Letters, Extracts. Notices, 6^c. 157 



with various-sized blotches of dull reddish brown, which are 

 slightly more numerous at the larger end. — D. Le Souef. 



Movements of Ornithologists. — We are pleased to hear that 

 Mr. Theodore Bent will take a naturalist with him during: 

 his new expedition this winter. He has arranged that 

 Mr. A. J. Cholmley shall accompany him, but he is going, 

 not to Dhofar, we are sorry to say, but to the country on the 

 Red Sea south of Suakim. This district has been already 

 well worked by Heuglin, Jesse, Blanford, and others, but 

 there are sure to be a lot of crumbs left, which an observant 

 collector will pick up. 



Mr. E. C. Taylor leaves for Egypt at the end of 1895, 

 and, though not intending to devote himself specially to 

 collecting birds, will be sure to make some additions to our 

 knowledge of the Egyptian avifauna. 



Mr. Perkins, the collector of the Committee for the Ex- 

 ploration of the Sandwich Islands, when last heard of was in 

 Kauai. We trust that he will soon send home such speci- 

 mens as are required for Mr. Rothschild and Mr. Scott B. 

 Wilson to finish their respective works on the Hawaiian 

 avifauna. 



A new collection of birds has just been received from 

 Mr. Alexander Whyte, Mr. H. H. Johnston's collector in 

 Nyasaland, who is again settled at his headquarters at 

 Zomba. These will be placed in Capt. Shelley's hands for 

 determination. 



The Position of the Feet of Birds during Flight — Mr. Holds- 

 worth, in his interesting paper on this subject, seems to 

 doubt whether all bii'ds of prey carry their legs extended 

 straight out behind during flight. I do not think it is likely 

 that any do not. I have personal experience of most of the 

 large Falcons, Goshawks, Spari'ow-Hawks, in both a wild 

 and trained state, and am convinced, as I liave already 

 stated in 'The Ibis,' that they invariably carry their legs 

 behind, and that when carrying their prey they still main- 

 tain the same position, so that they tow their prey after 



