432 NATURAL SCIENCE. June, 1897. 



of which I do not think they would like to vouch for ; Mr. Cordeaux has not one to 

 report for Lincolnshire, and the only claim Norfolk can advance to this species is 

 founded upon the remains of one found upon a salt marsh at Stiffkey in December, 

 1868. The fact is that the so-called English "golden eagles" are the young of Con- 

 tinental bred white-tailed eagles, and these are not at all uncommon along the east 

 coast during the autumn migration, but the adult birds are extremely rare, and I do 

 not know of a single mature individual having been met with in the counties named, 

 and of only one which had made considerable approach to maturity. Mr. Collinson's 

 "sentiments" may be very admirable, but they certainly are not judicious, nor are 

 they likely to be fully shared by the Home Secretary who will require more weighty 

 evidence than he adduces before making the drastic order suggested ; nor does Mr. 

 Collinson seem to be aware what measure of protection is being voluntarily exercised 

 by certain proprietors in Scotland and the Isles. I think I am justified in saying 

 that the golden eagle is in no immediate danger of extermination in the northern 

 division of the kingdom, but is probably even increasing in numbers. I am an 

 advocate for persuasion rather than coercion in such matters, and would prefer to 

 trust to the friendly action of those who have the power to protect these birds — and 

 I do not think on the matter being fairly laid before them this is very difficult to procure 

 — rather than to the doubtful enforcement of a possibly obnoxious law. Personally I 

 am strongly in favour of judicious protection of most birds during the breeding 

 season, and I have persistently written and worked to that end ; but if we stigmatise 

 a man as a "butcher" for killing out of the close time a passing migrant, which 

 under no circumstances could be expected to take up its residence with us, however 

 much we may regret the event, I fear we are more likely to harden his heart than to 

 convert him. I have seen but one of the leaflets of the Humanitarian League 

 (Leaflet No. iv.), and in that the snowy owl is spoken of as one of the birds " rapidly 

 disappearing " in this country. Such questionable ornithology is, I fear, not 

 calculated to add weight to the Society's advocacy. 



Norwich, May 3rd, 1897. Thomas Southwell. 



"Buffaloes" in North America. 

 It must have surprised many readers of Natural Science to notice in an 

 editorial comment in last month's number (p. 304) the common but incorrect 

 application of the name "buffalo" to the American Bison. The '^Scientific" 

 American ought to be aware that there are no true buffaloes in the whole American 

 continent. It is a still greater shock to find Natural Science taking up and 

 perpetuating such an error in animal nomenclature. 



I hope this will not be regarded as a merely pedantic plea for the correct use of 

 words. When animals have well-known English names, it is most desirable that they 

 should be used on all possible occasions, if they be used correctly. If not, they 

 become highly misleading, giving rise to utterly false views of geographical distribu- 

 tion. Within the last few months in the course of miscellaneous reading I have met 

 with North American " buffaloes," South American " baboons," and South African 

 "deer" and "wolves." 

 Science and Art Museum, Dublin, May 11, 1897. G. H. Carpenter. 



Erratum. 

 P. 333, line 7 from bottom, for "Walker" read "Walter." 



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