Skptember, 1901.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



205 



a male spcciuicu of this bird. ;ind that on August 9, 

 1S9S, Mr. H. Elliott Howard obtained a further 

 specimen in Co. Donegal. It is a pity that the 

 occurreuees were not recorded before, but Mr. Coburn 

 gives bis reasons at some length for having omitted to 

 do so. The skins have now boon identified by Mr. 

 Aplin, and the occurrence, evidently on migration, of 

 the Rcd-throatod Pipit in Ireland may be taken as 

 authentic. The bird has seldom been observed in Great 

 Brit.a.in, and never before in Ireland. That this pipit 

 is so rax-c a visitor to the British Islands as the records 

 signify is, however, doubtful, since the bird has a wide 

 breeding range in the fai" north and pushes its 

 migrations in winter to Southern China,_ India, Persia, 

 and the Nile. Although the normal lines of its 

 migrations do not probably reach westwards of Heligo- 

 land, so small a bird undertaking such long journeys 

 must often stray slightly from its course and reach Great 

 Brita.iu. where its great resemblance to the Meadow 

 Pipit has undoubtedly caused it to be overlooked. 



The Occurrence of the Black Kite (Milvus migrans) 

 AT Aberdeen. — Although a regular summer visitor to 

 many pai-ts of the Continent at no great distance- from 

 om* coasts, the Black Kite has only once hitherto been 

 observed in the British Islands. This specimen, 

 recorded bv the late Mr. John Hancock, as far back as 

 1867, was taken in Northumberland.. Mr. George Sim 

 now records that a male bird of the Black Kite was 

 shot near the City of Aberdeen on April 16, 1901. 

 (Annah of Scott. Nat. Hisf., July, 1901, p. 133.) That 

 the bird has not visited this country more often is 

 remarkable because, unlike the Red Kite, which was once 

 so common a resident in England, the Black Kite, as its 

 specific name miijrans implies, is a migratory species. 



Coues Redpoll (Linota rostrata) in Barra, Oiifir Hebrides 

 (Annals of Scoff. Naf. Hist , Juli/, 1901, pp. 131-133).— A 8t\idy of 

 the various races or sub-species of the Mealy Redpoll would be of 

 interest and value to every British ornitliuk>;i;ist in assisting to dis- 

 cover the origin of tlie Mealy KedpoUs which visit our islands. Mr. 

 W. Eagle Clarke has lately obtained some specimens of the Mealy 

 Bed]X)]I fiom Mr. W. L. Macg llivray in Barra These birds Mr. 

 Clarke proclaims to be of the Greenland form originally described 

 by Dr. Coues as JEgiothtts rostratus. Dr. Steyneger. who?e con- 

 clusions regarding the Mealy Kedpolls are now generally accepted. 

 gave this race sub-specific i"auk under the title of Acanthis ' linaria 

 ro»trata. Mr. Clarke prefers to employ the more usual generic name 

 Linola. and to call the bird Linota rostrata. In any case whatever 

 name is used, the fonu is a well-marked one, and is a native of 

 Greenland and Xorth-casteni JS'orth America. Its occurrence in 

 Barra is of great interest, since it has never before been detected 

 in Great Britain, although it has occurred as a rare straggler on the 

 west coast of Ireland. 



Wigeon Breeding in Ireland {Zoologist, July, IIMII, )> 209). — 

 Although the Wigeon ha* long been su>p(cted of breeding in Ireland, 

 its nest and eggs have not hitherto been discovered tliere. Mr. John 

 Cottney now records the finding of several nests and eggs in Co. 

 Down. Mr. Ussher, the well-known Irish ornithologist, has identi- 

 fied both the eggs and the birds' down a? those of genuine Wigeon. 

 Surely it is an ■'injustice" tliat this record, as well as that of the 

 Kfd-throat<d I'ipit referred to above, were not first published in tlic 

 columns of our desei-ving contempoi-ary the Irish Naturalist, wliicli 

 is devoted to the study of the natural history of Ireland. 



Supposed Breeding of the Sonet/ Buzzard in Somerset. — In a 

 letter to the Ibis (July, 19f)l, p. 515), Mr. W. Percival WesteU 

 records that Mr. Charles E. Xip]icr found the nests in May, 1897, 

 and ilay, 1899, in Somersetshire, of birds which were recoguiscd as 

 Honey Buzzards. One nest was lialf-nay down a precipitous cliff, 

 and the other amongst some boulders on the ground. Each nest 

 lOntained four eggs. Mr. Westell w oulil have done well by giving 

 more particulars in recording these extraordinary finds. The Iloney 

 Buzzard exceedingly rarely breeds in Great Britain now, and it is 

 doubtful if it has ever bred so far west as Somersetshire. Two or 

 three eggs form the usual clutch, four being very rarely laid. I can 

 find no recorded insiance of the Honey Buzzard breeding elsewhere 

 than in a ti'ee, the nest being usually placed from 25 to 50 feet from 



the ground. Mr. Westell will doubtless favour us with lurlhii- 

 details regarding those liuds. 



