The Emu. 
37 
"In the autumn of 1857 the gathering of naturaHsts was 
greater than it had heretofore been, and it appeared that 
among some of them present there was a strong feeUng that it 
would be advisable to establish a magazine devoted solely to 
ornithology. 
" In November, 1858, the annual assemblage took place at 
Cambridge, and after due consideration it was determined by 
those present that a quarterly magazine of general ornithology 
should be established, that a limited subscription should be 
entered into to provide a fund for that purpose, and that the 
subscribers should form an Ornithological Union, their number 
at present not to exceed twenty." 
The original list contained the names of the then leading 
ornithologists of Great Britain, such as Professor Alfred Newton, 
Dr. Sclater, Canon Tristram, Messrs. Godman, Salvin, and 
others, while before long foreign ornithologists of distinction 
became honorary members, among whom may be cited Cabanis, 
Hartlaub, Reinwardt, Von Pelzen, &c. In addition to these 
latter, others such as Dr. Finsch and Signor Salvador! con- 
tributed articles to the journal, 
In addition, however, to the valuable articles contributed by 
such men as I have quoted, there was a second factor which led 
to the success of The Ibis, and that was the character of its 
illustrations, which thoroughly established its popularity and has 
always caused the quarterly issue to be eagerly looked for. The 
greatest artist of that time, and who has never since been 
excelled — I mean J. Wolf— drew for the journal till the latter 
end of 1869, when failing eyesight compelled him to cease his 
labours. His place was then taken by Keulemans, the celebrated 
Dutch artist, who has illustrated nearly all the leading British 
works, and has continued up to the present time on the staff of 
TJic Ibis. During all these years the perfect drawing and 
admirable colouring of his illustrations has placed The Ibis in the 
foremost rank of illustrated journals. 
We cannot hope to extend our sphere of observation through- 
out the same geographical areas as the contributors to TJie Ibis 
have done ; for the pages of this periodical have dealt with the 
birds of the Old World from Australia and New Zealand to the 
" tundras " of Siberia, and of the New from the plains of 
Patagonia to Canada. So far, however, as our sphere of work 
(about which more anon) may extend we can imitate in 7 lie Emu 
much of what has been done in TJie Ibis. Nothing has con- 
tributed more help to our knowledge of the " geographical 
distribution " of birds, one of the most interesting subjects 
in connection with the study of ornithology, than the invalu- 
able *' lists " of birds from special localities, combined with 
notes on their economy, which have been for so many years a 
feature of the pages of the journal in question. These lists, so 
often containing descriptions and illustrations of new species 
