British Cage Bird and a large number of foreigners. It certainly forms 

 one of the handiest and most reliable beginners' guide yet published. A 

 well arranged index completes the whole and make the information it im- 

 parts instantly accessible. Its one blemish is the mis-spelling of many 

 of the scientific names. This little booklet should make a useful addition 

 to every bird-keeper's bookshelf. 



Board oe Agriculture and Fisheries LEAFLETS : No. 204. 

 " Apple Tree Mildew " is to baud, consisting of clear and concise directions 

 for prevention and eradication of this great pest of all apple gardens and 

 orchards. It should be in the hands of all tbe fortunate possessors of 

 gardens and orchards. A list of the leaflets already issued, arranged in 

 groups, is also to hand, of which we name a few of the groups : — 



Poultry and Bees, their Breeding and Management. 



Farm and Garden Crops. 



Wild Animals, Birds, etc. 



Insect and other Pests, other than Bush and Orchard Fruit. 



Insect and other Pests injurious to Fruit Trees and Bushes, and to 

 Fruit Trees. 



Fungi injurious to Crops and Trees. 



Copies of the various leaflets may be obtained free of charge and post 

 free on application to the Secretary, Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, 4, 

 Whitehall Place, London, V S.W. Letters of application so addressed need 

 not be stamped. 



Other recent issues are: — 

 A Book of Birds, by W. P. Pycraft. (Sydney Appleton). 

 British Bird Life, by W. Percival Westell, with an introduction by the 



Rt. Hon. Sir H. Maxwell, Bart., F.R.S. It contains 60 illustrations. 



(T. Fisher Uuwin). W. T. P. 



BzDitonal. 



The Thick-billed Spider Hunter (Arachnothera crassirosiris). — 

 Has this bird ever been imported? I cannot call to mind any instance of 

 a specimen having reached this country alive ; it belongs to the family 

 NECTARINID.F). Mr. A. L. Butler found a nest of this bird at Kepong, 

 in Selangor. The nest, an oval structure 11 ins. long and 5^ ins. in diame- 

 ter, sewn to the underside of a large plantain leaf, and composed entirely 

 of dried plantain fibre. The entrance was at the side against the leaf, 

 which formed part of the back wall of the nest; it contained two fresh 

 eggs, pure white, with a broad zone formed by a tangled confusion of very 

 slender lines of a blackish-brown pigment, the tracery being both fantasti 

 and beautiful. Size of eggs || X yV and J| x $|. 



