284 F^o^ Magazines, S-c. [:sf April 



entitled " Wild Ducks from an Incubator." Remarkable results 

 were obtained from the hatching experiments. One clutch of 

 thirteen eggs was carried in a boat all one afternoon before being 

 set under a hen for the night, and driven for a day over rough 

 prairie trails. Ev^ery one of the eggs hatched, and 11 of the 

 ducklings reached maturity. Many other clutches of eggs were 

 placed in the incubator, with gratifying results. The ducklings 

 were kept in the machine for from 24 to 36 hours after hatching. 

 The average hatch for the season was 92 per cent., which is far 

 better than the results obtained on poultry farms. The feeding 

 of the broods gave the " Duck farmers " much anxiety. The 

 main staple foods were raw oatmeal and a special Wild Duck meal. 

 Hard-boiled egg, finely ground, shell and all, was found to be a 

 desirable food, and the Ducklings were frequently taken out on 

 the grass. After an adventurous journey 102 Ducklings, repre- 

 senting II species, were landed on the preserve. Eighteen birds 

 had been lost during the journey, and a few weak birds died after 

 arrival at their destination ; the rest throve. The author con- 

 cludes his article thus :- — 



"It is a rare delight now to have this unique and beautiful 

 stock within easy access, to study their early plumage and changes, 

 as yet not all described in books, to note their interesting ways, 

 and to work out details of handling, feeding, and breeding, under 

 the auspices of a Government Experiment Station, where 

 scientific work is understood and appreciated. If only experi- 

 ments could thus have been made with the lamented Passenger- 

 Pigeon, we should doubtless have had them alive to-day. We 

 may well hope that from such beginnings these splendid wild-fowl 

 species may be so widely multiplied that extermination will be 

 impossible, and, better still, that, through public interest 

 engendered in their welfare, they may again become familiar 

 sights upon the waters of our entire country." 



Review. 



[" The Home Life of the Terns." By W. Bickerton, M.B.O.U. Witherby and 

 Co , London. Price 6s. net.] 



The fourth volume of the Bird-Lover's Home Life Series, which 

 Messrs. Witherby and Co. are publishing, is as interesting as the 

 earlier issues. The author deals with several species of the 

 graceful sea-birds, which are favourites with so many orni- 

 thologists, and his descriptions of nesting-places, habits, and so 

 forth make good reading. Five species of the Family of Terns 

 visit the British Isles every summer for the nesting season, 

 returning to southern climes in early autumn. All five birds 

 belong to the genus Sterna. Mr. Bickerton modestly describes his 

 book as ' ' the simple holiday study — fragmentary rather than 

 exhaustive — of an amateur naturalist who has found real delight 

 and relaxation in trying to watch faithfully and to record 



