580 
Letters , Extracts, and Notes. 
Neiv Work on South-American Birds. —Lord Brabourne, 
F.Z.S., M.B.O.U., and Mr. Charles Chubb, F.Z.S., M.B.O.U. 
(of the Zoological Department, British Museum), have 
undertaken a difficult task—which, however, we trust they 
will be able to carry to a successful conclusion—the pre¬ 
paration of a new work on the Birds of South America. 
When completed it will consist of sixteen volumes of quarto 
size illustrated by coloured plates drawn by Gronvold. 
The first volume will contain a List of the Birds of South 
America. This is well advanced. Volume II., containing 
the first portion of the general work, will be issued early 
in 1912, and subsequent volumes at intervals of about nine 
months, each volume consisting of about 300 pages and of 
from 25 to 30 plates. 
The only work on this large subject is the f Nomen- 
clator Avium Neotropicalium’ of Sclater & Salvin, published 
in 1873. This gives a List of the Names of the Birds then 
known to the authors as being met with in South and Central 
America. It contains the names of 3560 species. But 
enormous additions, as we are all aware, have, of late years, 
been made to our knowledge of this subject—particularly 
since the introduction of f< trinomials .” We suspect the 
named species and subspecies of the Neotropical Ornis are 
now likely to be at least 5000, even if they do not exceed 
that number. 
The Honey-bird in North-East Rhodesia. —“One morning 
when we had paused for breakfast (near the River Cham- 
bezi), a little Honey-bird flew to a tree quite near me and 
began calling in a very excited manner. One of the boys 
whistled in reply. Then the bird flew away and the boy, 
quickly running, disappeared also. He did not return for 
quite an hour—in fact, I was just thinking of moving on 
without him, when with flashing eyes and a broad grin he 
appeared at my side and offered me a large honeycomb filled 
with honey. With gestures and whistlings he showed me 
how he had run, and how, finally, the little bird had led him 
to a tree up which he had climbed to find the honeycomb in 
a hole in the trunk.”'—‘ Via Rhodesia/ by Charlotte Mans¬ 
field, p. 268. 
