634 Letters, Extraccs, etc. [Ibis,

XXXm.-&e&T8, &t?‘&, eh.

To the Editor of ‘ The I& ’. The State of newly-hatohed Palm-Swifts.

(Received for publication on 21 May, lQ41.)

Sm,-Stresemann (“ Aves ” in ‘Handbuch.der Zoologie ’, vii. (2), 1934, p. 837) makes the generalization for the Micropodide. that : ‘ I Young of all species breeding in holes or crevices are naked ; on the other hand, those young of Hemiproem and Cyp8durue which come into the world in open tree-nests are thickly covered with down (the latter with white down) ”.

Many newly-hatched Palm-Swifts ( C y p s i u w p m myochrm) have recently been examined a t Amani. Their nests are so extremely small that when the parents are not brooding them the birds are fully exposed to air and weather. They are hatched with perfectly naked dusky red-brown skine that rapidly darkens in colour. At about five days old, whitish points of quills begin to appear on the upper parts, and from their tips whitish downy feathering breaks out very rapidly. But until it has done so the young Palm-Swift is just as naked as the hole-dwelling Micropus mffer a t the same early stage of development.

Yours, etc., R. E. MOREAU.

Amani, Tanganyiks Territory.

T o the Editor of ‘ The Ibis ’. The Birds of Corsica.

(Received for publicetion on 16 July 1941.)

Sm,-It is important on the grounds of expense and for other obvious advantages that brevity should be demanded from contributors to ‘ The Ibis ’. While composing descrip- tions, however, the importance of lucidity should not be overlooked and, when publishing, both author and editor should not ignore the fact that the work should be composed in such a. manner so as to be readily accessible to

1941.1 Letters, Extra&, etc. 635

foreigner. We know the difliculties which confront us when using papers in other languages. To sacrifice clarity for brevity, however important the latter may be, is a mistaken policy.

I contributed to ‘ The Ibis ’, 1936, pp. 814-17, an article entitled “ Additional Notes on the Birds of Corsica ”, and MI

published it contained an example of abbreviation carried to excess. When the article was submitted to the editor, the late Dr. C. B. Ticehurst, the four species-Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Kentish Plover and Lapwing-were each accompanied by data, as follows :

CHARADRIUS HIATICULA subsp. ‘2 Ringed Plover. Identified on 19 and 20 May at the Camp dell’ Oro.

CHARADRIUS DUBIUS CURONICUS Gm. Little Ringed Plover. Identified on 19 and 20 May at the Campo dell’ Oro.

CHARADRIUS ALEXANDRINUS ALEXANDRINUS L. Kentish

Identified on 19 and 20 May at the Campo dell’ Oro.

VANELLUS VANELLUS (L.). Lapwing. Identified on 19 and 20 May at the Campo dell’ Oro.

Reference to the original article will show that data appear only once, after the last species, the others having been removed by the editor. Monsieur N. Mayaud in his ‘ Inventaire des Oiseaux de France ’, published prior to my article, quoted only one occurrence of Charadrim dubius curonicus in Corsica, and in his ‘‘ Commentaires sur 1’Ornith- ologie F’rangaise ” (‘Alauda’, 1939, p. 81) mentions two additional occurrences but both without the year. My record is not included by M. Mayaud, although my article was known to him, for he had abstracted other records from it. It is probable that the form of publication led to this omission.

Plover.

Yours, etc., WILLJAM E. GLEGG.

The Zoological Museum, “ring.