3 [Vol. xxiii. 



as was at first proposed ; and 1 may also express a hope, on 

 behalf of the special Committee which has been appointed 

 to make the arrangements, that every Member of the B. O. C. 

 Mill attend the meeting if he can possibly do so, and join 

 with his brethren of the B. O. U. in celebrating this im- 

 portant epoch of our history. Having said so much, I will 

 now pass on to more ordinary topics. 



One of the most interesting events as regards Ornithology 

 which has recently taken place is, I think, the importation 

 of a large number of living Birds-of-Paradise into this 

 country. Until quite recently it was generally supposed 

 that it would not be possible to keep examples of this 

 magnificent group alive in our English climate, coming, as 

 they mostly do, from the pure mountain-air of Papua. When 

 Mr. Wallace arrived home from his visit to New Guinea in 

 1862, it was rightly considered one of his chief successes to 

 have brought safely with him two living males of the Lesser 

 Bird-of-Paradise (^Paradisea minor). When I had the 

 pleasure of meeting Mr. Wallace at Waterloo Station on 

 April the 1st, 1862 (now forty-six years ago)^ I shall never 

 forget my anxiety until I had ascertained, by a peep through 

 the canvas cover of the cage in which they were confined, 

 that these two birds had actually reached London alive. A 

 visitor to the Zoological Gardens may now see some forty 

 or fifty individuals, representing various forms, of these 

 wonderful birds. Many of them are in perfect plumage, 

 and some of the adult males can be induced by the bribe 

 of a tit-bit to exhibit their extraordinary " display/' which 

 I consider to be one of the most remarkable sights in 

 nature *. 



In the next place, as regards British Ornithology, the 

 most remarkable event during the past year has, I think, 

 been Mr. Eagle Clarke's successful investigation of Fair 

 Isle. That such an insignificant rock should have received 

 visits from so many rare birds seems to be little short of 



• See Mr. W. R. Ogilvie-G rant's remarks, 'Ibis,' 1905, p. 429, and 

 Sir William Ingram, ' Ibis,' 1907, p. 225. 



