. cruentus in his 
interesting papers on the birds of the Fiji Islands ( anted , 
p. 144, and P. Z. S. 1875, p. 424); and 1 am therefore de¬ 
sirous of pointing out that Astur rufitorques is treated as a 
separate and distinct species by Mr. Sharpe in his recent 
work on the Diurnal Birds of Prey—in which, as it seems 
to me, he is undoubtedly correct; the descriptions of the two 
species given by Mr. Sharpe will suffice to show the differ¬ 
ences between them ; and I therefore need not here mention 
these in detail. 
I desire, however, also to allude to the Harrier of the Fiji 
Islands ( Circus approximans of Peale), which is referred to 
by Mr. Layard (again following the nomenclature of the 
Bremen ornithologists) as Circus assimilis (vide P. Z. S. 1875, 
p. 424). 
I have only seen one example of the Fijian Harrier, an 
immature male, collected by Mr. Layard, and in the posses¬ 
sion of Lord Walden, who kindly permitted me to examine it. 
This Harrier is not a specimen of the true Circus assimilis 
(C. jardinii of Gould), but resembles the immature plumage of 
Circus ivolfi , and also that of Circus gouldi, with which latter 
Mr. Sharpe identifies Circus approximans. Whether the 
Fijian Harrier is really referable to C. wolfi or to C. gouldi , 
or is distinct from both, is a point which cannot be settled 
with certainty until an adult male is procured and carefully 
examined. 
I am yours &c., 
J. H. Gurney. 
P.S. Lord Walden's Fijian Harrier appears, by the ticket 
attached to it, to have had in its stomach lizards and shrimps, 
the latter a remarkable diet for a bird of this genus. 
Sir, —A couple of examples of the rare Tern, Sterna albi- 
gena, Rupp., shot on the Bombay coast near Hurnee (?) on 
