32 Short jVotices of Oi'mtholof/ical Puhlicaf'ions. 



The Julj number has an interesting paper on " The 

 Evolution o£ Adaptation in Parasitic Cuckoos' Eggs," by 

 E. C. Stuart Baker, F.Z.S., M.B.O.U. 



The October number of this journal has a paper by L. M. 

 Seth-Smith on the Birds found around Mpumu, Uganda, from 

 which we notice that many of our familiar South African 

 friends seem common enough in Uganda. This paper is 

 illustrated by a coloured plate of eggs and a photographic 

 plate of Platijstira cyanea (Blue Flycatcher) on its nest. 

 Notes and observations on the Painted Snipe {Ilodratula 

 hengalensis — R. capensis) in Ceylon by J. 0. Beven, B.A., is 

 also of some interest to South African readers. A long paper 

 on a collection of Birds from S. Abyssinia by W. R. Ogilvie- 

 Grant completes a specially good number. Obituaries of 

 Dr. P. L. Sclater (with an excellent j)ortrait), Tom Ayres, 

 and Dr. Gunning also appear. 



2. Report of the Zoological Semice for the Year 1912, in 

 which is included the 14:th Annual Rej^ort of the Oiza 

 Zoological Gardens. By Capt. S. S. Flower 

 (Director). 



From this Report we are pleased to see that in Egypt the 

 Egrets have been saved from the extermination which 

 threatened them at the hands of the plume-hunters, by law 

 No. 9 of May 20, 1912 : " The Protection of Birds useful to 

 Atrriculture." Bird-protection duty now appears to be part 

 of the Director's duties, as on page 4 of the Report we see 

 that the Director and his assistant were absent in the 

 provinces on various dates on bird-protection duty. The 

 Black-cheeked Lovebird of S. Africa seems to breed as well 

 in captivity in foreign climes as in its native haunts. We see 

 that lo were reared in the Giza Zoo. 



'^. ' The Emu.' January, April, 1914. 



Our Australian contemporary continues to bevery successful, 

 but to all appearances the people of Australia take more 

 interest in Natural History subjects than those of. South 



