174 Recently published Ornithological Works. [This, 



of wliicli lie describes. As lead is known to be an aborti- 

 facient in the females of mammals, it is probably also so in 

 birds, and some experiments confirming this have shown that 

 lead has a powerful effect on the virility of domestic fowls. 



No suggestions for the alleviatiou of this trouble is pro- 

 posed by Mr. Wetmore at the present time, but the cause 

 and symptoms of the jioisoniiig are described in order to 

 bring it under wider notice, in the hope that some method 

 may be discovered iu the future of preventing this malady. 



JT'ood on the eye of the Burroiving Owl. 



[The eyes of the Burrowing Owl [S2)eoti/to cuniciilaria liypocicea], with 

 special reference to the fundus oculi. By Casey A. Wood, M.D. Extr. 

 from ' Contributions to Medical aud Biological research,' dedicated to 

 Sir William Osier, in honour of his seventietli Ijirtliday, July 12, 1919, 

 by his pupils and co-workers. Pp. 818-823 ; 1 col. pL] 



This short paper by Dr. Wood, who has made the special 

 study of the avian eye (see 'Ibis,'' 1920, p. 306), shows that 

 the structure of that organ of the Burrowing Owl is very 

 distinctly adapted to nocturnal vision, aud that this is 

 correlated with its habits which are distinctly nocturnal, 

 though it is sometimes seen in daytime. 



The paper is illustrated with a beautiful coloured plate, 

 showing the appearance of the eye when viewed with the 

 oi)hthalmoscope. This was prepared from a drawing made 

 by Mr. A. W. Head in the Zoological Gardens in London. 



As the paper aj)pears in a special volume of memoirs 

 dedicated to Sir Wm. Osier, it is not likely to be seen by 

 many ornithologists, and for this reason we have drawn 

 special attention to it. 



Aquila. 



[Aquila : Periodical of Ornithology. Vols, xxi.-xxv. for the years 

 1914-1918. Ikidapest.] 



The annual volumes of 'Aquila,' the official journal of 

 the central government office for ornithological studies in 

 Hungary for the yeai's of the war, have recently reached us, 

 and the troublous times do not appear to have diminished 



