Letters, Extracts, Notices, &^c. 293 



' Catalogue of Birds ' might be enhanced thereby ; and now, 

 by leaving the contents of his museum to the nation, he 

 has enriched the British Museum with several invaluable 

 additions to its ornithological collection. 



"Thus are added — the Swinhoe collection of Chinese birds, 

 the Pryer collection of Japanese birds, the series of speci- 

 mens obtained by Hoist in the Bonin and Loo-choo Islands 

 and Formosa; and last, but not least, Seebohm's own European 

 and Siberian collections, the result of his travels in all parts of 

 Europe, and of his expeditions to the valleys of the Petchora 

 and the Yenesei. Of his collection of Charadriidse, he had 

 already presented hundreds of specimens to the Museum, 

 but by his bequest is added the portion which formed his 

 special series of the Plovers and Snipes, on which, indeed, 

 was founded his great work on the geographical distribution 

 of the Charadriidae. He had, moreover, in contemplation a 

 ' Monograph of the Turdidse, or Family of Thrushes,' and in 

 pursuance of this object he had amassed a large collection 

 of Thrushes, which now passes into the ornithological col- 

 lection of the British Museum. Nests and skeletons of 

 birds are in plenty, and a set of the Layard collection of 

 Oceanic birds and others from the Whitehead expedition to 

 KiT^a-balu, the Prjevalski and Severtzov expeditions in 

 Cenl^ral Asia, make up one of the most important donations 

 which the Trustees of the British Museum have ever received. 

 Seebohm's series of skins of the Phasianidse is one of the finest 

 in the world, and the value of the osteological collection 

 cannot be over-estimated, as it formed the material on wliich 

 were founded his many essays on the ' Classification of 

 Birds.' " 



The Ameghino Collection of Fossil Birds. — We are much 

 pleased to be able to announce that the entire collection o£ 

 fossil bird-bones of Seuor Florentine Ameghino, of Buenos 

 Ayres, described in his article ' Sur les Oiscaux fossiles de 

 Patagonie ' (Bol. 1st. Geogr. Arg. vol. xv.), has been acquired 

 by the British Museum. Mr, C. W. Andrews, of the Geo- 

 logical Department, is now engaged in unpacking and 



SER. VII. VOL. II. x 



