202 Letters, Extracts, Notes, &;c. 



preliminary note, reserving full particulars for a future con- 

 tribution on the results of the year's observations. The 

 rarer birds that came under my notice during September 

 and the early days of October were : the Black- throated Chat 

 {Saxicola Occident a lis), Black-headed Bunting {Emberiza 

 melanocephala) , Grey-headed Wagtail {Motacilla viridis), 

 Red-breasted Flycatcher (Muscicapa parva), Greater Redpoll 

 {Aeunthis rostrata), Ortolan Bunting [Emberiza hortidana), 

 Lapland Bunting (Calcarius lapponicus), and the Hoopoe 

 [Upiipa ejjojis)." 



'British Birds'*. — Most of our readers, we suspect, are 

 already familiar with ' British Birds/ but nevertheless the 

 successful start of a new periodical devoted to Ornithology 

 is an event which cannot be passed over in the columns of 

 ' The Ibis/ The first number of ' British Birds ■" was issued 

 in June last, and it has continued to appear with unfailing 

 regularity on the 1st of each month ever since. The Editor 

 and the Assistant-Editor are well known to all of us, and 

 there can be little question as to their competency for the 

 task before them. We need say no more upon that point. 

 But the question is whether they can secure an unfailing 

 supply of good material in the short interval between the 

 numbers. This remains to be proved, but for the present 

 they seem to have received the support of many of the best- 

 known names in British ornithology. The late Howard 

 Saunders was a contributor to the first number ; in other 

 numbers we observe the names of Mr. Walter B.othschild, 

 Mr. F. C. Selous, Mr. F. Yi. Headley, and Mr. N. C. Tice- 

 liurst, all well-known authorities on the ' British List/ so 

 there can be no doubt that up to the present the Editors 

 have adequate assistance, and we trust they will continue to 

 obtain it. 



The illustrations are a good feature in ' British Birds,' 



* ' British Birds, an Illustrated Magazine devoted to the Birds on the 

 British List.' Edited by H. E. Witherby, F.Z.S., M.B.O.U., assisted by 

 W. P. Pycraft, A.L.S., M.B.O.U. Nos. 1-7. June-December, 1907. 

 I^ondou : Witherbv & Co. 



