Letters, Extracts, and Notes. 403 



occupied by the Freiicli) : — "Around these delicious pools our 

 boys caught many ducks ; these birds seem to come from 

 the south ; they flop down exhausted at the edge of the 

 "water, and the villagers catch them whenever they feel in- 

 clined. The nearest open water to the south is Lake Chad, 

 three hundred and fifty miles away. 



'^ These ducks at Bilma, the many smaller birds which 

 we picked np farther north, and the Quails we saw near 

 Bndduma, prove I think sufficiently that the Sahara is 

 constantly crossed by flights of birds migrating from tlie 

 Central African countries to the north, and a systematic 

 study of the matter would^ no doubt, throw fresh light on 

 many interesting facts concerning their habits. Besides the 

 ducks we saw no birds in the oasis except the Common 

 Vulture, the Hawk^ and great numbers of the white and 

 black variety of Raven, which is also met with in Nigeria." 



So far as we know, this is a district to which no Ornith- 

 ologist has as yet ever penetrated. It could, however, we 

 suppose, be reached with the help of the French authorities 

 in Algeria. 



Introduction of Paradise-birds into the West Indies. — From 

 an article in the last number of the ' Avicultural Magazine ' 

 (ser. 3, vol. ii. p. 142) we learn that Sir William Ingram has 

 acquired an island in the West Indies (Little Tobago) for 

 the purpose of acclimatizing Paradise-birds, and thus pre- 

 serving them from the utter extinction which will certainly 

 befall them unless some steps are taken to guard them from 

 destruction. Out of 56 living examples of Paradisea apoda., 

 brought from the Aru Islands by the late Mr. Stalker, 48 

 were set free on Sir William^s uninhabited island, and 

 placed under the care of an '''intelligent Swiss sailor," 

 Robert Herold. We trust that this experiment may prove 

 successful, and that the birds may thrive and breed in their 

 new quarters. At the same time we venture to express an 

 opinion that one of the smaller Aru Islands would perhaps 

 have been a more suitable repository for these precious birds, 

 Avhich are, of course, utterly foreign to the Neotropical Avi- 

 fauna and quite ignorant of the proper food to be eaten by 

 them in the West Indies. We quite agree, however, with 



