Letters, Announcements, ^c. 213 



througli the stage of a flying-organ. The function of loco- 

 motion being entirely performed by the powerfully developed 

 hind legs_, and the beak mounted on the long and flexible 

 neck being sufficient for the offices commonly performed by 

 hands,, the fore limbs appear to have degenerated in some 

 members of the group, as the Cassowary and Apteryx, to mere 

 rudiments, and to have entirely disappeared in the extinct 

 Dinornis of New Zealand, just as the hind limbs of the 

 whales disappeared when their locomotory functions were 

 transferred to the tail. This view is strengthened by the 

 great light that has been thrown on the origin of the wings 

 ()£ flying-birds by the fortunate discovery of the Archseopteryx 

 in the Solenhofen beds of Jurassic age, as in this most re- 

 markable animal, half lizard and half bird, the process of 

 modification from hand to perfect flying- wing is clearly de- 

 monstrated. The lecturer mentioned, in conclusion, that 

 specimens showing the structure of the principal forms of 

 the Aviugs of birds were being prepared for exhibition in the 

 Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road. 



The British Association Migration Committee. — We have 

 from time to time drawn attention to the inadequate support 

 given to the Committee for reporting on the Migration of 

 Birds, and we have contrasted the sum which it receives from 

 a semi-private source (,£30) with the £1000 accorded, 

 merely as a commencement, by the United States Govern- 

 ment for a similar purpose. We now publish the following 

 appeal : — 



Great Cotes, Ulceby, Lincolnshire, 

 February 1st, 1886. 



Migration of Birds. 



Dear Sir, — You are doubtless aware that in 1880 a Com- 

 mittee was appointed by the British Association for the 

 purpose of collecting observations on the Migration of Birds 

 at Lighthouses and Lightships, and that this Committee has 

 since been annually reappointed by the same Association, 

 which in 1882 granted £15, in 1883 and 1881 £20, and in 



