185 
Ornithologists’ Club. 
occupant of the Chair for the first time this session to offer 
you a few remarks on the progress made during the past 
twelve months. I will speak first of some of the chief ornitho¬ 
logical works that have been issued since our last Meeting, 
then of those that are being planned or are in course of 
publication, and lastly of some of the expeditions to foreign 
countries that have attained or are likely to attain good 
ornithological results. 
First, as regards publications, I consider that one of the 
most important of those that have appeared during the past 
year is Dr. Bowdler Sharpe’s f Hand-list of Birds/ the plan 
of which was announced to you some time since (see Bull, 
vol. viii. p. xxiv), and the first volume of which has lately 
been issued. When finished, there can be no doubt that the 
new ( Hand-list ’ will be of the greatest convenience to 
working ornithologists. Besides giving an index to the 
twenty-seven volumes of the great ( Catalogue of Birds/ it 
will contain references to all the additional species described 
during the progress of that work, and so form a complete 
guide-book to all species of birds described up to the time of 
its issue. It will, in fact, do for Birds what Dr. Trouessart, 
in his lately-issued ‘ Catalogus Mammalium/ has attempted 
to do for the Mammals. All that we could have wished, in 
fact, is that we should not have to wait two more years for 
its completion; but this delay is, of course, unavoidable. 
Another recent event of much ornithological importance 
is the issue of the final number of the second edition of 
Mr. Saunders’s f Manual of British Birds/ There can be 
no greater proof of the increased attention now paid to the 
study of birds in this country than the great popularity of 
this excellent ‘ Manual/ and, I may add, of several other 
recent works on British ornithology, 
A third work, issued this year, which I must not fail to 
mention, is Mr. Evans’s volume upon “ Birds” in the series 
of the ‘ Cambridge Natural History.’ As has been already 
observed, Mr. Evans’s work contains a ec concentrated essence 
of information ” on birds which will be most useful as a book 
of reference to all students of our favourite science. 
