NOTES. 225 



Stock-Dove, Turtle-Dove, House-Sparrow, Bullfinch, Chaffinch, 

 Greenfinch, HaM'finch, Blackcap, Whitethroat, Blackbird, 

 Mistle-Thrush, and Greater and Lesser Black-backed Gulls. 

 On the other hand. Peregrines, Kestrels, Owls, Rooks, and 

 Jays are to be protected, at any rate, with limitations. 



The author finally insists, with good reason, that our present 

 system, or lack of system, in the matter of bird-j)rotection, 

 is totally inadequate. There can be little doubt but that the 

 whole subject of economic ornithology should be undertaken 

 by a specially qualified staff, under the Board of Agriculture, 

 as has long ago been done in America. Then, and not till then, 

 shall we know to what extent our native birds affect our 

 interests, and what measures may be taken to devise the 

 increase of some or check the undue increase of others. 



W.P.P. 



THE TONGUE-MARKS IN YOUNG BIRDS. 



In the October number of the " Ibis " Mr. Collingwood 

 Ingram gives a short, but interesting paper on the tongue- 

 marks of nestling birds. He briefl}^ describes and figures 

 the tongues of several British species, such as Acrocephalus 

 phragmitis, A. streperus, and A. palustris, wherein the tongue 

 is marked by a pair of small black dots placed near its base. 

 In Locustella ncevia there is an additional spot on the tip of 

 the tongue ; while in Alauda arhorea and A. arvensis there are 

 three black spots, arranged in the form of a triangle, on the 

 tongue, and a fourth near the tip of the lower jaw. While 

 Mr. Ingram draws attention to the fact that in Sylvia cinerea, 

 S. airicapilla, S. hortensis, and S. orphea the tongue is 

 curiously marked by an indistinct, and more or less perfect, 

 triangle of a dusky hue, he cautiously avoids drawing any 

 inference therefrom. To us it suggests a very interesting phase 

 in the evolution of the more distinct markings which have 

 recently been described in our columns, and which Mr. Ingram 

 also figures. In short, it would seem that this linear marking 

 represents an earlier 2:)hase of colour-marking. The spots 

 arose, in other words, by the concentration of the pigment 

 to form spots ; and that in more recently evolved species 

 even these have disappeared. Herein Ave have a parallel 

 to the development of longitudinal stripes in the nestling 

 plumage, which show a later disintegration into mottlings, 

 and finally disappear, leaving the nestling down unmarked. 



W.P.P. 



THE SOARING OF BIRDS. 



I WAS surprised A\hen reading Mr. F. W. Headley's article on 



