Letters , Extracts, and Notes . 
5 77 
Mr. Brook’s Paradise-birds. —Mr. E. J. Brook, of Hoddam 
Castle, Ecclefechan, N.B., who has a very fine collection of 
living Paradise-birds, writes to Mr. Ogilvie-Grant as 
follows :— 
“ You have heard, I think, that my Hide-birds ( Ptilorhis 
intercedens) from British New Guinea, brought home by 
Mr. Goodfellow, have laid two eggs, both of which, however, 
were accidentally broken. I hope that the hen will lay 
again, but at present she shews very few signs of building a 
nest. 
I have discovered another thing that will interest you, 
viz., that the hen of this bird has the same voice as the 
cock, only not so strong. She also dances and displays 
before the male with much the same actions as his. It 
is a very curious sight to see the two birds dancing a solemn 
minuet together.” 
Col. Roosevelt’s East-African Expedition. —We learn from 
the ‘ Smithsonian Report,’ lately issued, that the Zoological 
collections made by Col. Roosevelt’s Expedition to East 
Africa have reached Washington in excellent condition, and 
have been deposited in the National Museum of the U.S. 
The collection of Birds is said to contain nearly 4000 speci¬ 
mens. We venture to express a hope that the Ornithologist 
who undertakes the determination and description of this 
large and important collection will be authorized to visit the 
collection at South Kensington, where there is a very ex¬ 
tensive series of specimens from British East Africa and 
Uganda. The large private collection of Mr. F. J. Jackson 
is, we believe, also deposited there, and would be probably 
available for comparison. 
The Expedition of the B.O. U. into Central New Guinea. —In 
consequence of the proved impossibility of reaching the snow- 
fields of New Guinea by the route on which the explorers 
had started, and which had been specially selected, as likely 
to be the most advantageous, it was resolved, after a final 
