_Barbs._—Notwithstanding statements to the contrary, it seems to me impossible to recognise the Barb in Aldrovandi’s description and figures; four breeds, however, existed in the year 1600 which evidently were allied both to Barbs and Carriers. To show how difficult it is to recognise some of the breeds described by Aldrovandi I will give the different opinions in regard to the above four kinds, named by him _C. indica, cretensis, gutturosa,_ and _persica._ Willughby thought that the _Columba indica_ was a Turbit, but the eminent fancier Mr. Brent believes that it was an inferior Barb: _C. cretensis,_ with a short beak and a swelling on the upper mandible, cannot be recognised: _C._ (falsely called) _gutturosa,_ which from its _rostrum, breve, crassum, et tuberosum_ seems to me to come nearest to the Barb, Mr. Brent believes to be a Carrier; and lastly, the _C. persica et turcica,_ Mr. Brent thinks, and I quite concur with him, was a short-beaked Carrier with very little wattle. In 1687 the Barb was known in England, and Willughby describes the beak as like that of the Turbit; but it is not credible that his Barbs should have had a beak like that of our present birds, for so accurate an observer could not have overlooked its great breadth. _English Carrier._—We may look in vain in Aldrovandi’s work for any bird resembling our prize Carriers; the _C. persica et turcica_ of this author comes the nearest, but is said to have had a short thick beak; therefore it must have approached in character a Barb, and have differed greatly from our Carriers. In Willughby’s time, in 1677, we can clearly recognise the Carrier, yet he adds, “the bill is not short, but of a moderate length;” a description which no one would apply to our present Carriers, so conspicuous for the extraordinary length of their beaks. The old names given in Europe to the Carrier, and the several names now in use in India, indicate that Carriers originally came from Persia; and Willughby’s description would perfectly apply to the Bussorah Carrier as it now exists in Madras. In later times we can partially trace the progress of change in our English Carriers: Moore, in 1735, says “an inch and a half is reckoned a long beak, though there are very good Carriers that are found not to exceed an inch and a quarter.” These birds must have resembled or perhaps been a little superior to the Carriers, previously described, now found in Persia. In England at the present day “there are,” as Mr. Eaton[43] states, “beaks that would measure (from edge of eye to tip of beak) one inch and three-quarters, and some few even two inches in length.”