168 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. xiii. 



REVIEWS. 



Report on Scottish Ornithology in 191 8, including Migration. By 

 Leonora J. Rintoul and Evelyn V. Baxter. Forming the July- 

 August, 1919, issue of The Scottish Naturalist. 

 The last year of the war was, no doubt, the worst for ornithology, at 

 all events at home, for observers were then fewest. This annual report 

 affords rather striking proof of this assertion, while it has also suffered 

 in interest by the fact that migration during the year ran a very normal 

 course without any great rushes of Continental visitors. The Report 

 is arranged in the same useful and comprehensive way as previous ones 

 and is no less valuable because of its unavoidable " dullness." The 

 following are interesting records : — 



Hawfinch (Coccothraiistes c. coccothraustes). — One was caught in 

 January, 191 8, in a damaged condition at Castlecraig, Peebleshire, in 

 which county the bird has not previously been recorded. 



Ortolan Bunting {Emberina hortulana). — Four on the Isle of May 

 on May 6th, 1908, and six on the gth. 



Black Redstart [Phoenicunis 0. gibraltariensis) . — Single birds 

 occurred on the Isle of May on several days in April and May. 



Continental Hedge-Sparrow {Prunella m. modularis). — One at 

 Muckle Flugga Lantern (Shetlands) on April 6th, 191 8, is identified as 

 of this form. 



Rough-legged Buzzard [Biiteo I. lagopus). — One on April 28th, 

 1 91 8, at Vallay is, we believe, only the second record of this bird from 

 the Outer Hebrides. 



Gadwall {Anas strepera). — Mr. W. Berrj^ recorded that he found a 

 nest of this species in east Fifeshire in May, 191 8, and in August two 

 young birds were shot. This forms the first record of the breeding of 

 the Gadwall in the Tay area. 



Grey Phalarope {Phalaropus fulicarius). — One was found in a 

 dying condition at the Mull of Galloway on February 21st, 191 8 — an 

 unusual date. 



Black Tern {Hydrochelidon n. nigra). — One frequented a small loch 

 near the lighthouse on North Ronaldshay for the first fortnight in 

 June, 1 91 8. This is, we believe, only the second recorded occurrence 

 of the bird in the Orkneys. 



Ivory-Gull {Pagophila eburnea). — One is recorded from North 

 Ronaldshay on November 3rd, 191 8. 



The Selection of Helix nemoralis by the Song-Thrush. By Maud D. 



Haviland and Frances Pitt. {Annals and Mag. Nat. Hist., June 



1919). 

 In this paper the authors criticize a previous paper by Mr. A. E. True- 

 man on " Shell-banding as a means of Protection." They bring forward 

 some carefully collected evidence from which they infer that the 

 selection of snails by Thrushes is entirely haphazard, that many- 

 banded specimens of H. nemoralis being apparently more abundant in 

 bushy, shaded places are less likely to be taken by Thrushes and finally 

 that the young Thrush does not recognize and crack snail-shells instinc- 

 tively, but each individual learns to do so by experience. If the last 

 be true it is rather curious that the habit is so rare in birds. 



Hybrid Gulls. By Einar Lonnberg (Arkiv for Zoologi, Stockholm). 

 In this paper Prof. Lonnberg discusses very fully certain hj^brids 

 between Larus fuscus and L. leucopterus and L. marinus and L. glaucits 

 most of them reared in Zoological Gardens, but one of the latter being 

 a wild hybrid. The pamphlet is written in English and is very well 

 illustrated by a number of text figures and three coloured plates. 



