Ɛpsilon

To P. L. Sclater   14 February [1860]

Down Bromley Kent

Feb. 14th

My dear Sir

Very sincere thanks for your kind information, which is very valuable to me.— I asked G. R. Gray about the Otus & Zenaida—but whether he will give me satisfactory information I know not.—1 I had intended asking you whether the Strix punctatissima & Pyrocephalus nanus differed in any degree whatever, in size & duskiness from the same species on the Mainland.2 This would be very interesting to me; but I fear I am too troublesome.—

With sincere thanks | Yours very faithfully | Charles Darwin

Endorsement: ‘Feb. 1860’

1
See letter from P. L. Sclater, 11 February 1860. George Robert Gray, an assistant in the zoological department of the British Museum, had worked on Birds after John Gould’s departure for Australia. Gray described species of owls (Otus) and doves (Zenaida) for the volume (see Correspondence vol. 2). CD’s letter to Gray has not been found. CD seems to have pre-empted Sclater’s offer to obtain information regarding these species at the British Museum (see letter from P. L. Sclater, 11 February 1860).
2
In Birds, pp. 34–5 and 45–6, Strix punctatissima and Pyrocephalus nanus were stated to be species that were confined to the Galápagos Islands. Sclater had recently advised CD that they also occurred in Ecuador (see letter from P. L. Sclater, [3? February 1860]).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-2695,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-2695