IT 



conclusion; and that the third and final pal-t will be issued iri 

 the course of next year. Taken together, these two works will 

 form a most valuable contribution to our knowledge of the 

 Avifauna of the Northern Pacific. I must also not forget to 

 mention, amongst recent contributions to our science, the 

 excellent work of Dr. Meyer and Mr. WiglesTvorth on the birds 

 of Celebes^one of the most elaborate and complete ornitho- 

 logical monographs on the birds ot" a special district eter 

 prepared. Celebes, I may remark, as a debatable land 

 between the Australian and Oriental Regions, was in special 

 need of the full treatment and discussion which it has here 

 received from the authors of this work. 



But the brethren of the B 0. C. and their friends, I 

 think I maj say, are at present not less active in the field 

 than in the cabinet. We are fortunate in having -svith 

 ns to-night the two principal members of the new expe'; 

 dition to Socotra and Southern Arabia which will leave 

 England on the ,^8th inst. It will, of course, take up 

 Natural History in every branch, but with Dr. Forbes and 

 Mr. Ogilvie Grant as its leaders, and a trained taxidermist 

 in attendance^ we need not fear that the interests of Orni- 

 thology will in any ^"ay be overlooked. In Socotra itself 

 much has been already done, but little or nothing has been 

 ascertained ornithologically of the southern coast of Arabia; 

 and wf know, from Bent's writings, that even in this com- 

 monly supposed barren district, bird-life is abundant in 

 certain spots, which we tru^it may be within reach of the 

 Expedition. 



Besides the Socotran Expedilioti many other e.tplorationg 

 by various members of tlie B. 0. U. are in progress or in 

 contemplation. Capt. Boyd Alexander, who has worked so 

 "rt'ell in the Cape A^erde Islands, is struggling through the 

 middle of Africa from the Caue to Cairo. Under present 

 circumstances he seems likely to come out successfully, and 

 will, no doubt, bring information on birds, if not specimens^ 

 with him. Mr. Lort Phillips hopes to return to his favourite 

 quarters in Somali-land during the course of the present 

 ^ inter, and expects to get togetb.er the supplementary mate- 



