142 Letters, Extracts, Notices, ^c. 



from end to end, and I could see close at hand the mountain 

 I explored at the Mount Waller end of the range. I cannot 

 quote figures exactly till I go thoroughly through my 

 collections ; but of plants I have over 6000 dried specimens ; 

 of skins of birds 230 ; of mammals 200 ; of reptiles, &c., in 

 spirits, 120; of Crustacea, &c., 250; of laud-shells 5000; of 

 insects 3000 ; besides a series of geological specimens." 

 These collections, Mr. Alfred Sharpe, H.B.M. Acting-Com- 

 missioner at Zomba, informs us, are now being packed for 

 transmission to England. 



Rare British Birds. — At the meeting of the Linnean 

 Society on Nov. 5th, a specimen of the Cream-coloured 

 Courser [Cursorius gallicus), which had been shot^ on 

 Salisbury Plain, at Earlstoke, on the 10th October last, was 

 exhibited by Mr. Harting, who gave particulars of the occur- 

 rence, and stated that another example of this bird had since 

 been obtained in Bouley Bay, Jersey. 



In 'Knowledge' for November, 1896 (vol. xix. p. 251), 

 we find the following account by Mr. Harry F. Witherby of 

 the occurrence in Yorkshire of a specimen of Macqueen's 

 Bustard {Otis macqueeni) : — 



" On October 1 7th I was walking along the sea-bank at 

 Easington, Yorkshire, in company with Mr. Eagle Clarke, 

 the well-known ornithologist, and Mr. Bendelack Hewetson, 

 Jun. We all at once noticed a large bird flying low over the 

 fields like an Owl, and being pursued by small birds. It 

 skimmed across a high bank, and went down in a field 

 beyond. We immediately followed it, and on arriving at 

 the bank crept up to the top and cautiously looked over. 

 There, in the middle of a stubble-field, about one hundred 

 and twenty yards from us, was what we took to be a Great 

 Bustard. We lay down and watched it with our field- 

 glasses. It seemed quite at home, and behaved perfectly 

 naturally. It strutted about with a stately gait, somewhat 

 like a Peacock, and pecked at the ground here and there in 

 an almost disdainful way. Then it began to dust itself, 

 drawing in its head and ruffling its feathers, and spreading 

 wings and tail. We watched it closely for quite ten minutes. 



