MEMOIR. IX 



year he published essays in the " Ibis," on the " Birds of Astra- 

 khan " (pp. 204 — 232), " Further contributions to the Ornithology 

 of Japan" (pp. 368 — 371), "Notes on the Birds of Archangel" 

 (pp. 371 — 386), and "Further notes on the Ornithology of Siberia" 

 (pp. 419 — 428). In the latter paper are remarks on the birds from 

 Krasnoyarsk, collected by a naturalist whom he had interested in 

 ornithology during his expedition to the Yenisei. A further essay 

 ("Ibis," 1882, pp. 546 — 550) is on the interbreeding of birds, a 

 subject in which the author evinced a great interest, as was shewn 

 by his presentation to the British Museum of the groups of the 

 Crows {Corone sharpii x C. corone), and the Goldfinches (Car- 

 duelis carduelis x C. major), which stand in the great hall of the 

 Natural History Museum at the present day. 



In 1883 Seebohm published some " Notes on the Birds of the 

 Caucasus" ("Ibis," 1883, pp. 1 — 37), and in that year he con- 

 ceived the idea of publishing a "Monograph of the Thrushes," 

 for which group of birds he had never lost his affection since the 

 issue of his fifth volume of the " Catalogue," in 1881. His first 

 paper on the subject, "Remarks on the Thrushes of the ^Ethiopian 

 Region," was published in the "Ibis" for 1883 (pp. 164 — 166), 

 and was followed by a small paper on " Hirundo rufula and its 

 allies " (pp. 167 — 169). But the chief event in Seebohm's life 

 was commenced in this year, viz., the publication of the first 

 volume of his " History of British Birds." In this (intr. p. xiv.) 

 begins his first acknowledgment of the influence of glacial epochs, 

 which played a great part in his subsequent writings. 



In 1884 and 1885 Seebohm wrote some essays on Japanese and 

 Chinese birds in the " Ibis." In the latter year he visited the 

 Upper Engadine. In 1886 he commenced his studies of the 

 Wading Birds, and wrote revisions of the genera Cursorius, 

 Scolopax and Himantopus, in the "Ibis." 



The year 1887 saw the publication of some more papers on 

 Palaearctic Ornithology in the "Ibis," viz., "On the Bullfinches 

 of Siberia and Japan," and "On Phasianus colchicus and its 

 allies." Pheasants were always a favourite group of birds with 

 Seebohm, and the collection of these birds which he bequeathed 

 to the British Museum is not only one of the richest in the 

 world, but is almost perfect in the way of species. A note on 

 Horsfield's Woodcock published in the "Ibis," shews also that he 



