PREFACE. 



The Editors regret the slight delay that has taken 

 place in the issue of the final number of this Journal 

 for the present year, owing to their absence in 

 South Africa at the Meetings of the British Asso- 

 ciation for the Advancement of Science. Had not 

 Mr. Howard Saunders kindly proffered his welcome 

 assistance, which was gratefully accepted, the delay 

 might have been still more serious, as the Editors 

 could not return to England before October 6 th. 



In concluding the fifth volume of the Eighth Series 

 of ' The Ibis,' the Editors wish to thank all their 

 contributors for the valuable articles with which they 

 have been favoured. Amongst these they may venture 

 to call the special attention of Ornithologists to the 

 notes on the Birds of Khartoum written by Mr. A. L. 

 Butler, which contain much information on the times 

 of arrival and departure of the European migrants in 



