334 Letters, Eoutracts from Correspondence, Announcements, ire. 



country. Mr. Salvin^s letter, dated May 28th, on his passage 

 out, says — " Some Swallows {Hirundo rustica) came on board 

 when we were 180 miles N.W.of the Azores ; so it is probable that 

 the bird is found in those islands. On Sunday last. May 22nd, 

 we passed close to Graciosa, and saw Terceira, Pico, St. George, 

 and Fayal. Almost every inch of Graciosa seems to be culti- 

 vated, and the hill-sides are all fenced out into fields. I have 

 not seen a single Tropic-bird {Phaethon). We expect to make 

 Sombrero before noon tomorrow, and to reach St. Thomas by 

 six o^ clock in the evening; if so, we shall have made the passage 

 in 12 days 7 hours." 



Professor Baird, of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 

 D.C., gives us a most promising account of what is now doing 

 in North America in the way of Natural History. He says — 

 " Much as has been done in previous years in the w^ay of 

 Natural History exploration in North America, the present year 

 is likely to witness more than ever. A large number of parties 

 are out in the field, and in most cases accompanied by much 

 better taxidermists than the previous ones. We have had vast 

 collections of birds brought in heretofore, but they have been 

 made by amateurs and beginners, not professional operators, and 

 very few have been fit to give away or to mount. All this will, 

 I hope, be improved this season. 



" A most important expedition is that of Mr. Kennicott to 

 the Hudson's Bay region. He is now on Lake Winnipeg, en 

 route either for Port York or Port Simpson. He will remain 

 two years or more in the country, and will make a clean sweep. 

 His special object is the eggs ; but he will collect birds too. 

 He has met with the heartiest cooperation from Sir George 

 Simpson, who has ordered all possible facilities to be given him. 



" Next, in the main Rocky Mountains are no less than four 

 well-equipped parties of Government explorers, on diff'erent par- 

 allels between our northern and southern boundary ; several 

 of them have regular taxidermists with them. There is an ex- 

 cellent collector at Port Crook, near Mount Shasta, in Northern 

 California, who has already gathered some 500 specimens, to 

 come in by next steamer. 



