168 Miscellaneous. 



organisms living under different physical conditions, he names the 

 old form PalceacMya penetrans ; and he believes that it entered the 

 wall by the spores fixing on to the organic matter, and growing by 

 its assimilation, and that carbonic anhydride was evolved. He con- 

 siders that this acid, assisted by the force of growth and the move- 

 ment of the eytioplasm, are sufficient to account for the presence of 

 the tubes. Finally, the author draws attention to the probable 

 similarity of external conditions in the Silurian and present times, 

 and to the wonderful persistence of form of this low member of the 

 Protista. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



On some Ornithological Errors in the ^Reliquice Aquitaniece.' 

 By Alfrrd Newton, M.A., F.R.S., V.P.Z.S., &c. 



That Section (xxiii.) of the recently completed ' lleliquiae Aqui- 

 tanicae ' which contains the " Observations on the Birds whose Bones 

 have been found in the Caves of the South-west of France, by 

 M. Alphonse Milne-Edwards," &c. &c., includes some errors of a 

 rather grave character — due no doubt, in a great measure, to the 

 fact that the translator of the same was not a professed ornithologist. 

 As, however, these errors, if not corrected, may lead to serious mis- 

 conceptions on the part of archseontologists Avho have no special 

 knowledge of birds, I beg permission to notice them in the 'Annals 

 and Magazine of Natural History,' only premising that I do so at 

 the instance of the Author of the section and with the assent of 

 the Editor of the whole work. 



Page 226, line 26. " The Tawny Eagle. Falco /uIvks, Linn." This 

 is the species we know as the Golden Eagle, Aquila chrysaetus. 

 That which we commonly call the " Tawny Eagle " is A. ncvvi- 

 oides, a southern bird and one not likely to have inhabited 

 Aquitaine at the period when the " caves were filled." On 

 the next page (lines 10, 11) the name "Golden Eagle " is ob- 

 viously used in a wrong sense. 



Page 227, line 14. " The Screaming Eagle. Aquila clanga, Pallas ?" 

 This is a new English name for a bird now recognized as distinct 

 from the so-called A. ncpvia or Spotted Eagle of authors. The 

 A. clanga is a well-known species in Eastern Europe, and may 

 well have been that of the Reindeer-period in France. " Scream- 

 ing Eagle " is a name rather applicable to the Haliaetus vocifer 

 of South Africa. 



Page 227, lines 20, 21. " Barred-tailed Eagle {A. fasciata, XiQiWot) " 

 is another new English name for a species long known as 

 Bonelli's Eagle. 



Page 228, line 22. " The Common Falcon " is not the common 

 English name for this species, which is the Peregrine Falcon 



