Vol. xiii.] 6 



though we may expect that Mr. W. E. D. Scott's account of 

 the birds of the expedition of the Princeton University to 

 Antarctic America will add materially to our knowledge. 



VI. Australian Region. 



As regards the Australian Region we need say little on the 

 present occasion. The formation of the Australian Ornitho- 

 logical Union and its proceedings have been duly chronicled 

 in f The Ibis' and in the e Bulletin ' of this Club. It was 

 quite fitting that the union of Australia under one Govern- 

 ment should synchronize with the foundation of such an 

 institution, and we cordially wish it every sort of success. 

 That new species still remain to be discovered even in the 

 well-worked continent of Australia is evident from a con- 

 tribution on the subject which appeared in the last ' Ibis/ 

 In the northern portion of the Australian Region, in New 

 Guinea and the adjoining islands, there are, of course, un- 

 limited possibilities of future discoveries. 



I am also pleased to be able to announce that Mr. M. J. 

 Nicoll, a Member of our Union and Club, has been invited 

 to accompany the Earl of Crawfurd in his winter-tour round 

 the world in the steam-yacht ' Valhalla/ After passing 

 through the Straits of Magellan, Lord Crawfurd proposes 

 to visit all the island-groups of the Southern Pacific, where 

 Mr. Nicoll will have opportunities for studying ornithology. 



Major H. Jones exhibited a series of pictures of different 

 species of Anatida painted by himself. These paintings were 

 very much admired by the ornithologists present. 



The Hon. Walter Rothschild exhibited specimens of the 

 land-birds of Cocos Island, midway between the Galapagos 

 Islands and Costa Rica. The land-birds of Cocos Island 

 were : — Coccyzus ferrugineus, Gould, Nesotriccus ridgwayi, 

 Towns., and Cocornis agassizi, Towns. The latter he con- 

 sidered to be a thin-billed Geospiza, of which several species 

 were exhibited in order to show the variability of the bill in 

 that genus. 



