Letters , Announcements , fyc. 
529 
Report on the British Museum for 1885.—The Parliamentary 
Report of the British Museum for 1885 contains the following 
passages on ornithological subjects : — 
“ The f Hume ' Collection of birds of the British Asian 
Empire consists of 63,000 bird-skins, 18,500 eggs, and 500 
nests, besides 371 skins of Mammalia. 
“ This collection has been presented by Allan O. Hume, 
Esq.,'C.B., and is, without comparison, the most extensive, 
complete, and important that has ever been formed of the 
birds of the Indian region. The aim of the donor was to 
obtain specimens from, and to acquire a perfect knowledge 
of, the avifauna of every part of British Asia. For this 
purpose he organized a system under which numerous local 
observers and collectors worked for and with him. He fitted 
out expeditions, with a staff of collectors and taxidermists, 
into Scinde, Coorg, Manipur, the Malayan Peninsula, Te- 
nnasserim, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands; he also 
acquired, either by purchase or presentation, collections 
formed by other well-known Indian ornithologists, as the 
Mandelli collection from Sikim and Tiber, Brook's North¬ 
western and Central Indian birds, Adams's Lambhur birds, 
Bingham's collections from Delhi and Tenasserim, and 
Scully's collection from Turkestan. 
“The value of this collection, therefore, should not be 
measured merely by the number of specimens which it 
contains, but by the judgment which determined their selec¬ 
tion, the history attached to many of them, and the com¬ 
pleteness of the several series. Assuming that the collection 
contains 2000 species, each would be represented on an 
average by about 30 specimens, and that number is, in the 
majority of cases, necessary to illustrate the geographical 
distribution or variation of the species according to age, 
season, or locality. 
“ A series of 5331 specimens of American birds, presented 
by F. D. Godman, Esq., F.R.S., and O. Salvin, Esq., F.R.S. 
—This is the first instalment of a donation which, when 
completed, will, with regard to its scientific value, be perhaps 
not surpassed even by the donation reported above. The 
