14 
which was 4 ft. 6 in. long; one from the Mascarene Group of 
Islands, the largest being 3 ft. 2 in. long; and two species from the 
Galapagos Islands, the largest being 2 ft. 8 in. long, and weighing 
164 lbs. Other rare specimens were seeD, including two Ceratodus, 
or Foster’s Lung Fish, from Queensland; a Reticulated Python, 
from Malacca, 20 ft. long; examples of the Egg-Eating Snake; 
specimens of two of the three forms of Ostrich; the rare North 
Australian Golden-Shouldered Parrakeet [Psephotus chrysoptcrygius ), 
and a pair of the curious Babirussa Pigs, from Celebes, &c.. &c. A 
marquee had been erected on the lawn for the reception of visitors, 
and also another tent for refreshments, and a band played selections. 
In the evening a reception was held by Sir John Lubbock, at the 
Natural History Museum, at South Kensington. The cases with 
the nest, eggs, young, and parent birds, with 
South their natural surroundings, were wonderfully done. 
Kensington. I presented the Trustees with a pair of Rifle Birds’ 
( Ptilorhis victoria?) eggs, from North Queens¬ 
land, the first eggs of a Bird of Paradise that had ever been received 
by the British Museum. In the Animal Section there has just been 
erected a series of plaster models of Whales, the largest being about 
70 ft. long. In the Reptile Section, Dr. Boulenger showed me a large 
series of Diamond and Victorian and Queensland Carpet Snakes, 
which show how the three varieties ran one into the other, and 
consequently he has classed them all under the heading of Carpet 
Snakes ( Morelia vciriegata). 
On the 29th, members of the Congress, at the invitation of the 
Hon. Walter Rothschild, visited his museum at Tring, the finest 
private museum in the world, and which 
Tring Museum, contains many extinct and other rare forms, 
even to the Giant Tortoise that lived in 
Sydney for so many years, but died on its way to England. Among 
the many exhibits is a specimen of the now extinct Quagga, only 
five skins of which are in existence; the only two known specimens 
of the large Echidna (.Echidna nigroaculeata ), from North New 
Guinea; the very rare Parti-Coloured Bear (Acluropus melanolencus ), 
from China; a splendid collection of Humming Birds; a Sea Otter, 
the market value of its skin alone being £200 ; the wonderful 
Ribbon Fish, from New Zealand, in splendid preservation, &c., &c. 
I paid three visits to the museum. 
Next day a visit was paid to Woburn Abbey, at the invitation 
of the Duke of Bedford. The experimental fruit farm belonging to 
the estate was first passed through. It was 
Woburn noticed that the fruit trees growing in grass- 
Abbey. sown land were not nearly so flourishing as 
those grown on cultivated land. On entering 
the beautiful Park the herd of Caspian Red Deer were seen first, and 
came up to the fence to be fed. In an adjoining paddock of one 
hundred acres a small herd of ten American Bison were grazing. 
r. v 
