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necessity of first disposing of other matters. The preparation of the annual report has taken a very great amount of time, owing to the incorporation of a new feature, the list of private collections in the Museum, together with a brief summary of their extent and character. Th "Bulletin" on birds of the Galapagos Islands, and another on birds of the Seychelles, Aldabra, and other islands, based primarily on Dr. Abbott's collections, also claim precedence over the more comprehensive work alluded to, and every opportunity has been availed of to bring them nearer completion. Much still remains to be done on both works, however, owing to their elaborate character, it being intended, as to the one on Galapagos birds at least, to give careful original descriptions and full synonomy of all the species peculiar to the archipelago, and all Galapagos references to the remainder. There being altogether 101 species to be treated (nearly twice as many as are mentioned in Mr. Salvin's Monograph of 1876*)
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* Trans. Zool. Soc. London, IX, pt. IX, pp. 447-510, pls. 84-89.