88 THK VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



three months earlier than usual, which he attributes to the 

 unusually cold season down south, and that ice has been seerj 

 600 miles further north than is usually the case. The whales 

 generally come up early in November, apparently to meet the 

 current from the north, which brings a plentiful food supply. 

 He has lately seen a whale as far north as Cape Moreton, and 

 also a Sperm Whale inside the Barrier Reef, near Townsville. — 



D. Le Souef. 



The Ibis : a Quarterly Journal of Ornithology. — The 

 issue of this publication for July, 1904, contains a paper by Dr. 



E. Hartert, F.Z.S., on the birds collected by Mr. Robert Hall, 

 C.M.Z.S., along the banks of the Lena River (Siberia) during the 

 summer of 1903. About four hundred specimens, representative 

 of eighty-two species, the finches predominating, were collected, 

 all of which are now in the Hon. Walter Rothschild's museum at 

 Tring, near London. The collection does not appear to contain 

 anything of special interest, probably owing to the rapid nature 

 of Mr. Hall's journey, and the few opportunities for collecting 

 which presented themselves, but it is sufficient to considerably 

 advance the knowledge of Siberian ornithology, especially as 

 regards those birds frequenting the river banks. 



"Journal of Agriculture of Victoria." — The September 

 issue (vol. ii., part 9) of this publication is devoted to the annual 

 reports of the Director of Agriculture, Mr. S. Williamson Wallace, 

 and the heads of the different branches, several of whom furnish 

 very interesting details of their work. Attention may be called to 

 those by Mr. F. J. Howell, Ph.D., Mr. D. McAlpine, and Mr. C. 

 French, F.L.S., as evidence of the work accomplished by the 

 Department. Mr. A. W. Crowe, in his report on the forestry 

 branch, emphasizes the urgent need of making our timber reserves 

 a commercial asset. 



Honour. — We are pleased to learn that the University of 

 Cambridge has honoured Mr. A. W. Howitt, F.G.S., with the 

 degree of D.Sc, in recognition of his anthropological studies. 



Micro-Fungi. — Mr. D. McAlpine, Government Vegetable 

 Pathologist, has contributed to a recent number of the Annales 

 Mycologici an article entitled " Some Misconceptions Concerning 

 the Uredospores of Puccinia pruni, Pers.," in which he brings 

 evidence to prove that there are not two forms of uredospores 

 found on the peach, plum, &c., as has been contended by some 

 authorities. 



Exchange — Rhopalocera. — Mr. T. S. Shepherd, Shipley, 

 Yorkshire, England, is desirous of entering into correspondence 

 with Australian collectors of Rhopalocera, with a view to 

 exchange or purchase. 



