286 Capt. Lynes on the Ornithologn [Ibis, 



Now that, thanks to French progress, Marocco has at 

 hist become more or less accessible to field-workers, 

 may we not hope soon to have her placed on at least 

 an equal footino- in Natural Science with Tunisia and 

 Algeria ? 



If Mauretania is free, by reason of the vast desert at its 

 southern edge, from the complexities of distribution that 

 oc(mr in the Himalayas and otlier borderland areas of the 

 Palpearctic Region, its Maroccan portion, with the compara- 

 tively narrow Alpine Range perched on the very brink of 

 the Sahara, suggests that certain phases of distribution 

 may here he. capable of study in their '• limit/' 

 Even should it not be so, I can confidently assure any 

 of my readers who wish to make a contribution to our 

 knowledge of the " Systema naturae " that they are not 

 likely to regret a trip to Marocco. 



For the benefit ot those who will take up the subject, 

 a double line has been placed in the margin of the text 

 wdiero allusion to conspicuous deficiencies in our know- 

 ledge of the birds is made. 



The length of the foregoing remarks has reduced the 

 space available for the customary catalogue with which to 

 conclude my paper, and I find it necessary to curtail and 

 abbr(!viate it, for which 1 owe an apology to my brother 

 members. But my more detailed field-notes are at the dis- 

 posal of any one who cares to ask for them : the specimens 

 themselves are in the Natural History Museum, except for a 

 few representatives of the rarer subspecies, which are at 

 Tring ; a trifling return for all the kind help given me by 

 the late President of the B. 0. C. and Dr. Hartert. 



