GLEANINGS 191 



GLEANINGS. 



It is with great regret that we record the death of Philip Lutley 

 Sclater, M.A., D.Sc, F.R.S., which occurred at his residence at Odiham 

 Priory, Hampshire, on the 27th of June, at the ripe age of 84 years. Dr 

 Sclater was one of 'the greatest naturalists of modern times, and during 

 his long and active life, made over 2000 contributions to scientific 

 literature, many of them of outstanding importance. His career has 

 been indeed a remarkable one He was Secretary of the Zoological 

 Society of London for over forty years, during which he built up that 

 important body and made it what it is the leading one of its kind in 

 the world. He was Editor of The Ibis, with a short respite, from 

 1859 down to the end of 191 2. He was the propounder, as long ago as 

 1858, of the first, and still accepted, scientific subdivision of the earth's 

 surface into zoogeographical regions. He was the greatest authority on 

 the ornithology of South America. An enumeration of his works forms 

 a volume issued by the American Government as one of the publications 

 of the United States National Museum. The death of such a master 

 is to be regarded as more than a national loss. 



In the July number of British Birds, Miss Maud Haviland records a 

 Gray Plover seen at Eilean Mor, Outer Hebrides, on 10th June, and one, 

 or possibly two, Black Terns from the same place on 31st May. This is 

 the first record of the Black Tern for the Outer Hebrides. H. W. Ford- 

 Lindsay has three interesting records. He reports two adult male Red- 

 throated Pipits which were obtained at Hooe, Sussex, on 22nd May, a 

 male Spotted Sandpiper in full summer plumage shot at Pevensey 

 Sluice, Sussex, on the same day, and a fine Caspian Tern obtained at 

 Rye Bay on 4th June. Fulmars are recorded as nesting on the Great 

 Skellig, Co. Kerry, a still further extension of their range ; as many as 

 twelve pairs are reported as breeding in this new locality. (British 

 Birds, 1 91 3, pp. 52-59). 



In the Glasgow Naturalist for May 191 3, pp. 81-89, is a " Report on 

 the Return of Summer Birds to the Clyde Area," by John Paterson. So 

 much on this subject has been published during the last thirty years, that 

 it is not surprising that this report contains no records of importance. 

 It again demonstrates, however, what has long been known, namely, 

 that the climatic conditions of the West Coast favour an earlier return 

 of the majority of our summer bird-visitors to those regions than to those 

 of Eastern Britain, though our author would have us believe that it is in 

 some measure due to another cause ; we think not. 



