128 Letters, Announcements, &;c. 



Mr. Forbes' s Zoological Expedition up the Niger. — Mr. W. 

 A. Forbes writes from Lokoja, on the Niger, at the confluence 

 with the Bimie (September 9th) , as follows: — 



" I have been here, on and off, about a fortnight, and have 

 been up the Binue as far as Loko, about 100 miles, where I 

 got some birds. All together, up to the present, I have seen 

 or got about 80 species of birds, including examples of Scopus, 

 Plotus, Indicator, and Rhynchops ; as yet no Podica, Irrisor, 

 or Musophagidse. 



" Of Hornbills I have seen three or four species; but they 

 are very shy, and as yet I have not shot one. Ploceine birds 

 are the feature here : about one third of the species are of 

 that family ; and some I have are good ones, especially Es~ 

 trelda nigricollis and E. rara, both of them discovered by 

 Heuglin. These and other things make me fancy that we 

 are out of the true West-African region here ; the antelopes 

 seem also eastern. There are four or five here, including a 

 brown Hippotragus, and what I fancy is Alcelaphus tora. I 

 have skins and horns of these, and shall get others. Bos 

 brachyceros is common here ; but as yet I have only seen 

 spoor, not the beast itself. We saw lots of Hippopotamuses 

 coming up ; and I killed the second I shot at, but could not 

 recover the body. 



" I have also killed a large crocodile, 15 feet long, appa- 

 rently Crocodilus acutus. I have also a few fishes and reptiles, 

 and shall get more, I hope. Butterflies are not very numerous 

 at present ; the country is too open for them, being, gene- 

 rally speaking, a large grassy plain, with lots of isolated 

 trees not very big, and bushes. There is no regular thick 

 forest up here at all ; and even in the lower river, in the delta, 

 it is nothing like the neotropical forests. The weather has 

 been very dry, and the river is still rising. After leaving 

 Bidda our plans are uncertain. Mr. M. talks of going on 

 to Sokoto, if he can get away from his stock-taking ; and if 

 he goes, I shall probably go too. If not, I shall try and stay 

 some time at Ischunga, a station a little off the river above 

 Egga.'^ 



We are happy to be able to add that Mr. Forbes was iu 

 excellent health at the date of his letter. 



