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Correspondence.



admirable accounts of his Australian trips. Since then I have built

an article upon the subject as a whole, and I trust to have it out this

year. A letter from Captain White came in my mail this morning

along with yours. All to a day, his was two months on its way here.


Am glad to learn from your letter that there are so many

interesting specimens living in the London “ Zoo ”; I’ve been a

Corresponding Member there since 1886. In the old days I was

a correspondent of all the leading British zoologists of the Victorian

era, but now nearly all of them have passed away ; there were over

500 of them on my list. They were the most prominent ones of

their day, as Sir Richard Owen, Darwin, Huxley, Sir William H.

Flower, all three of the Parkers, Sir William Turner, Alfred Newton,

his brother Sir Edward, and others.


The War Insurance contingent, 8,800 strong, which has been

quartered in the National Museum here, is moving out at last, and

the concern donates “ 125,000 to paint and wash up again ”. We

are all very glad of it.—Faithfully yours,


R. W. Shufeldt.


[We feel that all unite with us in offering congratulations to

Dr. Shufeldt. Aviculturists throughout the country will be glad to

hear of his safe recovery.—G. R.j



BEE-EATERS AND MONAULS.


A friend wrote : “ You know the Bee-eater here. Usually he

is in ones and twos. Coming back from Jaffa the other day I saw

him in hundreds : the telegraph for miles occupied by him, watching

the maize fields. One flew with us a long way, as if to show off his

bronze and blue.


“ Before I left Brinsop in November one of my 1918 Monauls

died, I think from bronchial catarrh, which finally seemed to choke

it. The bird was very strong and quite plump to the last.”


H. D. Astley.



