294' Letters, Extracts, Notices, 5fc. 



arranging it. It includes the wonderful head of Phoro- 

 rhacos inflatus and still more wonderful jaw of P. longis- 

 simus, which have been described and figured by Senor 

 AmeghinOj and have been referred to by Mr. Lydekker and 

 Mr. Andrews in their articles in this Journal (Ibis, 1893, 

 p. 40, and 1896, p. 1). 



Ornithology in Neiv Zealand. — It is satisfactory to learn 

 that in New Zealand, a colony which has always taken a 

 foremost place in matters of science, the general preference 

 for ornithological study does not diminish. The remarkable 

 character of the Ornis, and its intrinsic interest, may in 

 some measure account for this. We notice with pleasure 

 that the Legislature, in its recent session, passed a Bill pro- 

 tecting the fine Wood-Pigeon {Carpophaga nova-zealandice) 

 during the whole of 1896, with the proviso that every sixth 

 year shall be a strictly close season, under severe penalties, 

 for this valuable bird. This protection is a very wise step 

 on the part of the colony, seeing how much scarcer the 

 Wood-Pigeon has become, owing to wholesale slaughter, 

 during the last few years. Steps are also being taken by the 

 Colouial Government to protect the various birds on the 

 outlying islands from the indiscriminate depredations of 

 natural-history collectors. A further sign of the increasing 

 interest in the subject is the active demand for chance copies 

 of Buller^s ' Birds of New Zealand.' A copy of the second 

 edition, now long out of print, realized i€20 at Wanganui, 

 and, more recently, a copy was bought for ^21 at an auction 

 sale in Christchurch, Advertisements are frequently to be 

 seen in the colonial papers from persons desiring to purchase 

 this standard work. Although the edition extended to a thou- 

 sand copies (all of which were privately subscribed for), some 

 250 were unfortunately lost by shipwreck, on their way to 

 the colony, and this will account, in some measure, for the 

 scarcity of the book and the eager demand for it. 



Proposed neiv Zoological Work. — A recent number of the 

 ' Oruithologische Monatsberichte ' (1895, j). 196) contains 



