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eee aS 
TRANSACTIONS. 27 
pecuniary legacy shall be made over or paid to the Town Council condi- 
tionally on their undertaking in such manner as my trustees may con- 
sider satisfactory ; that the said specimens and others shall be prominently 
exhibited in said Library, if and when founded ; and that such Library 
shall be conveniently situated in the town of Dumfries, without prejudice 
to the Town Council allowing said specimens and others to be removed 
therefrom for short periods from time to time for the before-mentioned 
purposes of a Geological and Natural History Society, and in the event 
of said undertaking not being granted as aforesaid, the said specimens 
and others shall be made over by my trustees to such society, museum, 
or public institution in the town of Dumfries, as they may deem proper, 
and the said Fifty Pounds sterling Legacy shall fall into and form pavrt 
of the residue of my means and estate, to be dealt with accordingly. 
The Council requested Mr James Davidson to go to Glasgow 
and make the necessary inspection. 
lst February, 1889. 
Major BowneEn, V.-P., in the Chair. 
Donations.—Ten numbers of the Journal of the Linnean 
Society, presented by Mr Robinson Douglas ; the Journal of the 
Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society, 1888, Part II.; and the 
Zoological Record for 1887, presented by Mr David Sharp, F.R.S. 
COMMUNICATIONS. 
I. Ornitholngical Notes for 1888. By Mr Wm. HaAstines. 
The most noteworthy of the birds sent to me is Paleas Sand 
Grouse, which is of very rare occurrence in this country. It is de- 
scribed as being met with in large flocks in some parts of Asia 
Minor, feeding upon the seeds of a species of an astragulus, a small 
pea-bearing plant, the seeds of which it seems to be fond of. The 
birds are well adapted for long and very rapid flight, the wings 
being long and very sharp-pointed, the first feather in the wing 
an inch longer than the second, and the feet very small and so 
much covered with short hairy feathers that the toes are almost 
-hidden from view. There was a variety of different kinds of seeds 
found in the body of those that were sent to me, the most common 
being clover seeds and the common wild mustards. Some of them 
had their crops full of a very small black seed, but I could not say 
what it was. The birds have sometimes very long flights to take 
before they reach their feeding ground, and have equally long dis- 
