WCP4019

Letter (WCP4019.3962)

[1]

9. St. Mark's Crescent

April 29th [1867]1.

Dear Newton

I do not see where else to put Str Nestor than next Strigops as Bonaparte does.2

Its plumage has a soft owl-like character very different from that of any other Parrot I possess. It is evidently nearest the Cockatoos and seems to have a rudimentary crest. At present therefore I should put it in Strigopidae.

Schlegel3 has sent me his Tanysiptera paper4 a few days ago. I therefore return [2]5 you your copy with thanks[.]

At present many of my kingfishers are at an exhibition I have been getting up,6 but I will see about a paper when I get them back.

Yours very faithfully | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]

1
The date is established by Newton's annotation on page 2.
2
Bonaparte classified Nestor and Strigops as both members of the Strigopidae family. (Bonaparte, C. L. 1850-1857. Conspectus Generum Avium. 1. Leiden: E. J. Brill. p.8).
3
Schlegel, Hermann (1804-1884). German ornithologist, herpetologist and Director of the Leiden Museum of Natural History 1854-84.
4
Schlegel, H. 1866. Notice sur le sous-genre Tanysiptera. Nederlandsch Tijdschrift voor de Dierkunde. 3: 269-277.
5
An annotation is written in Newton's hand at the upper left-hand corner of page 2. "A. R. Wallace. Apr[il]. 29/May 1| /[18]67."
6
ARW exhibited a series of his rarest birds and butterflies in Thomas Sims' photographic gallery at Bayswater. (Wallace, A. R. 1905. My Life: A Record of Events and Opinions. 1. London, UK: Chapman & Hall, Ltd, p.404).

Editorial information

Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Letter (WCP4019.3962)]

For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon

Revision history

Transcribed by Ulguim, Priscilla Ferreira [2012-11-07] Transcription checked by Catchpole, Caroline [2013-01-15] Transcription checked by Beros, Matt [2020-06-10]

Please cite as “WCP4019,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 6 May 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP4019