2i8 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



animal shows "little discrimination in the choice of its food," 

 and " nothing edible seems too small or too insignificant to 

 be diligently sought and consumed." The subject of the 

 Mole's food is fully dealt with in Barrett-Hamilton's History 

 of British Mammals, but it is nevertheless important to be 

 in possession of data compiled from actual dissections. A 

 propos of the suggestion, mentioned by Barrett-Hamilton, 

 and regarded by him as improbable, that the Mole may be 

 partly herbivorous, it is interesting to note that the present 

 author says that "though there is no doubt that the 

 vegetable contents of the stomach of the Mole are only 

 accidentally ingested along with animal food worms in 

 particular there were found indications that on occasion 

 the Mole may use its small sharp teeth with effect in sever- 

 ing obstructions to its progress through the soil." 



In The Ibis} Percy R, Lowe upholds the claim to 

 racial separation of the Ringed Plover which breeds in the 

 British Isles, as was proposed by Seebohm, who in 1885 

 applied to it the trinomial designation Charadrius Jiiaticula 

 major. Mr Lowe speaks of it as a quite distinct Western 

 race, larger and paler than the typical continental form, 

 which " is by no means uncommon in the British Isles 

 during at least the autumn migration." Wing measurements 

 of some sixty specimens are given, the averages being 

 131 mm. for males and 132 mm. for females of the Western 

 race, as against 124 mm. for both sexes of the other; i.e., a 

 superiority of about one-third of an inch. Possessors of 

 Scottish examples of Ringed Plover should examine them 

 with a view to establishing records of the occurrence of the 

 typical form on our shores. 



A paper by S. E. Brock, on the " Ecological Relations of 

 Bird- Distribution, 2 should not be overlooked; it is, indeed, 

 well worth a careful perusal. Animal ecology is still in its 

 infancy, and in no group, perhaps, do greater difficulties 

 present themselves to the student than in that of birds. 

 This is no reason, however, why the subject should not be 

 investigated. Mr Brock's paper, whether we agree with his 



1 The Ibis, July 1914, pp. 395-399- 



2 British Birds, July 1914, pp. 30-44. 



