244 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 90 



was obliged to turn back, when on the eve of visiting my 

 tvv^enty-first country. The distance actually accomplished was 

 upward of thirty-three thousand miles ; the routes passed 

 over were for the most part along the well-beaten paths of 

 travel. To general sight-fseeing- was added the noting of as 

 many birds by the way as possible. This often meant rising 

 in the morning while others slept, and writing notes in the 

 evening, when they were again asleep. 



To identify the birds seen was a difficult task for one with- 

 out suitable " Handbooks " for some of the countries. As 

 much preparation as very limited time permitted was made 

 in advance. For the birds of India help was had from the 

 books of Eugene Oates, W. F. Blanford, T. C. Jerdon, Doug- 

 las Dewar, and Andrew L. Adams, besides the small volume 

 of Frank Finn, entitled " The Birds of Calcutta," and a sim- 

 ilar book by " E. H. A." bearing the title of " The Common 

 Birds of Bombay." For 'identifying the birds of Egypt there 

 were used the descriptions of G. E. Shelley, and those of 

 Charles Whymper. 



Less fortunate was the work of identification in southern 

 Europe, where I was unable to secure handbooks. Occasion- 

 ally the name of a bird was given me by a fellow-traveler, 

 and natural history museums, when available, g'ave much 

 assistance. In order to make the museums of use as full de- 

 scriptions of the birds as possible were written down at the 

 time of observation ; and at times the text was greatly assisted 

 by hasty drawings. The names for many of the species 

 were unknown for months, while those for others are still 

 unsolved problems ; one, seen at my most southern stage in 

 Egypt, — the Second Cataract, — was named for me in the 

 most northern museum visited, that of Bergen in Norway ; 

 and the clue to the identity of a bird seen at Mount Abu in 

 India was given by a specimen found in the museum of 

 Stockholm. Species with names unknown were numbered, 

 and references to them in the daily notes were made by means 

 of these numbers, though the identity of a few of the spe- 

 cies was correctly guessed ; others were given temporary 

 names, and my " Jerusalem Chickadee," '' Constantinople 

 Crow," and " Interlaken Beauty " serve to awaken quite as 



