Vol. IV. 

 1905 



1 Fro-in Magazines, &c. l.A I 



Wekas Breeding in Captivity. — Mention is made in The 

 Avicultural Magazine (September, 1904) of a paper by Mr. 

 Blaauw, w^hich he read before the last Zoological Congress in 

 Berlin, on the subject of rearing the Weka Rails (Ocydromus 

 austr all's) of New Zealand, at Gooilust, Holland. A pair of 

 Wekas was kept for some years in the park in an enclosure 

 with growing plants. In the spring of 1900 the birds made a 

 large nest of all kinds of vegetation under a beech, and both 

 birds sat in turns on a clutch of three eggs. After 28 days 

 two young were hatched. They were an almost uniform choco- 

 late-brown colour, with black eyes and bill and reddish legs 

 and feet. The first day they remained in the nest, but on the 

 second day they began to follow their parents, who diligently 

 fed the chicks on all kinds of worms and insects. In seven 

 weeks the young were fully feathered and resembled the adults, 

 but the black marks of the plumage were less clearly defined, 

 and the general colour was darker. 



Bird-Lore. — The July-August number continues the series of 

 admirable coloured plates of the Warbler family. The species 

 delineated are all extra-Australasian, hence have hardly any 

 claim on us at all. The photographs of Red-eyed Vireos accom- 

 panying the first article have an interest of their own. Some 

 were taken just after sundown — in one plate five and in another 

 20 minutes' exposure being given. As might be expected, the 

 automatic movements of a living body (when asleep) affect the 

 definition of the plate. Mr. Francis H. Herrick, who supplies 

 both plates and article, has some valuable notes on the genus. 

 A very readable article on " Lake Erie Terns " lacks the precise 

 definition of species which should always accompany bird papers. 

 Otherwise, both it and the illustrations are good — though the 

 photo, of the flight of Terns is not to be compared with those of 

 some of other sea-birds obtained by members of the Aust. O.U. 

 A summary of bird laws in Japan must be reserved for future 

 notice. The usual Audubon Societies' notes and leaflets accom- 

 pany this issue, and prove how zealous bird-lovers in America 

 are as to preservation of species. 



Character of Birds' Wings. — Dr. A. G. Butler reports in the 

 Avicultural Magazine {yo\. ii.. No. 11, pp. 319, 320) a suggestion 

 he had before made. This is that " every Museum should make 

 a collection of the expanded wings of all birds ; not only to enable 

 the systematic ornithologist to see, at a glance, all sexual characters 

 and all important generic differences which an open wing brings 

 to light, but to enable him to describe his birds correctly. 

 I am quite sure," (he says) "if they will do this, that many un- 

 suspected characters of importance will be brought to light. 

 I am equally certain that it will enable them to 



