354 Letters, Notes, &^'C. 



Particularh noticeable is tlie black Starling, Amydrus tris- 

 trami] it resembles the Alpine Cliough in appearance, and 

 animates the steep rocks with its shrill piping. Moreover, 

 there are to be observed Bubo ascalaphus, Lanius ancheri, 

 Riparia rupestris ohsoleta, and Dromolcea leucopyga. Carpo- 

 dacus synaicus keeps (even during the nesting-season) together 

 in small flocks. Ammomanes deserti fratercula and Corvus 

 afinis, as well as Gypaetus, were met with, but specimens of 

 the last could not be obtained. Phcenicurus mesoleucus is 

 perhaps a breeding bird of this district — at all events, it was 

 observed in spring. Besides these, very many migratory 

 birds were observed, and on the 1st of May upwards of 

 1.200 Storks were seen in one flock. 



On the whole, it may be said that in general characters 

 the birds of the Siuaitic Peninsula are Asiatic and closely 

 allied to those of Palestine, but have nothing in common 

 with those of Egypt. The district furnishes a splendid road 

 for migrants; the birds fly quite close to the ground, up and 

 down the valleys, as there is mucli less wind there than on 

 the hills. Our well-known Sylvia curruca and Sylvia atri- 

 capilla were observed in numbers. The males of the latter, 

 even in spring, frequently shewed a brown crest. 



[The cliief authority on the Birds of Sinai is. of course, 

 Tristram's ' Fauna and Flora of Palestine.^ But the late 

 C. W. Wyatt (see 'Ibis,' 1870, p. 1) wrote a special paper 

 on the subject, and the same author's notes in the Pteport 

 of the Ordnance Survey of Sinai (see ' Ibis/ 1873, p. 429) 

 should also be consulted. — Eon.] 



The National Museum of Natural History of Buenos 

 Ayres. — We are informed that Dr. Angel Gallardo has been 

 appointed Director of the National Museum of Natural 

 History at Buenos Ayres in succession to Dr. Florentino 

 Ameghino, the well-known Palaeontologist, who died in 

 Ausrust last. 



