118 Bulletin of the British 



us to-night the two principal members of the new expe- 

 dition to Socotra and Southern Arabia which will leave 

 England on the 28th inst. It will, of course, take up 

 Natural History in every branch, but with Dr. Forbes and 

 Mr. Ogilvie Grant as its leaders, and a trained taxidermist 

 in attendance, we need not fear that the interests of Orni- 

 thology will in any way be overlooked. In Socotra itself 

 much has been already done, but little or nothing has been 

 ascertained ornithologically of the southern coast of Arabia, 

 and we know, from Bent^s writings, that even in this com- 

 monly supposed barren district, bird-life is abundant in 

 certain spots, which we trust may be within reach of the 

 Expedition, 



Besides the Socotran Expedition many other explorations 

 by various members of the B. O. U. are in px'ogress or in 

 contemplation. Capt. Boyd Alexander, who has worked so 

 well in the Cape Verde Islands, is struggling through the 

 middle of Africa from the Cape to Cairo. Under present 

 circumstances he seems likely to come out successfully, and 

 will, no doubt, bring information on birds, if not specimens, 

 with him. Mr. Lort Phillips hopes to return to his favourite 

 quarters in Somali-land during the course of the present 

 winter, and expects to get together the supplementary mate- 

 rials still required for the preparation of his proposed work 

 on the birds of that most interesting country. Mr. John 

 Whitehead, who has added so much to our knowledge of the 

 zoology of the Philippines, proposes to return to the same 

 country very shortly, in order to continue his researches in 

 a field which he knows so well and in which he takes such 

 great interest. Before leaving, he has placed in the hands of 

 the Editors of ' The Ibis ' a series of valuable field-notes on 

 the birds collected during his last journey. These will 

 appear in the forthcoming volume of our Journal. Mr. Alfred 

 Sharpe, C.B., who is shortly returning to his post in Nyasa- 

 laud, promises to continue the employment of collectors in 

 different parts of that Protectorate, the zoology of which 

 he, following in the footsteps of Sir Harry Johnston, has 

 already done so much to investigate. 



