Australian cassowary, and the American emu--all characterised by the absence of a hind toe. Having noticed these fine birds, the visitor will be anxious to learn something of the mysterious case (108), which contains a foot, the cast of a skull, and a painting. Here he sees all that has yet been traced of the extinct dodo, a bird which is believed to have existed in vast numbers up to a recent period, chiefly on the Bourbon and Mauritius islands. The painting is said to be an authentic Dutch performance, taken from the living bird at the time when the Cape of Good Hope was doubled by adventurous men heated with exaggerated notions of the exhaustless wealth of the Indies. Its precise position among birds has not been finally assigned. It appears to have been incapable of flight, to have had a vulture's head, and the foot of a common fowl. It is conjectured that the race was extinguished by the rapacity of the first settlers in the Mauritius, who, finding the dodo excellent eating and an easy prey, demolished every specimen of the species. Near these wrecks of the dodo, and in the same case, is the New Zealand wingless bird, now almost extinct, but to scientific men an interesting link between the bird and the mammalia. The Bustards occupy the two next cases (110, 111) to which the visitor should direct his attention. Here are the two bustards of the eastern hemisphere, the great European bustard, the African ruffed and white-eared bustards, and the Arabian bustard. The next case (112) contains the varieties of wading birds called, from their power of running, Coursers. These are chiefly found in Africa; but the varieties in the case include, in addition to the North African cream-coloured courser, and the double-collared courser, the thick-kneed European bustard. The Plovers are arranged next in order to the coursers. The varieties included in the case (113) are from Africa, North America, and Europe. Here are, amongst others, the beautiful golden-ringed and dotterel plovers of Europe, and the American noisy plover. In the case which next claims attention (114) are the turnstones, that turn stones on the sea-shore in search of food; the oyster catchers, that wrench shell fish from their shells; and the South American gold-breasted and other trumpeters. The Cranes, of which there is an extensive collection, now claim the visitor's attention. They are from all parts of the world, and love the borders of rivers and lakes, where they can prey upon small reptiles and fish. In the first cases (115-118) are the true cranes, including the common European variety, the Indian crane, the South American caurale snipe, the common and purple-crested herons of Europe, the Pacific heron, the crowned heron, the North American great heron, and the African demoiselle heron. In the two following cases (120, 121) the visitor will find the American blue heron, and the great and little egrets; and in the next two cases given to the crane family (122, 123) are the