340 Recently published Ortiithological Works. [Ibis, 



absence from Devonshire of the Nightingale. Great Reed- 

 Warbler, Marsh- Warbler, Icterine Warbler, Crested Tit, 

 Shore-Lark, Ortolan Bunting, Tree-Sparrow, and Hazel 

 Hen, all more or less abundant in Belgium, is noted. 



M. A. Paque records the occurrence for the first time of 

 Branta ruficollis in Belgium. It was taken on the Scheldt, 

 near Antwerp, on 3 December, 1919, and is figured in a 

 coloured plate. Another rare bird found nesting recently in 

 Belgium is the Great Black Woodpecker. No satisfactory 

 record of the occurrence of this bird in the British Islands 

 is known. 



There are a number of other useful and interesting con- 

 tributions dealing with the avifauna of Belgium in its 

 varied aspects, and we hope that the ' Gerfaut ' is now firmly 

 established and will continue to prosper. 



Irish Naturalist. 



[The Irish Naturalist : A monthly Journal ou General Irish Natural 

 History. Vols, xxviii. & xxix. for 1919 & 1920.] 



There are not very many articles dealing with ornitholo- 

 gical topics in the last two volumes of the ' Irish Naturalist.' 

 Perhaps the most interesting and novel is that of Mr. J. P. 

 Burkitt on the so-called " cocks' nests " of the Wren. 

 From careful observations carried out by the author he 

 concludes that the several nests are built by the male 

 alone before the arrival of the female, and that the 

 male during this period of anticipation keeps in touch 

 with all the nests, roosting in them at night. On the 

 arrival of the female, and until the young birds are out 

 of the nest, the male takes little interest in his family. 

 Some of these observations are controverted by Mr. E. P. 

 Butterfield, who is familiar with the Wrens in Yorkshire, 

 where their habits may be somewhat different. In another 

 article Mr. Burkitt deals with the question of the length of 

 the song-period of certain Warblers. He believes that song 

 ceases as soon as incubation begins, and that all the later 

 singing males are mateless. 



Mr. Moffat's address to the Dublin Field Naturalists' 



