14 
bird which nearly resembles the ortolan — rival, among table 
delicacies of the old world, to the famous reedbird of Amer- 
ican shores. 
6. The larger hill mynah (Gracula intermedia), of northern 
India, one of the most attractive of a group of birds which 
are in demand in Europe from the faculty which they 
possess, in common with parrots and starlings, of learning 
to imitate many sounds of the human voice. 
7. The festive amazon (Chrysotis f estiva), one of the many 
South American parrots. 
8. The red-shouldered parrakeet (Palaeornis eupatrius), a 
beautiful species from India. 
9. One of the rarest additions ever made to the collection 
was a specimen of Whitney's owl {Micrathene whitneyi). 
This miniature of the larger species of the group is hardly 
larger than a well-fattened English sparrow. It is, in fact, 
the smallest of known owls, and being an extremely scarce 
bird is looked upon with much interest by ornithologists. 
The limits of its range are not fully known, the few speci- 
mens which have been collected, coming from Arizona and 
the adjoining province of Sonora, A pair of them were 
captured near Tucson, by Mr. Herbert Brown of that city, 
who kindly presented them to the Society. One of the pair 
unfortunately died during the long journey, and the other 
lived only a few weeks after arrival. 
10. Through the kindness of Prof. Baird, of the Smith- 
sonian Institution, the Society has been able to exhibit one 
of those rare prizes which have but seldom fallen to its lot, 
in a tooth-billed pigeon (Didunculus strigirostr is). This bird 
was brought from the Samoan Islands — its native region — 
by the late Dr. Canisius, U. S. Consul at that point, and was 
by him presented to the U. S. National Museum, and sub- 
sequently, with his consent, deposited in the Garden, where 
it has done exceedingly well. Aside from its curious ap- 
pearance and habits, a special interest is attached to the 
species, from the relationship which it alone, of existing 
birds, bears to the strange and almost anomalous pigeon- 
like Dodo, which formerly inhabited the islands of Mau- 
ritius and Bourbon, but which is believed to have become 
