208 Letters, Extracts from Correspondence, Notices, tyc. 
The subjoined communication relates to the early appearance 
of the Night Jar :— 
Whilst walking home from dinner on the evenings of the 4th 
and 5th of this month, I was extremely surprised to hear the 
note of the Night Jar ( Caprimulgus europceus). On the former 
evening I fancied I must have been mistaken, as this bird is 
generally one of the latest migratory arrivals. The second even¬ 
ing, however, whilst standing still for a few minutes, the bird 
crossed the road, and uttered its familiar cry just in front of me. 
The Sallows are in many places in full bloom, and the spring 
Moths, such as Tceniocampa gothic a, cruda arid stabilis, and Phi- 
galia pilosaria, are out, whilst all the hybernating Lepidoptera 
are on the wing; so the Caprimulgi are in no danger of paying the 
price of starvation for their premature arrival. 
Rev. H. Harpur Crewe. 
Drinkstone, Woolpit, Suffolk, March 9, 1859. 
Mr. Fraser's last letters are dated from Nanegal, on the 
western slope of Pichincha, February 12th. The following 
extracts relate to an expedition made from Riobamba to Chim¬ 
borazo, for the purpose of obtaining specimens of the beautiful 
Humming-bird ( Oreotrochilus chimborazo), which is only found 
on that mountain 
“ Riobamba is situated in the centre of a large sandy plain, at 
an elevation of 9600 feet above the sea-level. Having crossed 
this at 2 p.m., we passed through a small pueblo called Lican. 
Our road now lay round and between barren hills, with every 
sheltered spot in a state of cultivation, until at 3’30 p.m. we came 
to Calpi—a considerable pueblo, but without water. As the 
rain was beginning, and there was every appearance of a 
storm, we put up for the night here, under the eaves of an 
Indian hut. Our poor beasts had to go without food. It 
rained heavily all night. About 8 a.m. it cleared off very fine, 
and we thought it advisable to push forward, although we were 
passing the last house on the road. We now entered the mono¬ 
tonous paramo , where a considerable number of cattle were 
grazing. Chimborazo, cloud-capped, the snow descending very 
