JOURXAL OF Tlir: WILD BIRD I.WESTIGATIOX SOCIKTY. 



39 



Any two Ordinary Members of the Society who 

 are willing to act as Chairman and Honorary 

 Secretary respectively, can,' with the sanction of 

 the Council, call together those interested, and if 

 ten Ordinary or Associate Members can be 

 obtained, the Branch can be formed, weekly or 

 monthly meetings, excursions, etc.,- arranged, 

 and work commenced. 



The Secretary will be pleased to forward 

 nomination forms and further particulars, or tf) 

 reply to any queries, on application. Envelopes 

 should be marked "Local Branches." 



St. Andrews. — Chairman : Prof. D'.Arcv W. 

 Thompson, C.B., D.Litt., F.R.S. ' Hon. 

 Secretary : O. S. Orr, Commercial Bank 

 House. 



October i6th. — .A large audience assembled to 

 hear Miss L. j. Rintoul's lecture on " Some 

 .Aspects of Bird Migration," in St. Leonards 

 School Hall, Miss E. V. Baxter worked the 

 lantern, and ably illustrated the lecturer's 

 remarks with a series of beautiful and interesting 

 slides. .Miss Rintoul dealt with the partial 

 migrants, the bird visitors of the Eden estuarv, 

 and her own ,-uid Miss Baxter's experiences 

 whilst carrying on their investigations on the 

 Isle of Mav. At the close of the lecture, the 

 Rev. Dr. Playfair proposed a vote of thanks. 



Xovember 20th. — Mr. William Bcrrx , B.A.. 

 LL.B., gave an illustrated lectin-e on " Wild Bird 

 Migration," in the Christian Institute. There was 

 a large and interested audience. Dr. CoUinge pre- 

 sided, and introduced the lecturer as a Mell-known 

 ornithologist and student of bird life. Mr. Berrv 

 said the earliest book which referred to bird migra- 

 tion was the Book of Job, which went Ijack about 

 4,000 vears, and in the Book of Jeremiah there 

 was also a reference to the subject. Outside 

 these two references, there was not a single 

 writer who even . approximated to accurate 

 observation of this feature of bird life till quite 

 recent times. .'\ristotle thought that the birds 

 went into hiding during the cold weather, and 

 had no idea that they migrated to other lands. 

 Pliny, the naturalist, held the same views as 

 Aristotle. Centuries afterwards a Swedish .Arch- 

 bishop propounded a similar theory, and wrote 

 that swallows hibernated in the sea during the 

 winter, and that fishermen got large numbers of 

 the birds in their nets. Buffon, who was a 

 naturalist who did not take things for granted, 

 tried the experiment of putting a number (.f 

 swallows under water, and found that they died 



in a few minutes ! It was only in modern times 

 that the migration of birds had been studied with 

 scientific accuracy, and while much had been 

 learned about the phenomenon, there was still a 

 great deal to discover. The principal stream of 

 migration with the approach of winter was from 

 the North of Europe southwards to lands at the 

 other side of the Equator, and there was also a 

 westward stream across Europe to the British 

 Isles. The migratory instinct could not easily 

 be explained. It was not a scarcity of food that 

 caused the birds to leave in every case. This 

 vear we had a fly plague after the swallows had 

 left. The voung birds left us for their new 

 quarters when thev were six or eight weeks old, 

 and always preceded the 'old birds. How' these 

 young birds found their way to distant lands was 

 a complete mystery. Birds when migrating flew 

 at a great height, and observations taken from 

 aeroplanes had shed much light on the subject. 

 Lapwings travelled at a height of from 2,000 to 

 10, ODD feet high, geese and ducks went higher, 

 and eagles had been observed at 15,000 feet. 

 The weather conditions determined when the 

 birds would start on their long journeys, and a 

 halt was often made when bad weather was 

 encountered. There were verv few British birds 

 that did not migrate. The blackbird that built 

 its nest in our gardens was not the bird that ate 

 the fruit in the autumn, for it had migrated bv 

 that time, and it \\ as a \isitor from the Continent 

 that was the depradator. Gardeners were not, 

 therefore, doing- anything to save their fruit 

 crops by destrovinsT the nests of blackbirds. 

 Plovers and woodcocks were verv valuable birds 

 to agriculture, and should be protected. Gulls 

 had been accused of eating erain, but investiga- 

 tion showed that they did this to a verv small 

 extent. These birds also rendered a good ser- 

 vice to the farmer. On the call of Dr. Collinge, 

 a hearty vote of thanks was accorded Mr. Berry 

 for his interesting" lecture. 



r 



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R E V I E W5, 



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Bird Behwioir, Psuhic.m. and Phvsioi.ogical. 



By Frank Finn. Pp. x + t^^t,, and 43 figs. 



London: Hutchinson &• Co. [tqiq]. Price 



7s. 6d. net. 

 There is an endless variety of books on birds; 

 some arc little more than collections of photo- 



