78 BRITISH HIKDS. voi,. ix. 



in winter plumage. The nesting of the Wood-Lark near 

 Sleaford in 1902, of the Garganey in the north-west of the 

 county in 1914, and of the Curlew at Scotton Common in 

 1900, are interesting records. The Stone-Curlew, on the 

 other hand, is now regarded as only a '" |)ossible "' nester. 



We have two serious complaints to make about Mr. 

 Blathwayt's list, and these are that he em])loys an antiquated 

 system of nomenclature, and that while he includes certain 

 races as full species (apparently only because they were 

 described some years ago), he ignores others equally distinct, 

 for what reason it is difficult to guess. We should be con- 

 sidered mad if we went to war to-day with weapons of twenty 

 years ago, and surely it is no less unreasonable to refuse to 

 make use of modern ecpiipment in science. Let us take 

 one instance : under Redbreast, Mr. Blathwayt says, '' very 

 large itnmigration noticeable on the coast in October." 

 Now if these birds are real immigrants they must be of the 

 Continental form Erithaciis r. rubecula. The British Redbreast 

 was described as distinct fourteen years ago — surely ample 

 time for ornithologists to have learnt something about it, 

 yet Mr. Blathwayt gives no indication that the residents 

 and "immigrants" are in any way ditfereiit, and by thus 

 ignoring modern work, the fact that the latter really came 

 from oversea remains imsubstantiated. 



Lincolnshire is in many respects an interesting county 

 from the ornithologist's point of view, and we hope that 

 Mr. Blathwayt's list Avill give an impetus to bi^d-^^■ork in 

 the county, and especially along the shores of the Wash, 

 which have so far been much neglected. H.F.W. 



