110 The Ottawa Naturalist. [Sept. 



Broad and Douglas, at 6 o'clock last evening witnessed the un- 

 usual spectacle of a pair of courageous little sparrows (evidently 

 filled with parental anxiety for their fledglings) attacking an 

 Aberdeen terrier, of whose inquisitive explorations thev were 

 apparently in fear. The dog belonged to Mr. J. R. Anderson. 

 late Deputy Minister of Agriculture, and was not once 

 but repeatedly assailed by the cheeky little feathered arabs, 

 which in turn would flutter above it, occasionally darting down 

 to peck at the surprised terrier. When the dog would swiftlv 

 pursue one of the pair its mate would attack from the rear, thus 

 diverting the enemy. It was the dog which tired first of the 

 game, in which (the dog being no aerialist) the birds had all the 

 better of the argument." 



J. R. Anderson. 



BOOK NOTICES. 



The House Fly, Musca' domestica, Linx.'Eus a Study 

 of its Structure. Development, Bionomics and Economy, by 

 C. Gordon Hewitt, D.Sc, Dominion Entomologist, Ottawa, 

 Canada, and late Lecturer in Economic Zoology in the University 

 of Manchester: Manchester, at the University Press, 1910. 



This volume of 195 pages which has recent Iv appeared is a 

 most valuable publication. In 1907, 1908 and 1909, Dr. Hewitt 

 published in different volumes of the Quarterly Journal of 

 Microscopical Science, three parts of his paper on the House 

 Fly. These parts have been bound together in the present 

 volume, with many additional facts. Part I. treats of the 

 Anatomy of the Fly; Part II., the Breeding Habits, Develop- 

 ment, and the Anatomy of the Larva; Part III., the Bionomics, 

 Allies, Parasites, and the Relations of M. domestica to Human 

 Disease. In addition to the fairly complete account given in 

 Part III. the appendices at the end of the volume will be found 

 of particular interest at this time when so much warfare is being 

 waged against this extremely dangerous insect. Such subjects 

 are discussed as "The Relation of Flies to Summer Diarrhoea 

 of Infants;" "FHes and Milk," etc. 



A. G. 



Catalogue of the Odonata of North America, bv 

 Richard A. Muttkowski. Bulletin of the Public Museum of the 

 City of Milwaukee, Vol. I., article 1, pp. 207. 



This well-prepared catalogue, which was issued on June 

 27th, is a publication which will be widely welcomed by students 

 of the Odonata. Such a catalogue has been much wanted. It 



