Letters, Extracts, Notices, &;c. 1G9 



journey with a collection of 401 bird-skins from this little- 

 known corner of Asia, and brought them safe, via Moscow 

 and St. Petersburg, to London. 



Dr. Bawdier Sharpe. — Dr. Sharpe is enjoying a well- 

 earned rest in the steam-yacht ' Emerald/ in which some 

 kind friends have offered him a place for a winter-tour in the 

 West Indies. The ' Emerald ' left Nice, where Dr. Sharpe 

 joined her, on Nov. 18th last, and was at Funchal, Madeira, 

 " weather-bound," on Dec. 4th. 



Winter-cruise of the ' Valhalla.' — Lord Crawford left the 

 Solent on Dec. 16th last in the R.Y.S. ' Valhalla' for a 

 winter-cruise in the West Indies, and again took with him 

 our friend Mr. M. J. Nicoll as naturalist. After calling at 

 Teneriffe, the ' Valhalla' will proceed straight to her desti- 

 nation, and will visit the various islands of the Greater and 

 Lesser Antilles. The ' Valhalla' is expected to return to 

 Cowes about the beginning of June. 



Birds in the Curtis Museum, Alton, Hants. — Two members 

 of the B. O. U. who have recently paid a visit to the " Curtis 

 Museum" at Alton do not give us a very satisfactory account 

 of the condition of the collection of Birds there. It is a pity 

 that this collection should be neglected, because it contains 

 examples of a good many local species, and Alton is only 

 four miles distant from Selborne, which is, of course, a place 

 of predominant interest to naturalists. Our friends report to 

 us that the whole series of birds, which consists of some three 

 hundred specimens mounted and kept in glass cases, requires 

 to be cleaned up, labelled, and rearranged. It would be 

 desirable to have the scientific as well as the English names 

 attached to the new labels, which should, moreover, be in print. 

 There is a fine specimen of an Owl among them, which is 

 labelled " Snowy Owl from Scotland," but is certainly one of 

 the Hawk-Owls, probably Surnia funerea, and there are other 

 specimens wrongly named. As there are several members of 

 the B.O. U. resident at Alton and in its neighbourhood, we 



SER. VIII. VOL. IV. N 



