so 



k\()\\ij:i)c.i:. 



Fkbkdary, 1912. 



was by Mr. I". M.'irlin-Piincaii, who dealt chiefly with low- 

 power work, and he also abundantly showed the ease and 

 fascination with which seashore and wayside objects could be 

 made to yield endless variety and infinite interest. At the third 

 meeting I'r. J. Duncan Keid went very fully into the all-iuiport- 

 ant matter of illuminating tlie object by .ixially transmitted liKht. 

 illuslratiiiK several varieties of arrangement of collecting; lens, 

 substa(,'e condenser, and so forth, bv di.iKrams and actual 

 demonstration. This classic discourse has just been published 

 in the pages of The luif>lisli Mechanic, January ISIli. where 

 a reproduction of Dr. Keid's typical diagram, duly drawn to 

 scale, may also be seen. 



At the next meeting, on February Htli. Mr. .\. K. Smith will 

 deal with stereoscopic work with camera and microscope. 

 (The precise title has not yet been announced.) .\nyone 

 interested in photomicrography should place himself in com- 

 munication with the honorary secretary. Mr. J. (i. Bradbury. 

 1, Hogarth Hill, Finchley Koad. Hendon, N.W. It may, 

 perhaps, be of interest to state that the Society owes its 

 origination to one of the contributors to the pages of this 

 journal, vi^., the Kev. F. C. Lambert, M.A., I'.R.I'.S.. who has 

 been elected the first president of the new society, which has 

 our congratulations and good wishes. 



ORNITHOLOGV- 



By Hugh Boyd Watt. M.B.O.L'. 



BIRDS NESTING I.N ENGLAND IN DECEMBER.— 

 Mr. H. H. W'ardle reports that a brood of young thrushes, 

 fully fledged, was found near Runcorn, Cheshire, on Dec- 

 ember 2()th. 1 y 1 1 . He remarks that December broods are not 

 of rare occurrence and gives the following instances (collected 

 from various sources) for the winter of 1908-9 (a mild and 

 open season) : — 



Dec. 1. — Sparrow, ycjung. newly-hatched- Tunbridgc Wells. 



.. U. — Starling, four eggs, Standon. 



,, 12. — Starling, yoimg fledged, Cark-in-C"artnnl. L;inca- 

 shire. 



., 20, — Robin, three eggs, near Mansfield. 



,, 22. — Thrush, four young, near Devizes. 



,, 22. — 1 hrush, two eggs, near I,ancaster. 



,, 22. — Starling, young about to fly, Chester-le- Street. 



„ 24. — Starling, three young, fully fledged, near Wigton. 



., 24. — Robin, three eggs. Brooklands. Cheshire. 



,. 29. — Starling, young, half-fledged, Stockbridge. 



., 29. — Starling, three eggs, Stainmore Fells. 

 Jan. 3. — Robin, three eggs, Overton, Hants. 



,. 5. — Thrush, four eggs, Ouarry Bank, Market Drayton. 

 Jan. (third week in). — Moorhen, yoimg birds. Botley, Hants. 

 (The Field, December .JOth, 1911, page 1447.) 



The frecjuency of the occurrence of the Starling in the 

 above list is further evidence of its adaptability and vigour in 

 pushing to the front. 



PENGUINS BREEDING.— The nesting of introduced 

 species kept in confinement is, of course, a different thing; but 

 it is interesting to know that a pair of black-footed or Jackass 

 Penguins iSphciiisciis licnicrsiis) hatched out two young in 

 the Zoological Gardens, London, in November last. These 

 birds are winter breeders in a wild state, nesting on islands 

 off the Cape in May and June, with which months our winter, 

 of course, corresponds. When they nest in the " Aio " Iti our 

 spring or summer months their eggs are rarely fertile, but 

 they generally succeed in hatching and rearing their young 

 when they nest in autumn or winter, as in the case tmder 

 notice. Birds from the Southern Hemisphere, unless con- 

 forming to our seasons here, fail generally in their nesting 

 edforts. — (D. Seth-Smith. The Fiehl. November 2.=)th. 1911. 

