Miller’s celebrated “Notes on Ptilosis, with Special Reference to the Feathering of the Wing” (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History<\/em> 34 [1915]: 129-140) contains a lengthy discussion of the alula (or “bastard wing”) of the cuckoo bird (genus Tapera<\/em>), which is notable for its size. The broader evolutionary\/systematic significance of this characteristic may be put aside (for now), since it was my effort to follow up on Miller’s alula observations that led me to a most peculiar and roundabout “discovery” — the immediate object of the present correspondence.<\/p>\n Briefly, then: In the course of a set of Google searches of the term “alula,” I stumbled on what would appear to be a kind of magazine or samizdat publication distributed under that title. In itself, this elicited no surprise.\u00a0 I assumed it must be a minor ornithological bulletin, or perhaps a gazetteer\u00a0issued in connection with one or another of the eponymous towns of the Arab world.\u00a0 But upon closer perusal, it seemed impossible to deny that this “Alula” publication<\/em>\u00a0has some connection to the attentional activities of the Order of the Third Bird itself!<\/em> Imagine my surprise at the circuit my researches had run in this instance!\u00a0 Most bizarre.\u00a0 I include here two images from the website of the publication, placing in evidence proofs that it must hail from persons conversant with the usages of the Avis Tertia<\/em>.\u00a0 Consider:<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.estarser.net\/communiques\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Alula-Image-one.jpg\")
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