Letters, Extracts, Notices, ^c. 659 



31st, 1899^ we extract the following very satisfactory account 

 of tlie progress of the National Collection of Birds during 

 the past Parliamentary year : — 



One of the most valuable of the donations to the Bird 

 department during the year 1898 was that made by Dr. W. 

 T. Blanford, F.R.S. 13M specimens have been selected 

 from his collection, which contained a series of birds from 

 Quetta obtained by the late Sir Oliver B. St. John, as well 

 as a set of the specimens obtained by Dr. Blanford himself 

 in Sind and Central India. These collections, especially 

 those from the last-named locality, were very valuable as 

 supplementing the great Hume collection already presented 

 to the Trustees by Mr. Allan Hume, C.B. 



Mr. R. McD. Hawker, during his recent expedition to 

 Somaliland, took with him a collector on purpose to preserve 

 specimens of Mammalia and Birds for the Museum. His 

 donation of 160 birds was a most interesting addition to the 

 Museum series, and contained the types of 4 new species 

 and examples of 9 species not previously represented in the 

 Museum Collection. 



The collection of birds bequeathed by the late Mr. Henry 

 Seebohm in 1896 has now been registered, and the speci- 

 mens have been placed in the bird-cabinets. This collection 

 consisted of 13,460 specimens, with 139 types and examples 

 of 39 species new to the collection of the British Museum. 

 The donation is one of the most important ever received 

 by the Trustees of the Museum. For several years past 

 Mr. Seebohm had given portions of his collection of birds 

 to the Museum to assist the preparation of the ' Catalogue,' 

 and the whole of his magnificent collection of eggs had also 

 been presented by him to that establishment. The series 

 bequeathed by him, however, contained the results of his 

 expeditions to Siberia and various countries in Europe, the 

 Swinhoe collection of Chinese birds, the Pryer collection 

 of Japanese birds, Doerries' collections from the Amur 

 besides others from India, Borneo, and various portions 

 of the globe. 



A further instalment of the Salvin-Godman collection. 



