xi [Vol. x. 



observed, Mr. Evans's work contains a " concentrated essence 

 of information " on birds which will be most useful as a book 

 of reference to all students of our favourite science. 



I should also like to congratulate Messrs. Wilson and 

 Evans on the completion of their f Aves Hawaiienses/ which 

 we have long been looking forward to. The strange avifauna 

 of this isolated group of islands was specially worthy of a 

 monograph. 



Of equal importance in geographical ornithology are the 

 two admirable quarto volumes, published by Dr. A. B. Meyer 

 and Mr. L. A. Wiglesworth, on the ' Birds of Celebes/ 

 which have reached us since the commencement of our 

 last Session. As doubtful territory between the Oriental 

 and Australian Regions, Celebes is a locality of special 

 importance in the study of zoo-geography, and well wor!hy 

 of the elaborate care and attention that these authors have 

 devoted to it. 



I may also venture to allude to the recent completion of 

 Mr. Oates's handy little volumes on the f (lame- Birds of 

 India/ by the issue of the second part, and to the good 

 progress made by our Editor with Seebohm's ' Monograph of 

 the Thrushes/ the seventh part of which has lately appeared. 



Now, turning to the forthcoming works actually in 

 progress, I may mention that our brother member, Dr. A. 

 C. Stark, has nearly passed through the press the first of 

 four volumes on the ' Birds of South Africa/ which will 

 form a part of Mr. W. L. Selater's series on the fauna of 

 that portion of the Ethiopian Region. Both Mr. Layard's 

 original volume and Dr. Sharpe's new edition of it are, I 

 believe, long since out of print, and it is highly desirable 

 that a new and revised account of the birds of that country, 

 which is now, and is likely to remain, of such interest to us, 

 should be prepared. 1 believe I may truly say that Dr. Stark 

 is well qualified, from long personal experience with the avi- 

 fauna in question, to prepare such a work. 



Mr. Rothschild's illustrated monograph on the Casso- 

 waries is now also in a forward state, and will shortly be 

 published in the Zoological Society's ' Transactions/ It 



