G16 Letters, Notes, and Extracts. 



of the Ubanghi, whence it was thought that in about four 

 months the travellers would be able to reach the Nile at Lado 

 or Gondokoro. The boats which they had taken with them had 

 received many rude knocks, but were still serviceable. They 

 were expecting to leave Mbima the next day for Bomokande, a 

 station about ten days farther up the Welle, and would thence 

 proceed to Donga at the mouth of the Kibali, after which 

 their exact course was rather uncertain. 



Gaetke's Ornithological Diary. — In a special extra number 

 of the ' Journal fiir Ornithologie ' for this year is published 

 a transcript of the Ornithological Diary kept by Gaetke on 

 Heligoland from 1847 to 1887 inclusive, edited by Dr. Rudolf 

 Blasius. The entries usually record the kind of weather 

 and the principal birds obtained and observed each day, with 

 their scientific names. In some years nearly every day has an 

 entry ; in other years there are very few, e. g. in 1865 only 

 one. This record is of great interest, especially to students 

 of migration, and will, no doubt, receive much attention as 

 part of the material upon which the " Vogelwarte " was 

 based. 



The Museum d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris. — We understand 

 that the vacancy in the staff of Professors at the Jardin des 

 Plantes, Paris, caused by the death of the late Emile Oustalet, 

 has been filled by the appointment of Dr. E. L. Trouessart, 

 the well-known author of the ' Catalogus Mammalium/ 

 Dr. Trouessart will, like his predecessor, have the charge of 

 the Mammals and Birds in the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle 

 as well as the superintendence of the collection of those 

 animals living in the Jardin des Plantes. 



