524 Letters, Extracts, Notices, &;c. 



Birds of the outlyiny Islands of New Zealand. — The speci- 

 mens of Lirds collected by the Earl of Ranfurly, Governor 

 of New Zealand, during several trips round the outlying 

 islands under his jurisdiction (as alluded to in a former 

 paragraph, above, p. 358), have now been received at the 

 British Museum. They were preserved in formaline, but 

 have been very successfully converted into skins. Besides 

 two Southern Mergansers {Mergus austrulis) and the 

 Plightless Duck [Nesotietta aucklandica) , there are examples 

 of a new Cormorant {Phalacrocorax ranfurhji) and of other 

 rare and little-known species. 



Mr. Pease's Birds from Abyssinia. — During liis recent 

 journey in Somaliland and Southern Abyssinia Mr. Alfred 

 Pease, M.P., was accompanied by the excellent collector 

 Mr. Harwood, and brought back a sei'ies of 800 skins of 

 birds, which are being examined and named at the British 

 Museum. Although few of them are new to science, there 

 are many representatives of typically Abyssinian species 

 among them (sucli as li/nv lequatorialis), hardly known to 

 us except by Ktippeirs descriptions. Mr. Ogilvie Grant 

 promises us a paper on the collection for the next number 

 of this Journal. 



Neivs of Mr. A. B. Fercival, M.B.O.U.— Mi: A. B. 

 Percival, on returning from his last expedition into South 

 Arabia [an account of which appeared in ' Novitates Zoo- 

 logicae,^ vii. pp. 243-273 (190'))], obtained an appointment 

 in the East African Protectorate, and went out last summer 

 to Mombasa. As opportunity has offered, he has been con- 

 tinuing his Natural History collections, but for a considerable 

 time he has been quartered at Takaungu, a station on the 

 coast, where the country is very unsuitable for collecting. 

 He has, however, already sent home to Mr. Ogilvie Grant a 

 collection of small mammals and birds. A second colh ction 

 of birds, shortly expected, is said to contain some interesting 

 specimens, and among them an example of the very rai'e 

 M(ic}uerh(iinj)hits anderssoni. 



