67 [Vol. xiii. 



had examined the Collection of Syrian Birds in the 

 Zoological Museum of the Syrian Protestant College — 

 an American Institution which was doing a great educational 

 work in Syria. The collection had been made by Dr. W. T. 

 Van Dyck — an occasional contributor to ' The Ibis ' (see Ibis, 

 1892, p. 462) — and had been transferred by him, when he 

 found that his engagements would no longer permit him to 

 attend to it, to the College Museum. It was now under the 

 care of Mr. A. E. Day, the Professor of Natural Science. 

 The basis of our knowledge of the birds of Syria and Palestine 

 was, of course, Canon Tristram's excellent volume on the 

 ' Fauna and Flora ' of those countries ; but both Dr. Van Dyck 

 and Prof. Day were of opinion that much remained to be done 

 in ornithology, especially in the Lebanon, and they promised 

 their best assistance to any member of the B. O. U. who 

 would like to make an expedition to that district. 



In Palestine, so far as Dr. Sclater's hasty visit allowed him 

 to form an opinion, birds were generally rare, though more 

 abundant in the Jordan Valley than in the hill-country. 

 The only local Ornithologist he could hear of was Mr. Selah 

 Merrill, the U.S. Consul at Jerusalem, who had formed a 

 collection of birds for his correspondents in America, and 

 was still occasionally engaged in collecting and observing. 



Dr. Sclater had stopped six days in Cairo, where the chief 

 objects of zoological attraction were the collection of animals 

 in the Medical School and the Zoological Gardens at Gizeh. 

 The former, under the care of Dr. Walter Innes, comprised 

 a series of mounted specimens of the birds of Egypt, to which 

 it was now proposed to add a collection of skins. Dr. Innes 

 had recently taken part in an expedition to the White Nile, 

 and had obtained a good series of specimens from that 

 district. He was likewise well acquainted with the birds of 

 Lower Egypt, and had planned the issue of a popular work 

 on this subject. 



The Zoological Gardens at Gizeh, of which Capt. Stanley 

 Flower, F.Z.S., was Director, were in a very flourishing 

 condition, and contained living examples of many birds of 

 interest. Amongst them were three specimens of the Shoe- 



