532 Letters, Announcements , &;c. 



and who knew full well that no such oppoi'tunity had hitherto 

 presented itself for the acquisition of the actual types or of 

 typical specimens. It had been hoped that this entire col- 

 lection, consisting of upwards of 8000 specimens (the British 

 portion having gone to Edinburgh) , would have been acquired 

 by the British Museum of Natural History ; but we beHeve 

 that a very reasonable offer was refused, and one which even- 

 tually proved to be in excess of the total obtained at the sale. 

 Either the catalogues were sparingly circulated or else they 

 were sent to the wrong people : the result was a poor attend- 

 ance and, as a rule, ridiculously low prices. If, in addition 

 to the sale catalogue, the printed copies Avhich the auctioneers 

 held of Sir William^s detailed catalogue, consisting of 208 

 pages, had been circulated or even sold for a small sum, there 

 can be little doubt that the amount realized would have been 

 far greater. We were glad to see that both the Cambridge 

 University and the British Museum secured some valuable 

 lots ; and the buyer for the latter obtained, in a lot of unspe- 

 cified mounted birds, nothing less than the type of Bulwer^s 

 Petrel, for a few shillings. If this specimen had been cata- 

 logued, or if its existence had been known, it would probably 

 have fetched many pounds. A sadder sight than the throw- 

 ing away of this fine collection among dealers and plumassiers 

 has seldom been witnessed: but through no fault of the 

 auctioneers, who did their best with this, to them, novel de- 

 scription of property. 



New Work by Professor B. Ridgway. — We are glad to hear 

 that Messrs. J. B. Lippincott & Co. have iu the press a 

 ' Manual of North-American Birds ' by our valued Foreign 

 Member Prof. Eidgway, of Washington. The work is to 

 contain 425 illustrations, suitably executed, and, as regards 

 geographical limits, classification, and nomenclature, it will 

 be in conformity with the Code of the American Ornitho- 

 logists' Union. 



