1G NATURAL SCIENCE [July 1898 



North American Land Shells 

 "A classified catalogue with localities of the Land Shells of America 

 north of Mexico," compiled by H. A. Pilsbry and C. W. Johnson, is 

 a small brochure of thirty-five pages, reprinted from The Nautilus. 

 The great advance in our knowledge of the true relationships of the 

 members of the great Helicoid group as brought about by Pilsbry's 

 work has rendered the production of such a catalogue as this most 

 desirable, and one which will be greatly appreciated by all who are 

 interested in North American Land Mollusca ; whilst it further shows a 

 considerable increase in the known number of species from that region 

 since the last edition of Binney's " Manual," which appeared in 1885. 



Whether all these extra species, some seventy-five in number, will 

 ultimately prove valid, time alone can show ; but we confess to feeling 

 very sceptical about some. Certain species are acknowledged imports. 



The grouping of the larger families does not strike one as alto- 

 gether happy or even natural. The insertion of the Agnatha between 

 the Holopoda and the Aulacopoda is especially unfortunate. We may 

 point out that Vitrca draparnaldi is a synonym of V. lucida (Drap.). 



The Connop Collection of British Birds 

 East Anglia has long been famous for the richness of its ' Ornis,' 

 and the researches of the ornithologists who dwell within its borders 

 have contributed in no small degree to our knowledge of the birds 

 of Western Europe. Eoremost among Norfolk naturalists of the 

 present day stand Mr J. H. Gurney and Mr T. Southwell ; the 

 latter having completed the third volume of poor Stevenson's 

 " Birds of Norfolk " in the most praiseworthy style. It is to the 

 zeal of these two gentlemen, and more especially to that of Mr 

 Southwell, that we are indebted for a precise history of the ornitho- 

 logical treasures to be studied at Eollesby Hall in the form of 

 a catalogue some sixty pages in length. Mr E. M. Connop of that 

 place is keenly interested in local zoology. During the last thirty 

 years he has used every opportunity of securing for his collection 

 the rarest birds procured by the Norfolk wildfowlers. How far his 

 efforts have been rewarded with success may be guessed from the 

 fact that he is the proud possessor of four local specimens of 

 the White-eyed Pochard (Nyroca ferruginca), two local examples of 

 the Gull-billed Tern (Sterna anglica) ; and three individuals of 

 Sabine's Gull (Xcma sabinii) obtained on the Norfolk coast. It is 

 satisfactory to know the exact whereabouts of such specimens as the 

 only examples of Pallas' Warbler (Phylloscopus proregulus) and the 

 Mediterranean Herring Gull (Lams cachinnans), that have been so 

 far detected within the limits of the British Isles. Strange to say, 

 the Whooper Swan (Cggnus inusicus) has not been included in this 

 fine series. 



