388 
Letters , Announcements, fyc. 
Sirs,— In my additional notes to Mr. Blyth’s “ Catalogue 
of the Birds of Burma,” when dealing with Otothrix hodg- 
soni, I gave a bare list of all the species of the genus Batra- 
chostomus then known to inhabit the Indian region, and 
their synonymy. With regard to two species I simply wrote 
“no. 2. B. affinis , Blyth ,—P. parvulus, Tem.,=B. castaneus, 
Hume.,” and “no. 3. B. moniliger, Layard, = B. punctatus, 
Hume.” For these identifications of two of Mr. Hume’s 
new (?) species “ the editor of the ornithological part ” (sic) 
“ of Blythes Birds of Burma ” (Str. F. iv. p. 376) has been 
assailed by Mr. Hume with a fretful levity and poverty 
of analytical perception which would have rendered it un¬ 
necessary for me to notice his remarks, had not Mr. Blanford 
addressed you a letter on the subject, published in the April 
number of f The Ibis 3 ( antea , p. 249); for it need hardly be 
said that I receive opinions formed by Mr. Blanford on orni¬ 
thological questions with the respect that those who know 
him personally or through his writings cannot fail to entertain. 
The general conclusions I had arrived at (l. c.) were formed 
after repeated and anxious study of a comprehensive series 
of specimens and of the literature on the subject. But Mr. 
Blanford, I observe, makes a statement so diametrically at 
variance with one of my principal conclusions that, if it can 
be established*, my assertion (l.c.) that B. castaneus , Hume, 
= B. affinis , Blyth, must be erroneous. Its accuracy or in¬ 
accuracy turns on the fundamental question, What is B. 
affinis , Blyth ? Mr. Blanford asserts that “ conspicuous 
white spots ” “ occur on the wing-coverts of B. affinis 33 (l. c.), 
and that the “ feathers of the breast and abdomen are pale 
isabelline, with rufous edges, which are broader on the breast,” 
but that “in B. castaneus the greater portion of the low T er 
surface is the same colour as the back, chestnut; but many 
feathers on the throat, breast, and upper abdomen are white, 
* [Since this letter has been in type we have received a letter from Mr. 
Blanford requesting that his former letter (already published in our last 
number, p. 249) should be cancelled. He has 11 looked at one of Blyth’s 
types of Batrachostomus, and found that Lord Tweeddale is right and 
Mr. Hume wrong! ”—Edd.] 
