jorKNAi. 1)1-' nil-: w ii n hiki> iv\i-;sTiii.\Ti().\ .socii-i'i 



57 



(lard lIuTf sv-t is unixersallv acclainu'd and looked 

 lip to hs all other civilised comniunilii-s. 



just as our (iov'ernnicnt has not as vet recog- 

 nised tlie subject of economic ornitliolotjy, so also 

 have our L'nivcrsities failed. In the general net;- 

 lect of biol()t;ical research which at present char- 

 acterises our L'nivcrsities as a whole, no place 

 lias been found for rconnniic urnitholo,t;v. That 

 our L'niversitv Courts and Councils talk about 

 research is very true, but that they fail to act is 

 comnion knowledi^'c. The " orit;inator of know- 

 ledi^i," as Professor 1 yndall termed the research 

 \\i)rker, is <lependant upon a leu w iselv adminis- 

 tered Trusts and l-'unds. Hitter will be his dis- 

 appointment if he trusts to Courts or Councils. 



As a subject for research economic ornitholog'v 

 offers a wide scope to the zooloijical student, 

 Axhilsl in the ag'ricultuial, forestrx', and fisherv 

 <lepartments it affords a valuable subject for 

 leaching. We should like to see less time devoted 

 to teaching subsidiary and non-essential subjects 

 in these departments and more time devoted to 

 courses in economic ornithologv and entomology, 

 bv teachers ciualified bv long' practical experience 

 and original investigation, for both subjects bear 

 so intimati'iv u]5on agriculture. Some dav we 

 shall realise, we hope, that agriculture is a 

 younger sister of biologv and not a special branch 

 of chemistry, as some would rndeaxour to make 

 it. 



It will thus be seen that in this coiintrv, neither 

 the .State nor our L'nivcrsities ha\'e recognised 

 the subject of economic ornithologv. W'e have 

 mo State economic ornithologist or ornithologists 

 and no professorship, readershi]? or lec-tureship 

 of the subject in anv of our L'nivcrsities. What 

 is the result? .\part from the loss of prestige in 

 the eyes of other nations, we are burdened with 

 an annual loss of ujiwards of ;£'_[ 0,000,000. The 

 saving of a twentieth part of this sum for a single 

 year would be sunicient to endow and maintain a 

 Chair and Department of Economic; Ornithology 

 1n every L'niversity in the L'nited Kingdom. No 

 such prodigality, however, is desired, so that the 

 actual capital sum needed is trifling, and it would 

 return such a rate of interest and such results 

 that would be out of all proportion to the outlav. 



Surely amongst our statesmen and legislators 

 there are some who realise where this apathy and 

 Indifference to scientific reseanh will ultimatclv 

 lantl us. 



•The idea that our native avifauna has now 

 been so thoroughly explored that little of import- 

 ance remains to be discovered, is, unfortunately, 

 deeply rooted in the minds of many, even enthusi- 

 astic ornithologists. Nevertheless, It Is a fact 

 that we have, as yet, but touched the fringe of 

 this study of British birds Hosts of problems 

 await our attention, and the attempted solution 

 of these will give rise to as many more as yet 

 unsuspected 



\\ . 1". PVCH.AIT. 



BREEDING STATIONS OF THE BLACK-HEADED 

 GULL 



t)rnithologists generalK are indebted to .Mr. 

 Robert Clurney for a very valuable and interest- 

 ing account of the breeding stations of the Black- 

 headed Gull in the British Isles (Trans. Norfolk 

 and Norwich Nat. .Soc, 1920, vol. x, pp. 416- 

 447). .As the author points out, this Is not onlv 

 one of our most beautiful and conspicuous water 

 birds, but it has come to possess a certain eco- 

 nomic importance. In 1H84 Mr. J. E. Harting 

 was of opinion that this bird was on the road to 

 extinction as a breeding species, but at the pre- 

 sent time there can be little doubt that it is one 

 of, if not the commonest, of our sea-birds, and 

 that its nesting sites are on the increase rather 

 than the decrease. .\s the author points out, 



colonies wax and wane greatly from \ear to 

 year, and the birds frequently desert a site alto- 

 gether, onK- perhaps to return after a few years." 



L'nder the different ci)unties he has brought 

 together an Inyaluable mass of data of the highest 

 importance, and whilst modestly regarding his 

 list as only " an incomplete framework," the gaps 

 in which he hopes ornithologists will fill in, we 

 have no hisilation in stating that this framework 

 is a very substantial piece of work which com- 

 paratively little adilition will complete. 



ATTEMPTED BREEDING OF BEE EATERS IN 

 SCOTLAND. 



Dr. W. Eagle Clarke describes in a recent 

 nunibiM- of the Scotlish Xiitiiralist, the attempted 

 breeding of a pair of Bee-eaters {Merops afyicister) 

 oil a sand bank of the River Esk at Musselburgh. 

 I'nfortunatelv, the female l)ird was somehow 

 injured and ultimately died. 