 page 1176.1 



FURTHER Ni:W BKHISII BIRDS.— This month one 

 new species and a sub-species are chninicled, and also another 

 species which has been hitherto included in the British list 



only on the strength of one record and not accepted as unim- 

 peachable. The new records are : — 



PiNi: BlNTlSG (Eniberiza Icucocephala) \\ F.mk Isi.i..— 

 Mr. Wm. Eagle Clarke received a male bird in full winter 

 pimnage, taken at Fair Isle, on October JOth last, amongst a 

 rush of winter migrants. It is a native of Siberia, wintering 

 in North China. Mongolia. Turkestan and the Himalayas, and 

 is <mly a straggler in Europe, never having been known to 

 visit the British Isles before. iThe Scollish Xatiiralisl — 

 January, 1912, page 8-» 



Thrush Nightixgai.k {I.uscinia liisciiiia) at Fair 

 Isi.E. — This "waif" (of whose occurrence in Britain there 

 is only the one record referred to above, which was at Smeeth. 

 Kent, on October 22nd, 1904). turned up at I"air Isle during the 

 spring migration of 1911. " in company with a crowd of birds of 

 passage." and was secured on May 15th. The species is 

 sometimes called the " Sprosser," and its summer range is 

 from Denmark to south-western Siberia, its winter quarters 

 being in Eastern Africa (l^oc. cit., page 9.1 



North American- Pkregrink in England. — The 

 .American form of the Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregriniis 

 aiiatuiii) has recently been identified as occurring in England, 

 and some particulars, with a photograph, are given in British 

 liirds for January, 1912 (V. pages 219-21). One bird was 

 netted on September 28th, 1910, in plover-nets. at Humberstone, 

 Lincolnshire. Another bird, shot nineteen years earlier near 

 Market Bosworth, Leicestershire, on October 31st, 1891, was 

 shown at a meeting of the British Ornithologists' Club on 

 June 14th. 191 1. Both are considered to be young specimens 

 of the above-named form, and are new records, not only for 

 the British Isles but for Europe. Its breeding quarters are 

 from the subarctic regions of Canada and western-central 

 Greenland, southwards to some of the United States : winter- 

 ing from southern British Columbia, Colorado and New Jersey 

 to the West Indies and Panama, and occurring in southern 

 South America. Its great powers of flight are considered to 

 account for its appearance in England, and we suppose that 

 the reporters of the above are satisfied that the birds were not 

 " escapes " from confinement. 



THE SCOTTJSH X ATUKALIST.—This is an old title 

 revived in place of the somewhat ponderously named Annals 

 of Scottisli Xatural History, the last-named being now- 

 chopped and incorporated in a new monthly called TJie Scottisli 

 Xaturalist (Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd. London: Gurney 

 and Jackson. Annual Subscription. 6 6). It is devoted to 

 Zoology alone, and ornithologists will particularly value it as 

 a medium for reporting the work and bird studies so enthusi- 

 astically pursued in the North. 



Birds Ni:\v to Scotland. — The first number contains an 

 account of the recent occurrences of as many as five different 

 species for the first time in Scotland, t'l's.. the Pine Bunting 

 and Thrush Nightingale (both new to Britain, see above), and 

 Baird's Sandpiper I Tringa bai rd ii).\\'oodcha.t Shrike [Laniiis 

 poinarariis) and Serin Finch iSerinns seriniis^. There 

 are also a number of bird notes from well-known observers. 



Zoological Literature. — Going further afield than 

 Scotland, a new- feature promised is a section devoted to short 

 notices of recent literature in all branches of British Zoology. 

 This department is much neglected at present by our natural 

 history magazines, and, if well done, would be most useful. 

 It is to be hoped that a serious effort may be made to attain 

 complete records. If the section could take the form of a 

 subject-index to current British zoiilogical literature, it would 

 indeed be a boon to readers and students. May it be so. 



BIRD-FLIGHT THEORIES.— In a series of articles in 

 Flight. Mr. E. H. Hankiu M.A.. D.Sc. has recently been 

 giving the result of his extended and minute observations of 

 the flight of large birds (vultures, and so on), in India, .\part 

 from the scientific value of his keen and carefully recorded 

 observations of all varieties of bird-flight, the conclusion 

 to which he came regarding the mystery of soaring flight 

 has attracted much attention. By his investigations he dis- 

 proved (or at least showed good reason for disbelieving) 

 every theory hitherto advanced to explain the soaring flight of 



