39G Letters, Extracts, and Notes. 



(Nesocichla eremita) is the only land-bird found here noAV. 

 None of them knew anything of the Rail of this island, 

 though they had heard of its existence on Inaccessible 

 Island. So I suspect that it has been extinct here for a long 

 time. They tell me that a plague of rats, which came from 

 a ship wrecked here, destroyed all the birds except the Thrush, 

 which, although found here and very tame, is decidedly 

 scarce. I went off in a boat to get some sea-birds for half 

 an hour before dark, and obtained examples of Thalassogeron 

 chlororhynchvs, Sterna vittata, and a species of Pelecanoides. 



" We are now waiting for the wind to drop, so that we can 

 land. I have seen a few Birds flying round the ship, the 

 most noticeable being Puffinus gravis in pairs. I shall post 

 this letter at Cape Town/'' 



A postscript states that after waiting three days in vain for 

 the gale to cease, the ' Valhalla ' was compelled to proceed 

 to Cape Town, where she arrived on Jan. 28th. 



Another letter from Mr. Nicoll, dated Cape Town, Feb. 6th, 

 informs us that the explorers were leaving on the following 

 day for Europa Island in the Mozambique Channel, which, 

 as he was assured, had never been visited by a Naturalist. 



Mr. Ridgway' s Visit to Costa Rica. — With very great 

 pleasure we learn that our much-esteemed friend and 

 Honorary Member, Mr. Ridgway, has spent a winter in 

 Costa Rica, and has thus enjoyed a delightful interlude in 

 the laborious process of compiling his great work on the 

 ' Birds of North and Middle America/ In the last number 

 of 'The Condor' (vol. vii. no. 6), Mr. Ridgway has written 

 a most interesting article on this charming excursion, which 

 no Ornithologist should omit to read. Having accepted a 

 cordial invitation from the well-known Naturalist Don Jose 

 C. Zeledon,of San Jose,he started for Costa Rica, accompanied 

 by Mrs. Ridgway, on November the 28th, 1904, and remained 

 there until May the 28th of the following year, thus passing 

 a period of nearly six months in a most splendid country. 

 For particulars of some of his principal experiences in this 

 attractive part of Central America we must ask our readers 



