Letters, Extracts, Notices, S^c. 579 



The Birds of Damma Island. — The volcanic Island of 

 Damma, one of the northernmost outliers of the Serwatty 

 group near Timor-Laut, was visited by H.M.S. surveying- 

 ship ' Penguin ' in November 1891, and Dr. P. W. Bassett- 

 Smith and Mr. James Walker made a collection of Natural 

 History specimens, of which an account is given in the July 

 number of the ' Annals '(Ann. & M. N. H. (6) xiv. p. 49) . The 

 birds, which have been determined by Dr. R. B. Sharpe, are 

 referred to 10 species, of which Zoster ops b asset ti is now 

 described as new, and Rhipidura biittikoferi had been pre- 

 viously named from specimens obtained on this occasion. 

 The species generally are stated to be " almost identical with 

 those of Timor-Laut on the one hand and Timor on tht 

 other," though some may be peculiar. 



The Jackson-Harmsworth Polar Expedition. — The new 

 Polar Expedition, led by Mr. F. G. Jackson and financed by 

 Mr. A. C. Harmsworth, which sailed from the Thames on 

 July 12th in the SS. ' Windward,' for Franz-Josefs Land 

 via Archangel and Nova Zembla, is accompanied by Mr. 

 Fisher, Curator of the Nottingham Museum, as Naturalist. 

 Mr. Fisher is, we believe, primarily a botanist, but will find 

 in Franz-Josefs Land more animal life than vegetables to 

 study. According to the Austrian explorers there are only 

 some 4 or 5 flowering plants found in Franz-Josef's Land, 

 but nearly 20 species of birds, amongst which is one Pas- 

 serine — Plectrophenax nivalis. We hope that Mr. Fisher may 

 succeed in adding to the list. 



The Destruction of Small Birds. — While on the Continent 

 the demand for '' gibier " is efi*ecting a continuous decrease 

 in the numbers of Passerine birds, in America it would 

 seem that the scarcity of native birds, especially in the 

 neighbourhood of the larger towns, is largely attributable 

 to the destruction wrought by the " army of unscrupulous 

 small boys." This wilful destruction, Dr. Shufeldt tells us, 

 has been much facilitated by the numerous comparatively re- 

 cent and cheap inventions in the way of air- and spring-guns, 



