130 President's Address. 



In the year 1897 a further instalment of 972 specimens of 

 Neotropical birds was presented by Dr. F. D. Godman. 

 Another fine collection was that given by Colonel Biddulph, 

 who had amassed a series of sj)ecimens from Gilgit in Upper 

 Kashmir, where he had been Resident, and from Yarkand, 

 whither he had accompanied Sir Douglas Forsyth's expedi- 

 tion. He had also made a large collection of Finches, which 

 he presented to the Museum. 



In this year was received the first of a series of valuable 

 collections from the Shan States, made by Colonel Gr. Rippon. 

 For many years the Museum has been indebted to Colonel 

 Rippon for important additions from the Burmese hill- 

 ranges. 



The Hargitt collection of Woodpeckers was acquired in 

 1897, consisting of 5479 specimens, and forming the ground- 

 work of Mr. Hargitt 's volume of the ' Catalogue of Birds, 1 in 

 which he monographed the Pied. Eighty-one more specimens, 

 collected by Mr. R. C. L. Perkins in the Hawaiian Archi- 

 pelago, were presented by the Joint Committee of the Royal 

 Society and the British Association. 



Mr. Boyd Alexander, who had recently returned from an 

 expedition to the Cape Verde Islands, presented the Museum 

 with 17 specimens from his collection, with the types of two 

 new species. 



Many other important additions were received in 1897. 

 Forty-seven birds from Foochow were presented by Mr. C. B. 

 Rickett and Mr. J. D. La Touche — the first of many donations. 

 Thirty-four birds and eggs from Spitzbergen were presented 

 by Mr. A. Trevor-Battye. 



In 1897 Mr. John Whitehead, the explorer of Mt. Kina 

 Balu, went on a fresh expedition to the Philippine Islands, 

 and 730 birds, including the types of 68 species new to the 

 Museum, as well as 72 eggs, were presented by the sub- 

 scribers to the Whitehead Expedition. Four hundred and 

 twenty-eight birds from Northern Nyasa Land were presented 

 by Sir Alfred Sharpe, and Mr. F. J. Jackson gave 10 types 

 of new species discovered by him in Equatorial Africa. 



Sir John Murray presented 36 specimens of birds from 

 Christmas Island, in the Indian Archipelago, obtained by 

 Dr. C. W. Andrews. A collection of 224 birds from Ar^eii- 



