December 1, 1898.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



277 



BRITISH 



■±r 



ORNITHOLOGICA 



Conducted by H&bbt F. Witherby, f.z.s., m.b.o.u. 



Barred Wabbler in Lincolnshire. — On September 5th 

 I shot an immature female of the Barred Warbler i Si/lria 

 nistiri(i), at North Cotes. The bird was feeding on a bunch 

 of brambles in a ditch not far from the coast. It was very 

 wild, flying a considerable distance when flushed. The 

 wind was east, very light, with iine hot weather. The 

 only other migrants seen were a Willow-Wren and a young 

 Spotted Flycatcher. — G. H. Caton Haicjh, Grainsby Hall, 

 Great Grimsby. 



[The Barred Warbler is an inhabitant of Central 

 Europe. This is but the thirteenth example recorded in 

 the British Islands, and all have been taken in autumn, 

 from August to November. — H. F. W.] 



Bewick's Swans ix Suffolk. — On the 14th November a 

 Bewick's Swan was shot at Benacre, Suffolk. It weighed 

 twelve and a half pounds, and measured, flexure twenty 

 inches, and total length thirty-six inches. Another was 

 shot at the same place on the 31st October. They are 

 being set up by Quatremain, of Stratford -on -Avon. — Jos. 

 F. Green, West Lodge, Blackheath, 16th November, isOS. 



Common iJippt'r at Hilliiigton {The Field, November 12tli, 189S). 

 — Sir W. H. B. Ft'olkes rcfords that he shot a speotmen of Cincliis 

 aquatievs on November 9th, at Hillington, in Norfolk. The bird was 

 apparently of the normal British form, and not of t)ie dark Scandina- 

 vian form (C. melanogaster) which is usually found in our eastern 

 counties in winter. 



White's Thrash in Warwi-kshire (The Field, November 5th, 1898). 

 — Mr. Peter Spicer, a taxidermist, of Leamington, reports that a 

 specimen of Titrdus varius lias been sent to him for preservation by 

 tlie Earl of Aylesford, on whose estate, near Coventry, the bird was 

 shot in October. This Siberian Ground Thrush has been obtained a 

 good many times in England in winter, but only once before in 

 October. 



Pectoral Sandpiper in Kent. — At a meeting of the British Ornitho- 

 logical Club, held on October 19th, Mr. N. F. Ticehurst exhibited a 

 male of Heteroptigia maeulata, obtained on August 2nd last, between 

 Lydd and Rye. This species has been observed in Great Britain 

 more frequently than any other American species of wader, and nearly 

 all the occurrences have been on the east coast in autumn or winter. 



Eider Duck in Donei/il (Land and Water, November 12th, 

 1898.) — Mr. T. A. Bond, of Londonderry, reports that a female of 

 this bird, which is rare in Ireland, was shot on the east coast of 

 Donegal in the first week in November. 



All contributio7is to the column, eitJier in the way of notes 

 or photographs, should be forwarded to Habry F. Witherby, 

 at 1, Eliot Place, Blackheath, Kent, 



Urttrro. 



[The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the opiniona or 

 statements of correspondents.] 



SUGAK-BEEf INDL^^IRY IX EXGL.l>'n. 

 To the Editors of Knowledge. 

 Sirs, — In the last number of your very esteemed journal 

 you described the efforts made this year to create an interest 

 in the growing of sugar-beet, and for the establishing of a 



beet-sugar industry in this country. You had the kindness 

 also to mention my name as being associated with this 

 question. I supplied about four hundred farmers in Eng- 

 land, Scotland, and Ireland gratuitously with sugar-beet 

 seed, gave them my advice free, and have analyzed upwards 

 of five himdrcd parcels of sugar-beet. These beetroots 

 were grown almost in every county in the United Kingdom, 

 and the result is a remarkable success, as regards weight 

 and saccharine contents, which both exceed by far the 

 figures received from Germany, Austria, France, etc. 



You also mentioned the statements of Sir .John Lawes 

 and Sir Henry Gilbert in their pamphlet on this subject. I 

 must say I differ in my views from these gentlemen. That 

 we can grow better beetroots in this country than on the 

 Continent I have distinctly proved by my extensive experi- 

 ments. I have further shown that our acreage of roots is 

 higher than on the Continent. Finally, I have proved 

 (and letters from authorities are in my hands) that the 

 figures given in my book " Sugar," relating to the cost of 

 growing sugar beetroots, are exact. Facts speak best. My 

 tabulated statement and report about my beet-growing 

 experiments this year in England, Scotland, and Ireland 

 will appear about the beginning of December next, and it 

 will show conclusively that it is possible in this country — 

 (1) to grow sugar-beetroot profitably ; (2) to manufacture 

 our own sugar from home-grown sugar-beet with great 

 advantage, and be independent of the Continent. 



— ,..-. — SiGMUND Stein. 



THE SMELL OF EARTH. 

 To the Editors of Knowxedge. 



Sirs, — I have read with interest, though I can hardly 

 say with conviction, Mr. Clarke Nuttall's article on " The 

 Smell of Earth." 



Can Mr. Nuttall explain the smell of damp sandstone ? 

 It is one of many phenomena, very familiar, but which 

 appear inexplicable. 



If it be alleged that the smell is not that of the stone 

 but of the occluded gases, the difficulty is only removed 

 one step. Again, clay has a smell of its own, and I know 

 no satisfactory explanation of the well-known odours of 

 iron, copper, etc. 

 Highlands, Putney Heath, S.W. G. B. Longstaff. 



[The smell of damp sandstone, has, I believe, at present 

 received no satisfactory explanation ; indeed the whole of 

 our scientific knowledge of "Smells" is still in a very 

 elementary stage. To say that a substance has its own 

 peculiar smell because it gives off certain gaseous particles 

 is, in such cases as iron, copper, sandstone, etc., merely 

 begging the question. With reference to the smell of 

 damp earth, the new theory is based on the researches of 

 M. Berthelot and M. G. Andr^', and the particular bacterium 

 has been later identified by Herr Rullmann. Your corre- 

 spondent wiU find more definite reference in " Technical 

 Mycology," by Dr. Franz Lafar (tr. C. Salter), the first 

 volume of which is already published by Messrs. GrifSn t^- 

 Co. {stv " Iron Bacteria "), a second volume being still in 



the press.— G. C. N.] „,.. 



EVOLUTION IN BIRD SONG. 

 To the Editors of Knowledge. 



Sirs, — With referehce to the interesting suggestion made 

 by Mr. Witchell, in his article on " Evolution in Bird- 

 song," in your September issue, that human ideas of the 

 " crescends " in singing may possibly have been borrowed 

 from the nightingale, it is certainly interesting to note how 

 frequently musicians, and more especially the older clari- 

 cinists, have taken their themes from birds. Thus we 

 have " Le Coucou," by Daquin, "Le Ramage des Oiseaux," 



