Letters, Extracts, Notices, ^r. 137 



any part of it. As to the account which appeared in the 

 'Annals of Scottish Natural History/ no. 7, p. 181 (1893), 

 I would suggest only the modification that the female bird 

 " was observed to slip in under a rock," not merely " by one 

 of the writers," but simultaneously by both my companions. 

 Captain Savile Reid and Mr. G. St. Quintin. I may add 

 that the spot where the nest was found was the place which 

 Mr. F. D. Godman had specially indicated to me as the most 

 likely on his ground, and to which he had ordered his stalker to 

 take us first. Finally, I can only regret that an otherwise 

 pleasant and successful trip should have ended in so un- 

 pleasant a controversy. 



I am, 



Yours &c., 



W. R. Ogilvie Grant. 



British Museum (Natural History), 

 Cromwell Road, S.W., 



December 8tli, 1893. 



Report of the British Museum for 1892. — The issue of the 

 Parliamentary Report of the Trustees of the British Museum 

 for 1893 was delayed, like all other business last year, by 

 the protracted struggle over the Irish Bill. We were there- 

 fore unable to notice it in our last number. The chief par- 

 ticulars as regards Ornithology are now given. 



. Turning to the special report of the Department of Zoology, 

 we are informed that the arrangement of the unmounted 

 Bird-skins has proceeded with the progress of the 'Catalogue.^ 

 Besides, a great part of the specimens received since the 

 publication of volumes 9 and 10 have been incorporated, 

 placed in glass-topped boxes, and labelled in accordance with 

 the nomenclature of the '^ Catalogue.' 



The arrangement of the collection of Birds' Eggs has 

 been proceeded with by Mr. Seebohm ; 22 cabinets are 

 now completed. The whole of the Egg-collection, with the 

 exception of the eggs of Passerine Birds, which are still in 

 progress of arrangement, is therefore available for study. 



Four groups, illustrating the nesting-habits of British 

 Birds, have been completed, viz. : Hooded Crow, Carrion 

 Crow, Martin, and Swift ; and much progress has been made 



