Letters, Notes, and Extracts. 611 



formosum, Anser gambeli, Anser serrirostris, Chelidon 

 lagopoda, Anthus cervirms, Anthus gustavi, Motacilla viridis, 

 Linota exilipes, Phylloscopus borealis, and Cyanecula suecica, 

 all taken by him at or near the mouth of the Kolyma Kiver. 

 — H. E. Dresser. 



Sirs, — I have just been looking over the January number 

 of a monthly magazine (the c Ornithologische Monatsschrift'), 

 published at Dresden by the ''Deutsche Verein zum Sclmtze 

 der Vogelwelt." To my astonishment and disgust, I find 

 (pp. 16-42, pis. i., ii., iii., iv.) an article on a trip to Iceland 

 with four illustrations taken from photographs, one of which 

 represents a collector gloating over 240 eggs of the Great 

 Skua {Megalestris catarrhactes) obtained on that occasion. 

 T have always looked on the above-named "Verein" as being 

 a Society for the Protection of Birds, with similar views to 

 those of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in this 

 country. But if this be the case, how can the " Verein" have 

 consented to the publication of such an article and illustration 

 in their Journal, and how could the Danish authorities in 

 Iceland have permitted such a vandalism, especially as they 

 are supposed to be in favour of the protection (not destruction) 

 of birds ? The writer of the article in question is evidently 

 a mere collector, probably employed by some dealer, as no 

 true naturalist would need such a quantity of eggs of the 

 same species. Nor would he be guilty of such a crime as 

 to harry in this fashion the breeding-places of a bird which, 

 in most parts of its nesting-range, is becoming so scarce 

 as to need very careful protection in order to prevent its 

 extinction. 



Nothing is said in the article itself as to the number of 

 eggs of the various species obtained, but, seeing that as many 

 as 240 eggs of the Great Skua alone were taken, it may be 

 supposed that every possible egg on the island that would be 

 of any value to a dealer, more especially every egg of a rare 

 species of bird that could by any means be secured, would 

 be carried off. If such proceedings are tolerated by the 



