Fier 7° 
VI. On a collection of Birds from North-Eastern Abyssinia and the Boyos Country. 
By Orro Finscu, Ph.D., CUZ.S. With notes by the collector, WILLIAM JESSE, 
“C.M.ZS., Zoologist to the Abyssinian Expedition. 
Read June 10th, 1869. 
[Puates XXIII. to XXVII.] 
HAVING for a long time past directed my attention to the study of the avifauna of 
Africa, I was much pleased to have an opportunity of examining the fine collection of 
birds brought home by Mr. Jesse, the indefatigable zoologist attached to the late 
Abyssinian expedition. This collection was formed on the Abyssinian coast-region at 
Zoulla and Massowah, in north-eastern Abyssinia, and in the Bogos country, all’ of 
which parts of Africa had been already tolerably well explored. 
With the successful endeavours of Drs. Ehrenberg and Hemprich, the latter of whom 
lies buried on the island of Tan-el-had, opposite Massowah, began our acquaintance with 
the avifauna of the Abyssinian coast-lands. Their extensive work ‘Symbole physice’ 
is, from its unwieldy size, and also from the fact of its being without systematic 
arrangement of any kind, too seldom referred to, and many of the valuable discoveries 
therein contained have not received the attention they deserve at the hands of scientific 
men. Dr. Riippell, the reexplorer of Abyssinia after the celebrated Bruce, obtained 
many novelties, and published the results of his explorations in handy and convenient 
volumes. The extensive collections made by Major Harris have only become the 
property of science in a limited degree, not having been published in a connected form. 
Amongst those who have enriched our knowledge of the avifauna of Abyssinia I must 
mention Salt, Théophile Lefebvre, Ferret, and Galinier, travellers whose names will be 
for ever engraved in the annals of science; nor must I forget to mention the collection 
formed during a voyage in the Red Sea by Mr. James Daubeny, and recorded by 
Dr. Sclater in Sir William Jardine’s ‘ Contributions to Ornithology’ for 1852 (p. 123). 
During the last ten years, however, our knowledge of the ornithology of North- 
eastern Africa has been most satisfactorily-extended by the explorations of Hofrath v. 
Heuglin and Dr. A. Brehm in the Bogos country. The first-mentioned naturalist, 
undoubtedly our first authority on, Abyssinian zoology, made a long residence in the 
Bogos country when attached to the German expedition in search of the much lamented 
Dr. Eduard Vogel, having been elected by the German nation to the command of this 
once much talked-of, but now almost forgotten, expedition. From the end of July to 
VOL. VII.—PaRT Iv. May, 1870. QF 
