19 [Vol. xi. 



the field-notes form a special feature. Research such as 

 this we may boast to have carried on in nearly every 

 district of the known world. In the words of the Roman 

 poet we may fairly exclaim : 



Quae regio in terris nostri non plena laboris ? 



One can look through the pages of ' The Ibis ' and find 

 that the Arctic and Antarctic regions, the tropics, the 

 subtropics, and the temperate climes of both Hemispheres 

 have been alike the subject of our investigations. Wherever 

 bird-life exists, the British ornithologist seeks to penetrate. 

 He is always on the look-out for untrodden fields to explore. 



After 42 years of this sort of work, in which it must be 

 recollected that our ornithological brethren in Germany, 

 America, and other countries have been by no means slow 

 to rival us, it would perhaps be supposed that there are no 

 more " worlds left to conquer/' and that work on the 

 geographical branch of ornithology will soon come to an 

 end. But such, I believe, is by no means the case, excepting, 

 perhaps, in North America, where our friends across the 

 Atlantic have nearly exhausted this particular branch of 

 the subject. I will endeavour to set before you what I 

 consider to be some of the principal hiatus valde deflendi 

 in geographical ornithology, and to express a hope that 

 some of our young and energetic associates may take steps 

 to fill up the gaps in our knowledge. 



I. The Pal.barctic Region. 



This, as the seat of our original civilization, is naturally 

 the best known and most completely explored of the six 

 great Regions. Of its western division the ' Ornis Balcanica' 

 of Reiser has filled up what was until recently one of the 

 least-known portions. Morocco, Algeria, and Tunis have 

 also received a great deal of attention. Egyptian birds are 

 now well known, but a new edition of Capt. Shelley's volume 

 on the birds of that country is much required. The northern 

 portion of the eastern division of the Palaearctic Region is 

 in the hands of the Russian naturalists, and we must lament 

 that the important works commenced by Dr. Pleske (' Orni- 



