1 14 Letters, Announcements, H^r. 



food consists of butterflies and other soft-bodied flying insects ; 

 and the only time when they exhibit any activity is when in 

 pursuit of their prey. At all other times they sit motionless 

 on some bough or branch of a tree^ generally about thirty 

 feet above the ground. The report of a gun will not cause 

 them to do more than turn their head ; and I have on more 

 than one occasion shot the one bird, while its mate has re- 

 mained sitting on the same tree half a dozen yards oflF, quietly 

 looking on.^' 



"The sound of our axes seemed to have an especial attraction 

 for the Suruqud. Frequently while some tree has been trem- 

 bling on its throne under the powerful blows of the axe, one 

 of these birds has come flying hurriedly up, and settled itself 

 comfortably on one of the branches of the tottering monarch, 

 as though it had been fleeing from some pursuer, and had 

 now reached a haven of safety. I think possibly the vibra- 

 tion of the leaves under the blows of the axe upon the trunk 

 deceives it into imagining that butterflies are fluttering about 

 round the tree ; hence its haste to come and inspect it. Cer- 

 tainly the bird seems silly and stupid enough for any thing. '^ 



Dr. Finsch's Expedition. — In company with Capt. Henry 

 Sengstake, who took a prominent part in the German Arctic 

 Expedition of 1868 and 1870, and who has recently returned 

 from the west coast of America, Dr. Otto Finsch, the well- 

 known ornithologist of Bremen, contemplates undertaking a 

 scientific voyage among the islands of the North Pacific. 

 His attention will be directed more particularly to his own 

 branch of science, while his companion will study the geo- 

 graphy and hydrography of the places visited. Dr. Finsch 

 is assisted in tlie matter by the Academy of Sciences at Berlin ; 

 but he hopes to obtain additional aid from other sources, so 

 as to enable him to charter a vessel, and thus be more inde- 

 pendent in his movements. Should his hopes be realized, he 

 proposes to visit more especially the Caroline archipelago or 

 New Philippines, the Ladrones or Marianne Islands, and the 

 Bonin or Arzobispo group, about many of the islands of 

 which next to nothing is known. Dr. Finsch thinks, and not 



