Vol. xix.] 6 



' The Ibis ■" with a most interesting memoir on the birds 

 which he met with ; while our Foreign Member, M. Buturlin, 

 has ventured on an excursion into the extreme eastern 

 corner of Northern Siberia, and has been rewarded by the 

 discovery of the long-sought-for (but hitherto unknown) 

 nesting- place of the Rosy Gull {Rhodosteihia rosea). 'The 

 Ibis ^ has again been fortunate enough to receive the first 

 descriptions of the nest and eggs of this remarkable bird. 



I do not think it necessary on the present occasion to 

 trouble you with an account of the progress of our Science 

 in the Australian and Nearctic Regions. The ' Emu ' in 

 Australia and the 'Auk' and 'Condor' in North America 

 contain ample information on this subject, and may be 

 studied with advantage. We may, however, express our 

 sympathies with our brethren of the far west for the great 

 loss they have suffered in the destruction by the great 

 earthquake of the valuable collection of birds and the 

 scientific library of the California Academy of Sciences, and 

 we must strive to help them to replace some of the lost 

 books and memoirs. 



Finally, as regards the Neotropical Region, I may say a 

 word of encouragement to Mr. Hellmayr, who has lately 

 devoted so much time and toil to a task once familiar to 

 your Chairman — the study of the rich Ornis of South 

 America. I do not by any means approve of Mr. Hellmayr's 

 views on nomenclature, but I fully appreciate the value of 

 his work and agree with most of his conclusions. 



I think I have now said enough to prove to you that good 

 work in Ornithology is going on all over the world, and that 

 our special science shows every sign of prosperity. 



Dr. P. R. Lowe forwarded examples of a new species of 

 Finch, which he proposed to describe as follows : — 



EUETHIA JOHNSTONEI, Sp. UOV. 



Adult male. Above dull olive - green, uniformly duller 

 than in E. bicolor (L.) or E. omissa (Jard.), and with con- 

 spicuous black patches formed by the dark centres of the 

 feathers. The dark patches extend well down over the 



