Correspondence. 349 



plied to the Silurian vegetation ; for (p. 66) we read that " the 

 organic remains of the Old Red Sandstone 1 ' "furnish distinct evi- 

 dence of terrestrial vegetation; as well as the earliest traces of 

 vegetable life on our globe.*' Again (p. 136) we rise "from the 

 lowly sea-iueeds of the Silurian strata /' but Dr Hooker has deter- 

 mined fossil seeds from the Upper Ludlow rocks to belong to land 

 plants allied to the Lycopodiacese. 



With these exceptions Mr Page has compiled an excellent 

 " Introductory Text-Book ;" and we wish him every success ; but, 

 as it may be very extensively used, we are bound in duty to point 

 out what we consider inaccurate. 



Catalogue of the Birds in the Museum of the Honourable 

 East India Company. Printed by order of the Court of 

 Directors. Vol. I. London, 1854. 8vo. 



There are many valuable Zoological collections in Great Bri- 

 tain, but most of them are comparatively useless from want of a 

 catalogue or arranged list of the contents. Among these ranked 

 the Museum of the Honourable East India Company, which has 

 now set an example, by publishing the first part of the Catalogue 

 of its Ornithological Collection. This museum has been long known 

 as a valuable one, particularly in that department now being cata- 

 logued. Among its contents are the collections of drawings which 

 have served as the foundations of many of the species described by 

 Dr Latham, and which still continue as the sole authority for some 

 of these. All the labours of Sir Stamford Baffles and Dr Hors- 

 field are there, as well as the whole or part of the collections of 

 General Hard wi eke, Colonel Sykes, M'Clelland, Falconer, Hodgson, 

 Strachey, Tytler, &c, &c. 



The Catalogue is published under the superintendence of Dr 

 Horsfield ; but the actual labour of compiling it has devolved upon 

 Mr F. Moore, the assistant curator, who has executed his work 

 well. The systematic arrangement proposed by the late N. A. 

 Vigors has been followed, and the volume now printed contains 

 the Raptor es of the collection, 103 species, and a portion of the 

 Incessores. Extracts from various printed works of the donors of 

 the specimens and drawings are introduced where they relate to 

 the habits of the species. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



Mr W. Mills, Missionary in Navigator Islands, writes us 

 from Sydney, where he had gone on account of his health : — 



" I am sorry to say the bird you were so anxious to get does 



NEW SERIES. VOL. I. NO. II. APRIL 1865. 2 K 



