184 Mr. G. N. Lawreuce on the Genus Gymnoglaux. 



of Moscow, appears to have deserted ornithology altogether, 

 and to be immersed in literary pursuits. The splendid col- 

 lection of birds and eggs which he made in the Ural, and 

 presented to the Museum of Moscow, lies neglected and in 

 disorder, packed away indiscriminately in boxes, cupboards, 

 and drawers ; and many of them are without even a sheet of 

 paper to keep out the dust, or to protect them from moths. I 

 tried unsuccessfully to purchase this unique collection, to save 

 it from destruction. In St. Petersburg, Von Schrenk has, for 

 the time being, forsaken ornithology for the more popular 

 charms of ethnography. The ornithological curator at the 

 museum, Russow, is an enthusiastic field-ornithologist, and 

 is rapidly bringing the chaos of birds in that establishment 

 into excellent order, and will doubtless do good work in the 

 future, St. Petersburg has also an excellent amateur orni- 

 thologist in Bogdanoff. At Dorpatt, Von Middendorff has 

 retired, both from the University and from ornithology, to his 

 ancestral estates, and is writing learned treatises on the 

 breeding of horses and cattle. Prjevalsky is an excellent 

 collector, but makes no pretensions to a scientific study of 

 ornithology ; and Severtzoff, though he has, as we all know, 

 done good work, has followed too closely the steps of the 

 elder Brehm to satisfy the requirements of modern scientific 

 ornithologists, who aim at hitting the happy medium between 

 " lumpers " and " splitters," but are nevertheless ofttimes 

 sorely puzzled to know on which side of an incipient species 

 to draw the line. 



[To be continued.] 



XIV. — On the Members of the Genus Gymnoglaux. 

 By George N. Lawrence. 

 Dr. Gundlach has kindly sent me a specimen of the Owl 

 obtained by him in Porto Rico, which he described under the 

 name of Gymnoglaux krugii. He writes to me that he now 

 considers it to be " the veritable Strix nudipes, Daud." ; and 

 in this opinion I think he is correct. Comparing it with a 

 specimen of the Owl from St. Thomas, which I named G. 



