Letters, Announcements, fyc. 213 
through the stage of a flying-organ. The function of loco¬ 
motion being entirely performed by the powerfully developed 
hind legs, and the beak mounted on the long and flexible 
neck being sufficient for the offices commonly performed by 
hands, the fore limbs appear to have degenerated in some 
members of the group, as the Cassowary and Apteryx, to mere 
rudiments, and to have entirely disappeared in the extinct 
Dinornis of New Zealand, just as the hind limbs of the 
whales disappeared when their locomotory functions were 
transferred to the tail. This view is strengthened by the 
great light that has been thrown on the origin of the wings 
of flying-birds by the fortunate discovery of the Archaeopteryx 
in the Solenhofen beds of Jurassic age, as in this most re¬ 
markable animal, half lizard and half bird, the process of 
modification from hand to perfect flying-wing is clearly de¬ 
monstrated. The lecturer mentioned, in conclusion, that 
specimens showing the structure of the principal forms of 
the wings of birds were being prepared for exhibition in the 
Natural History Museum, Cromwell Eoad. 
The British Association Migration Committee .—We have 
from time to time drawn attention to the inadequate support 
given to the Committee for reporting on the Migration of 
Birds, and we have contrasted the sum which it receives from 
a semi-private source (£30) with the £1000 accorded, 
merely as a commencement, by the United States Govern¬ 
ment for a similar purpose. We now publish the following 
appeal:— 
Great Cotes, Ulceby, Lincolnshire, 
February 1st, 1886. 
Migration of Birds . 
Dear Sir, —You are doubtless aware that in 1880 a Com¬ 
mittee was appointed by the British Association for the 
purpose of collecting observations on the Migration of Birds 
at Lighthouses and Lightships, and that this Committee has 
since been annually reappointed by the same Association, 
which in 1882 granted £15, in 1883 and 1884 £20, and in 
