" g^j ' J From Magazines, &c. A\ 



From Magazines^ &c. 



Birds Teaching Youxg to Sing. — A note by Mr. W. H. Parkin 

 in the Febrnary Zoologist (p. 71) has a bearing on the question 

 whether song is acquired or inherited. " A Sky-Lark had young 

 ones just out of nest ; on the old bird returning and feeding 

 them, it remained on the ground close to the fledglings, and broke 

 out into full song, which it continued for about a minute." 



Migration of Waders. — An article by Austin H. (lark, in 

 The Auk for x\pril, deals with "The Migration of Certain Shore 

 Birds," a fascinating subject. vStarting from the premise that 

 birds prefer a beam wind, and therefore fiy diagonally across the 

 " trades," Mr. Clark sketches the probable routes taken by the 

 Golden Plover {Charadrius dominicus) in its migrations from North 

 to South America and back. 



* * :i: 



Hard Pressed. — Mr. A. E. Kitson, F.G.S., read a newspaper 

 cutting relating to the pursuit of a Laughing Jackass by a Hawk. 

 The bird sought refuge within the walls of an hotel, and, in its 

 extremity, dived through the upper pane of one of the commercial 

 room windows, and then, after making several ineffectual efforts 

 to pass through a large mirror over the fireplace, regained the street 

 by " taking a header " through another closed window. — Victorian 



Naturalist, April, 1905. 



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Celebrated Ornithologists. — The Co)idor for March-April 

 establishes a good precedent with its four pfiotographs of eminent 

 ornithologists — Dr. P. L. Sclater, Prof. Cabanis, Mr. Howard 

 Saunders, and Count Schmidhoffcn. A facsimile of a page of 

 MS. of Prince Charles Lucien Bonaparte, with a lithograph of the 

 Prince that strongly reminds one of his great cousin ; an article 

 by Leonhard Stejneger in support of Palmen's theory that birds 

 migrate along the routes whereby they anciently immigrated into 

 a country ; and a number of local bird-notes, complete the issue. 



* * * 



Australian Birds in England. — At the Crystal Palace Bird 

 Show held in January last, in the Parrakeet class the first prize 

 fell to a Varied Lorikeet {Plilosclera versicolor) owned by Miss t\ R. 

 Little. Mallee {Barnardius harnardi) and Yellow-collared {B. 

 zonariits) Parrakcets and King (A prosmiclus cyanopygius) and Red- 

 winged (Ptisles erythroptcrits) Lories were also on view, according to 

 The Avicidtiiral Magazine (Feb., 1905), as well as a hybrid " Red- 

 rumj)ed Rosella." In the class for Grass-Finches, &c., a Yellow- 

 rumped Finch {Miinia flaviprymna), owned by Mr. H. E. Pier, won 

 first prize and special for the rarest bird in the show. A jiair oi 

 Red-faced Finches (Bathilda riificanda) and a Crimson Finch 

 {Neochniia phaeton) were also shown. 



