APPENDIX B. 
Since we went to press we have gathered together a few more 
notes bearing on our subject, and as some of them are of importance, 
we thought it better to give them in the form of an Appendix than 
leave them out altogether. 
There can be no doubt that much work still remains to be done in 
Caithness, our own opportunities of visiting that county having been 
few, owing to engagements elsewhere, and it is quite evident, even 
from a cursory inspection, that Mr. Osborne's notes, which form the 
great bulk of our Caithness materials, can be very considerably supple- 
mented. 
In regard to the so oft-quoted Sinclair collection, it has now been 
inspected both by Mr. E. Bidwell and ourselves : the whole of the 
birds are in a most dreadful state of dirt and moth ; some few of the 
birds are labelled, others not ; and, seeing that Dr. Sinclair was a very 
miscellaneous collector, it is quite open to doubt whether many of 
those said to be Caithness specimens are so. We noticed Australian 
and African species placed amongst the so-called Caithness collection : 
a sand grouse placed on a perch was labelled, " Sand Grouse, Siberia." 
There are two White's Thrushes, one labelled as mentioned in this 
work, the other not labelled : a pair of Capercaillie sent to Dr. Sinclair, 
and stuffed by Mr. Dunbar, are probably from Perthshire, a notice of 
these latter birds appearing in the Inverness Courier for 13th of June 
1838. Taking all this into consideration, and that there is no cata- 
logue, or any other record forthcoming, we can only hope that our 
work may be the last to quote this most unsatisfactory collection, 
unless, indeed, at some future time a proper catalogue should yet turn 
up, with every particular regarding these specimens in Dr. Sinclair's 
own handwriting. This collection certainly should serve as a warning 
to collectors for, and curators of, other county museums, to see that 
their specimens are duly numbered and entered into a book kept for 
that purpose, so that there can be no doubt whatever as to their iden- 
tity, when occasion arises for any inquiry about them. 
