CORRESPONDENCE 293 



Letter from Prof. P. L. Sclater, London, Eng., to 

 Mr. Boardman 



London, Jan. 3d, 18G5. 

 Dear Sir : 



You must, I fear, consider me a very bad correspondent for not 

 having previously replied to your letter of July last. We shall 

 be glad to take advantage of your kind offer to supply some of 

 the mammals of your country which are deficient in our series, 

 but as you say, the difficulty is the transport. 



The only plan, I think, is to place a few animals on board any 

 ship you may And running into the Thames, under the charge of 

 the ship's butcher, giving him a letter to me requesting payment 

 of 10s. or 20s. per head for such of them as he shall deliver alive 

 in this country. It will be necessary to get the captain's permis- 

 sion, of course, but this you will not find difficult with your con- 

 nections. 



We receive a good many animals from the Australian col- 

 onies which are sent over exactly in this way. 



As regards my own collection which you so kindly otter to 

 assist, what I now most want are the sterna of birds of which I 

 am now forming a collection. If you could send me a few of 

 these belonging to American genera not represented in Europe 

 (such as Tyrannus, Tyranga, Podilymbus, etc.) I should be grate- 

 ful. You might send them quite in the rough as I can get them 

 polished up afterwards, but they should be correctly labelled. 



I shall soon be able to send you a new edition of our list of 

 living animals. 



Very truly yours, 



P. L. 8CLATER. 



Letter from Charles E. Aiken to Mr. Boardman 



Colorado Springs, Colo., Oct. 9, 1877. 

 Mr. Geo. A. Boardman: 



Dear Sir — I have just received your favor of the 3d inst. 

 Your Robin is certainly a very interesting specimen. The 

 transition of black to white in the plumage of birds I have never 

 heard of before, and it indicates an analogy in the causes which 



