Correspondence.



219



Madagascar, the Epyornis maximus. The Prairie Falcon drawer

contains seventeen sets of this interesting species. The ordinal drawer

is most instructive, showing as it does eggs of thirty living orders,

amongst which we readily distinguish the Ostrich, Emu, and Tinamou.

One readily endorses the statement on p. 7 : “ We have set out to

accomplish something which has never been done before.”


The Museum asks for further contributions of eggs ; all who

send specimens may rest assured that they are supporting a cause well

worth while, and that every egg will be utilized. It is a pleasure to

record that Mr. W. Leon Dawson, the Secretary of the Museum, has

now become a member of the Avicultural Society.


G. R.



THE MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE OOLOGY

AND THE AVICULTURAL MAGAZINE .


Dear Sir,— The copy of the Avicultural Magazine gave me much

pleasure, not alone for the amiable and hopeful tone of its editorials)

but for the concrete information of bird-life which it furnished. For

example, Dr. Butter’s articles on the Rhea and the Emu recited two

facts which are of immense inportance to a student of comparative

oology. Dr. Butter gave the incubating period of the Emu as from

fifty to sixty days, and that of the Rhea (Rhea americana) at thirty-one

days. This probably means that the Rhea is a more advanced type,

a more “ evolved ” bird than the Emu. If the hypotheses of our

Dr. Bergtold is correct the reduction in length of the incubating period

in birds is correlated with elevation of body (blood) temperature, and

this in turn with structural and taxonomic advancement. It w T ould

be interesting to know from Dr. Butter what the comparative blood

temperatures of the Rhea and the Emu family really are, and to see

whether Dr. Bergtold’s theory is borne out in this instance. Both

are hardy birds and hail from hardy climes, so that the difference,

if any, would have phylogenetic rather than merely geographic

significance.


It occurs to me that Aviculture and Comparative Oology really

have much in common ; so much so that I am tempted to inquire



