1902 The Field Nattir alls f s Library 73; 



dry clover for the tender leaves and pods of the beans." A most at- 

 tractive list of thirteen evening meetings for the ensuing session is 

 announced, most of them illustrated with lantern views. 



The last Annual Report of the Ornithological and Zoological Section 

 of the Uppingham Natural History Society — drawn up by C. R. Haines, 

 Esq., the president and secretary — contains some local and general 

 information of interest. Of the rarer birds the report says, " Most of 

 the rarer additions to our list come from the ornamental waters at Exton 

 and Burley, or from the Welland Valley. At Burley has been killed 

 within the last few years one of the rarest of British birds, Bonaparte's 

 Gull ; and such splendid birds as the Osprey and Peregrine and Hobby 

 occur occasionally." The identification rests solely on the authority 

 of a Canadian ornithologist, Mr Wm. R. Hine of Southport, who is 

 familiar with Bonaparte's Gull, and on seeing the wings (the only part 

 preserved) of above specimen at once identified them. The wings have 

 since been mislaid by Mr Hine. 



In connection with the subject of " Bird Song in Winter," treated of 

 in another column, this report states : " The robin, hedge-sparrow, and 

 wren sing occasionally throughout the autumn and winter, and the lark 

 often in November ; but this year the thrushes sang from 6th November 

 onwards till iSth December, and I heard a linnet singing lustily on 

 November lo. The Earl of Gainsborough remarked the note of the 

 ring-dove and stock-dove as late as December 15, and again as early as 

 February 18. According to my experience the tits begin their song 

 early in February, and the blackbird is seldom heard before the same 

 time, the chaffinch and lark a little later." Mr Haines has some good 

 remarks on the wilful destruction of large numbers of eggs by collectors, 

 who, as he says, "are the curse of the country districts." The report 

 concludes with a summary of the fauna of Uppingham District, the 

 detailed observations of birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians being 

 given. In the last group — the amphibians — we note there is no record 

 of the palmate newt being seen. There is said to have been a notice- 

 able diminution in the number of swallows and martins at Thorpe-by- 

 Water, while the stone-chat is added to the local list for the first time 

 since 1856. 



The 17th Annual Report of the Heaton Chapel Literary and Philoso- 

 phical Society bears witness to the interesting character of the meetings 

 during the session 1 900-1 901, as well as to the very flourishing condition 

 of the society. A membership of 740, of whom 429 are ladies, is indeed 

 a gratifying state of affairs, and one which any society might be proud 

 of. The report contains two excellent portraits, one of the late presi- 

 dent, Mr P. S. Minor, and the other that of the present president, Rev. 

 W. H. Smartt. With such men at its head the society will doubtless 

 continue to flourish. Mr Smartt is one of the readiest speakers we 

 know, and always witty. We remember on one occasion recently, when 

 a lecturer to the society had advanced a theory to account for the 



