Letters, Extracts fj^om Con'espondetice, Notices, <Sfc. 383 



and south appears to have been always carefully observed. The 

 first arrival in Transbaikalia, after the long winter of 1856, were 

 the Siberian Daw {Corviis [Moneduld] dauricus) on the 6th of 

 March, and the Great Bustard ( Otis tarda) ; after which ap- 

 peared St/rrhaptes paradoxus, already in pairs, Falco tinnunculus, 

 Falco asalon, Accentor montanellus, &c. On the 30th April the 

 first Swallow appeared ; but the Syrrhaptes had at that period 

 already commenced to hatch its eggs. Those who wish to 

 become acquainted with the proceedings of many of the rarer 

 European species should not fail to make themselves acquainted 

 with Herr Radde's interesting narrative of his exploration of 

 these little-known countries. 



5. American Publications. 

 We cannot expect much from our ornithological brethren on 

 the other side of the Atlantic while the present deplorable 

 struggle between the North and South continues, but our 

 readers will be glad to hear that Prof. Baird seems to pursue 

 his even course at the ' Smithsonian,^ in spite of the din that 

 must be resounding in his ears at Washington, and that his 

 letters show no symptoms of any disposition to quit the paths 

 of science. The only contribution to our branch of zoology we 

 have to notice since we last addressed our readers on "Ame- 

 rican publications,^^ is the continuation of Mr. Elliot's ' Mono- 

 graph of the Pittas,' of which two additional numbers are now 

 ready. 



XL VI. — Letters, Extracts from Correspondence, Notices, ^c. 

 We have received the following letters : — 



A VEditeur de ' Vlbis.' 



Adoa en Abyssinie, 30 Nov. 1861. 

 Monsieur, — Me voila une autre fois en route d'exploration 

 en Afrique. Parti au mois de Mai de Souez par la voie de 

 Djeddah, je me suis rendu d'abord dans I'archipel de Dahalak, 

 pres de Massowa, ou nous avons pu recueillir beaucoup d'objets 

 ornithologiques, mais, exccpte des differentes cspeces des oeufs 

 {Lanis crassirostris, Phaeton (cthereus, Ardea brevipes, A. schis- 



