124 Letters, Announcements , !^c. 



aud the bats, before it has done more mischief among the 

 birds, the better for the study of ornithology. 



Yours &c., 



Henry Seebohm. 



St. Miclisel's on Wyre, 



Garstang, Lancashire. 



Sirs, — The few following notes were taken during a short 

 travel through the Desert of Sinai last spring; and the only 

 reason of my sending them to you is that the species referred 

 to were either not observed by Mr. Wyatt {vide Ibis, 1870, 

 p. 1) or were noticed by him rarely. 



WooDCHAT Shrike. Lanius porneranus. 

 Two or three birds of this species were seen by me on 

 March 17 in the oasis of Feiran. 



Masked Shrike. Lanius nubicus. 



I saw a single bird of this species on March 27 near our 

 first encampment after leaving the Fortress of Nukhl, on our 

 way north to Gaza. 



Blub Thrush. Monticola cyanus. 



We noticed several of these birds at the head of Wady Leja 

 on our way up Jebel Katareena on March 18. 



Curved-bill Lark. Certhilauda alaudipes. 

 A pair of these birds attracted my attention on March 23, 

 just on entering the Desert of Tih. 



Yours &c., 



Hugh P, Hornby. 



5 East View, Leeds. 



December 7, 1882. 



Sirs, — Permit me, through the medium of 'The Ibis,' to 

 direct the attention of ornithologists to what I conceive is a 

 desideratum in the literature of our science — namely, a volume 

 treating of the study of birds generally, which shall be on the 

 one hand comprehensive and strictly scientific, and on the 

 other sufficiently readable for the use of the average man of 

 culture who is not specially an ornithologist. Such a manual 



