184 Mr. G. N. Lawrence on the Genus Gymnoglaux. 
of Moscow^ appears to have deserted ornithology altogether, 
and to he immersed in literary pursuits. The splendid col¬ 
lection of birds and eggs which he made in the Ural, and 
presented to the Museum of Moscow, lies neglected and in 
disorder, packed away indiscriminately in boxes, cupboards, 
and drawers; and many of them are without even a sheet of 
paper to keep out the dust, or to protect them from moths. I 
tried unsuccessfully to purchase this unique collection, to save 
it from destruction. In St. Petersburg, Von Schrenk has, for 
the time being, forsaken ornithology for the more popular 
charms of ethnography. The ornithological curator at the 
museum, Russow, is an enthusiastic field-ornithologist, and 
is rapidly bringing the chaos of birds in that establishment 
into excellent order, .and will doubtless do good work in the 
future. St. Petersburg has also an excellent amateur orni¬ 
thologist in Bogdanoff. At Dorpatt, Von MiddendorJBP has 
retired, both from the University and from ornithology, to his 
ancestral estates, and is writing learned treatises on the 
breeding of horses and cattle. Prjevalsky is an excellent 
collector, but makes no pretensions to a scientific study of 
ornithology; and SevertzoflP, though he has, as we all know, 
done good work, has followed too closely the steps of the 
elder Brehm to satisfy the requirements of modem scientific 
ornithologists, who aim at hitting the happy medium between 
lumpers and splitters,^^ but are nevertheless ofttimes 
sorely puzzled to know on which side of an incipient species 
to draw the line. 
[To be continued.] 
XIV .—On the Members of the Genus Gymnoglaux. 
By George N. Lawrence. 
Dr. Gundlach has kindly sent me a specimen of the Owl 
obtained by him in Porto Rico, which he described under the 
name of Gymnoglaux krugii. He writes to me that he now 
considers it to be the veritable Btrix nudipeSj Daud.^^; and 
in this opinion I think he is correct. Comparing it with a 
specimen of the Owl from St. Thomas, which I named G, 
