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Review



occasionally by day, but not so often as the individual mentioned

above.— Frederick D. Welch, M.R.C.S.



REVIEW


A Geographical Bibliography of British Ornithology. By


W. Ii. Mullens, H. K. Swann, and F. C. R. Jourdain. Part III.


Witherby & Co.


Part iii of the Geographical Bibliography of British Ornithology

includes the counties from Middlesex to Surrey, embracing such

important ornithological areas as Norfolk, Northampton, Northumber¬

land, and Oxford. A glance through these shows that it is not the

geographical position alone that makes the county of interest, but rather

the prominence into which it is brought by its conscientious workers.

We feel that it is the man who makes the county, and not the county the

man, or, in other words, that any area will produce something worthy

of observation if we will trouble to observe. We could wish, however,

that it had been possible to dig out from obscurity the valuable notes

of observations buried in little-known publications ; the references in

this work show that a certain number of well-known journals have been

examined, but others have been neglected. The editors should have

had more help from local workers.


T. A. Coward.



HEN ROBINS


Dear Dr. Renshaw,— I have lately been told that the hen Robin

has a red breast—I thought she was all brown—and it is against the

general rule that hen birds are modestly dressed and the cocks wear

the gaudy colours. Still, no one whom I have asked seems sure of

seeing a full-grown Robin without a red breast.—Yours sincerely,


Frances Cresswell.


Dear Dr. Renshaw,— Both sexes of the Robin have sienna-reddish

breasts ; the colour is not red at all, and therefore the legend about

the Robin getting its breast colour through trying to pull the nails

out of the Cross is the more ridiculous.



