CURRENT LITERATURE 171 



Hawfinch nesting in Dumfriesshire. On 4th July 19 19 I 

 identified a young but fully-fledged Hawfinch which had that day 

 been picked up dead in the grounds of the Crichton Royal Institution, 

 near Dumfries. Hugh S. Gladstone, Thornhill. 



Wigeon nesting in Ross-shire. For the last six years I 

 have spent a few weeks of the month of June in the mountainous 

 part of Ross-shire, not far from the "divide" but in the Moray 

 basin, and near the source of the Farrar, affluent of the Beauly, 

 Orrin, Meig, and Bran, affluents of the Conon. It may be interest- 

 ing to note that I found the commonest nesting species of duck in 

 the district to be the Wigeon {Mareca penelope). D. Macdonald, 

 Glasgow. 



CURRENT LITERATURE. 



Sheep and Natural Conditions in Scotland. Dr James 

 Ritchie traces the results which have followed upon the introduction 

 of sheep to Scotland and the great increase of sheep breeding. 

 With the aid of historical references he indicates the varied 

 influences which have affected forests, vegetation in general, and the 

 native fauna of the land. In the last connection he shows how, 

 directly and indirectly, sheep have in some cases, such as those of 

 the Red and Roe Deer and of the larger birds of prey, been the 

 cause of great restriction in range and reduction in numbers or even of 

 extermination ; while in other cases, such as that of the Green-bottle 

 Fly, sheep have given rise to an extended and extending distri- 

 bution. Scot. Jflurn. Agric, April 19 19, p. 190. 



Sheep-breeding and New Varieties of Wool. Prof. Cossar 

 Ewart gives the results of his experiments in the crossing of various 

 breeds of sheep, and dwells especially upon the influence of crosses 

 on the economic qualities of the wool, and upon the suitability of 

 the cross-breed for food purposes. The wool of Southdown-Soay 

 crosses was found to be "superior in every respect to that of their 

 parents," and "admirably suited for the manufacture of high-class 

 cloths"; and the quality and quantity of the coat of a Southdow^n- 

 Blackface cross was such as to fetch before the war the price of 

 three fleeces of pure-bred Blackface sheep of like age. The paper 

 is w^ell illustrated. Scot. Joiirn. Ag?-ic., April 1919, p. 159. 



Great Tit its Economic Iisiportance. The general sense 

 of naturalists has long been against the opinions of gardeners and 

 fruit-growers as to the economic significance of the Great Tit. The 