Dotterels in Wales (/ii«, July, 1901, p. 517).— -Mr. t). \. Aplin, 

 on May 10th last, watched fiuir Dotterels (lUidromius tnorinetlus) 

 on a mountain in .Merionellisliire. Although fairly widely s|ir"ad 

 during migration in other parts of Great Britain, the Dotterel is "I 

 infrei|uenl oecurrenee in Wales. 



The Birds of Surrei/.— I'ndcr the title '' Omilhulogical Notes from 

 Surrey" {Zoologist, July, iDOl, |ii.. 247-2.")l), Mr. J. A Buckni 1 

 makes additions, more of whiih are i>romi>cd, to his admittedly 

 incomplete work, "The Birds of Surrey," publ^^h£d in lUOll. 



Bird-migration in the Rlinera. — Under the title "On the Ornilhu- 

 logy of the Var and the adjacent Districts,' Mr. J. H. Ourney pub- 

 lishes an article in the Ihis for July. I'JOl, which will be of consider- 

 able interest to students of the migratory movements of Dritish birds. 



Ivory Gull in Northamptonsliire {Ibis, July, 1901, ]i. 517).- Mr. 

 O. V. Aplin writes to the Ibis that an immature speciuu'n of th(^ 

 Ivory Gull {Paguphila eburuea)—ii truly Arctic Gull and an occa- 

 sional straggler to Great Britain — was shot at VV'estou-by-Wccdon, 

 Northamptonshire, on February 7th, 1901. 



■Little Bustard in Derbyshire {Zoologist, July, 190l, p. 270).- Mr. 

 W. Storrs Fox records th.'it a female specimen of the Little Bustard 

 — an occasional visitor to the British Isles, and usually oci'urriug in 

 the colder months and in the southern and eastern counties -was 

 shot by a farmer near Voulgreave, in Derbyshire, on May 14tli, 1901. 



Beport on the Movements and Occurrence of Birds in Scotland 

 during I'JOO. Bv 'V. G. Laidlaw, M.B.O.U. {Annals of Scott. Nat. 

 Jlist.', A\m\ and July, 1901, pp. 07-79 and 134-145). -Mr. Laidlaw's 

 annual contribution on this subject to our contemporary will be found 

 of much value to students of migration. 



All contributions to the column, either in the way of notes 

 or p/wtor/rajih.f, should be forwarded to Hakry F. Wituerby, 

 at 10, St. (Icrnums Place, Btackheath, Kent. 



^otittn of ISoolts. 



" An.vlwl Report ok the Siiithsonian Institutiov iok thi; 

 Ye.ui ending June 30th, 1898." Pp. Ivi., 713. (Washington ; 

 Government Printing Office. 1899.) Illustrated.— Though th.: 

 Smithsonian Report docs not reach British periodicals until som^- 

 years after the datt; to which it refers, it is always welcome 

 on account of the collection of scientiti.c papers given in tlie 

 appendix to it. Only one hundred pages of the present repoit 

 are concerned with "tht: afi'airs of the ISmithsonian Institution; 

 the remaining pages are taken up with rei)rints and translations 

 of important pajjer.s on scientific subjects pubhshed in 1898 in 

 various periodicals. These papers are accompanied liy 

 numerous i)late.s and te-\t illustration.s, and they give a com- 

 prehensive view of scientific thought and expression in the 

 year covered by the report. All matters of wide scientific 

 importance form, at one time or another, the subjects of dis- 

 courses or semi-popular descriptions by leaders of science, hence 

 it is possible to refer to the Smithsonian Reports for authoritative 

 stateuionts on almost every subject which has engaged the atten- 

 tion of the scientific world. The translations will be of 

 exceptional value to students who do not read foreign languages 

 with facility. 



" Papers on Mechanical and Physical Subjects. " By Prof, 

 Osboi-no Reynolds, e.h.s. Vol. II. Illustrated. (Cambridge : 

 University Press. 1901.) 21s. net. — By the publication of the 

 ))apers in this and the previous volume, the Cambridge 

 University Press is exercising its proper functions. The collectetl 

 papers of men whose ccmtributions to the advancement, of know- 

 ledge are of ]iermanent value may not appeal to a large public, 

 yet greiit service is done to pres^'nt and future investigators when 

 the papers are brought, together in a form convenient for reference. 

 Prof. Osborne Reynolds's ]>apers belong very decidedly to the 

 scientific litt'rature deserving preservation. The earlier volume 

 included forty papers, and the present one brings the number 

 up to sixty-seven, the years in which the papers appeared 

 extending from 1881 to 1899. It is impossible here to describe 

 the many subjects dealt with in these j).apers, but we can give 

 reasons for our appreciatiim of them. In the first place, Prof. 

 Osborne has a style of composition which many scientific men 

 would do well to emulate. He does not write for children, 

 or preach down to an uninitiated public, but practically every- 

 thing he describes is presented in the simplest terms that the 

 subject will permit. Another sign of Prof. Reynolds's genius 

 is that subjects which he took up years ago have suggested 



