240 Revietv. [^^f^' 



April 



the Arctic seas in Europe to Portugal and to the Bay of Fundy 

 in America. It returns very regularly to its breeding haunts in 

 April, and is commonly met with in winter at sea." 



The book is numerously illustrated by nearly one hundred 

 excellent half-tone photo. -blocks by various named photographers, 

 depicting birds, nests, and eggs, those subjects which were taken 

 in the open being, of course, the most natural. 



Adverting to technical nomenclature, it will be observed that 

 Mr. Evans has only employed trinomials where he deemed it 

 absolutely necessary. Under the list of " Occasional Visitors" 

 he shows the American Golden Plover {Charadrius dominictis) and 

 the Eastern Golden Plover (C. d. fuhnis). Can two birds, one of 

 which is the so-called sub-species of the other, be found in the 

 same region ? If so, may it not prove that both birds are identical, 

 or that they are specifically distinct ? 



Correspondence. 



To the Editors of " The Emu.' 



Dear Sirs, — A paragraph in Nature of 2Qth July, 1915, p. 599, 

 in discussing the question of the alleged destruction of salmon 

 by Cormorants in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, says : — " A precisely 

 similar charge was levelled, some years ago, against the Cormorants 

 of the Murray -River, in Austraha, where, to increase the salmon 

 supply, a huge colony of Cormorants was wiped out. But the 

 unexpected happened. The salmon disappeai'ed with the birds. 

 It was then found that the latter had been feeding on crabs and 

 eels, which in turn fed upon salmon eggs and fry. With the 

 extermination of their enemies they increased in such numbers 

 that scarcely a salmon egg remained ; the fry from such as did 

 escape were eaten by the eels. Those responsible for the massacre 

 of Cormorants are now repentant." 



What ground is there for the above statement ? Have salmon 

 — or rather trout — been introduced into the Murray ? (Perhaps 

 this refers to a Murray River in Western Australia, not to the 

 great Murray River — in fact, I believe it must.) Was there 

 sufficient evidence to base the above statements on re crabs and 

 eels, or was this merely surmise, and dependent on the failure of 

 the introduced fish to establish themselves ? 



We a:ll wish our birds protected, but every over-statement or 

 misstatement does more hama to the cause than good — in fact, 

 in such cases no statement at all is better. If the above account 

 in Nature is correct, it is very interesting and important : if 

 surmise in great part, let us know it as such. — Yours, &c., 



J. B. CLELAND. 

 93 Macquarie-street. Sydney, 4th April, 1917. 



[Can any member give Dr. Cleland observations ?— Editors.] 



