336 Recently published Ornithological Works. 



JNIagpies, and other species provide matter for many a page. 

 We are glad to hear that the Badger still holds its ground in 

 the district j but we must dissent from the author's state- 

 ment that the Stone-Curlew has ceased to breed in the 

 county, nor can we imagine what are the species of Terns 

 that have disappeared in the present century. 



Many of the full-page illustrations give a very good idea 

 of the scenery of the Downland. 



71. Jacobi on the Eating of Gravel by Birds. 



[Die Aufuabme vou Steinen durch Vogel. Von Dr. Arnold Jacobi. 

 Arb. Biol., Abtb. f. Land- u. Forstwirtbsch. K. Gesundbeits, i. p. 223, 

 1900.] 



In this article Dr. Jacobi, following the lead of Professor 

 Rory, treats of the swallowing of stones and grit by birds, 

 and adduces what he considers to be new or hitherto un- 

 published facts. Galline, Columbine, Picarian, and Corvine 

 species perhaps afford the best instances of the habit, marsh 

 and shore-birds vary somewhat in their adherence to it, 

 "while those that swim hardly practise it at all. Instinct 

 makes it customary, while it is of course useful from a 

 physiological point of view, as an assistance to digestive 

 action. 



72. Jacobi on the Avifauna of Japan. 



[Verbreitung und Herkunft der bobern Tbierwelt Japans. Von Dr. 

 Arnold Jacobi. Zool. .Tabrb. (Sjst.) xiii. p. 463, 1900.] 



Dr. Jacobi was induced by a study of the Mollusks of 

 Japan to extend his researches to the distribution and origin 

 of the Vertebrates of the islands. His difficulties were 

 enhanced by the fact that since the days of Temminck and 

 Schlegel a custom has arisen of considering Japan as a sort 

 of mother-country with various dependencies; while the 

 writers have failed to distinguish properly, in the case of 

 birds, between residents, migrants, and stragglers. See. 

 bohm's work, though by no means perfect, is perhaps the 

 best, and his nomenclature and order are adopted. 



Japan proves to be a complex area, containing endemic, 



