7 [Vol. xxv. 



(1) Mesopotamia. — By steam to the Persian Gulf and 

 Bagdad, and thence by land up the Euphrates valley to 

 Damascus or Aleppo, as soon as spring commences. 



(2) Yunnan, which can now be easily reached by steamer 

 and railway from Rangoon and up the Irrawadi : see 

 Major H. Davies's excellent volume on 'Yunnan/ just 

 published at Cambridge. From this work it appears that this 

 province of China may now be traversed without danger by 

 those who know something of the native language. The 

 return journey might be made by the new French route 

 through Tonquin or down the Yang-tse. 



(3) Porto Rico. — This is a large island which appears to 

 have been rather neglected by our American friends. It is 

 very easy of access by the Royal Mail steamers, quite 

 wholesome in winter, and the accommodation, I am told, 

 is not bad. 



The Hon. Walter Rothschild exhibited a new species 

 of Tree-Partridge, which he described as follows : — 



Arboricola rollt, sp. n. 



Adult. Bill black. Top of the head olivaceous-brown, each 

 feather with a black tip and another black mark about the 

 middle, the black tips becoming much larger on the hind- 

 neck, so that the latter appears to be almost entirely black. 

 Rest of the upperparts rufous-olive-brown, each feather with 

 three distinct black bars, the scapulars with a very wide 

 black end and black mottlings near the base; the innermost 

 secondaries and their coverts with narrow chestnut-rufous 

 tips ; outer secondaries dark brown, the outer webs mottled 

 with rufous-brown. Primaries dark brown. Rectrices mottled 

 with brown and black. Above the lores is a wide greyish- 

 white superciliary line, narrowing and disappearing above the 

 eyes. Bare region around the eyes evidently red. Feathers 

 on the sides of the nape with white bases. Sides of the head 

 under the bare patches and entire throat black, large auricular 

 patch white, the white feathers being silky in appearance 

 and having disintegrated webs w r ith the basal part of the shaft 

 almost bare ; chin and lower neck-feathers with small white 



