PREFACE. 



Ox concluding- the Fifty-second Volume of ' The 

 Ibis ' by the issue of the Two-hundred-and-fifth 

 Number, we have again to acknowledge the unfailing 

 support that we have received from our contributors. 

 We have, in fact, been obliged to defer to the next 

 volume some of the communications lately sent to us. 

 But an octavo book, if of more than seven hundred 

 pages (besides twelve plates), becomes rather in- 

 convenient to handle. 



We may venture to call attention to Mr. Bucknill's 

 article in this volume on the Birds of Cyprus as 

 likely to be of special interest to students of the 

 Western Paleearctic Avifauna. Much, it is true, 

 was already known to us of the birds of that 

 interesting Island, but Mr. Bucknill has furnished us 

 with an excellent general summary of our knowledge 

 of its Avifauna, and, as he has returned to his official 

 work in Cyprus, will, we are sure, not fail to 

 continue his observations on its bird-life. 



Two other contributors to the present volume, 

 Mr. S. A. Neave and Mr. D. Carruthers, have 

 again left England for foreign countries : Mr. 

 Neave has gone to East Africa, Mr. Carruthers to 

 Central Asia. Both of these gentlemen are good 

 observers and energetic collectors, and Ave may 



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