220 Short ^\)tices of Or'tilthulnylcal Publications. 



II. Pi/cnonofus capenf^i^. Eyelid protruding, wattle-like. 



a. P. c. captmsis. Eyelid whitish. 



b. P. c. nigricana. Eyelid reddish or chrome-orauge. Crown blaek. 

 III. Pycnonotus doihoni. Eyelid not protruding and wattle-like. South 



Africa has no representative. 



20. ' Transvaal Affricultural Jo^irnal.'' 



There appears in the April 1907 number of this well got 

 np publication an interestinor article on the Sabi Game 

 lieserve by Major J. Stevenson Hamilton, Warden, Govt. 

 Game Reserves. 



We are glad to note that game is on the increase in the 

 Reserve, and is becoming so tame " that it is no unusual 

 thing to pass troops of game standing or lying ruminating in 

 the shade within a hundred yards of the path, who scarcely 

 take the trouble to get on their feet to stare at the intruder.'^ 



Wild Ostriches have done particularly well, and are now 

 quite numerous in their favourite localities. 



Amongst the rapacious birds the Major thinks the Martial 

 Hawk Eagle (Spizuetns bellicosus) the most destructive to 

 small game, while he considers the Yellow-billed Kite (Milvus 

 a'ffi/ptiiis) not only a perfectly harmless bird, but moreover 

 useful, as they devour carrion. The Yellow-billed Kite is 

 execrated amongst the Boer farmers, and its Dutch vernacular 

 name of Kuiken-dicf (chicken - thief) shows in what 

 estimation it is hold. If Major Hamilton is certain of his 

 identification of the bird, the two facts mentioned by him 

 disclose new phases in the economy of the Kite. 



21. ' The Auk' (Journal of the American 0. U.). 



The January number contains, amongst papers of exclusive 

 local interest, a valuable contribution on the Pterylosis of 

 Swifts and Humming-birds by Hubert Lyman Clark. 



In the correspondence we are glad to see that Dr. Hartert 

 emphatically denounces subgenera as unnecessary and un- 

 desirable. This is the latest form of the hair-splitting craze. 



The April number contains a paper on " The present Status 

 of the English Sparrow Problem in America," by A. H. 

 Estabrook. 



