464 Recently published Ornithological Works. 



two former each with a coloured, and the latter with a plain 

 plate), while Mr. Russell Humphrys describes a ramble in Cey- 

 lon, and Mr. T. H. Newman relates experiments as to the fer- 

 tility of some Turtle-Dove hybrids (plate) . More noteworthy, 

 however, are Mr. St. Quintin's articles on the breeding of the 

 Great Bustard in captivity and on the nesting-habits of Tale- 

 galla lathami, to the second of which a paper by Mr. A. E. 

 L. Bertling (the head keeper at the Zoological Gardens) acts 

 as a supplement. The Editor has some interesting notes on 

 the habits of Phaps elegans (plate) and gives reproductions 

 of illustrations of the young of Ardea candldissima and of 

 Phasianus principalis. 



C7. Barrett-Hamilton on the Winter Whitening of certain 

 Animals. 



[Abstract of a physiological hypothesis to explain the Winter Whitening 

 of Mammals and Birds inhabiting Snowy Countries, and the more 

 striking points in the distribution of white in Vertebrates generally. By 

 Capt. G. E. H. Barrett-Hamilton. Proc. R. Irish Acad. xxiv. 1903, 

 pp. 303-314.] 



Naturalists are agreed that white coloration is a protection 

 to animals in snowy countries, and Capt. Barrett-Hamilton 

 now suggests that fat plays a direct part in animal coloration. 

 He considers that the temporary cessation of metabolism of 

 fat and the absence of pigment may be parts of the same 

 process ; while he finds that animals are, at least as a rule, 

 lightest in colour where the accumulation of fat is greatest. 

 In mammals, for instance, not only may new hairs in such 

 parts be white, but the colour may be actually withdrawn 

 from the old hairs, though no case has been found by the 

 author in which the white hairs regained their pigment. 



68. Bartsch on the Herons of the District of Columbia. 



[Notes on the Herons of the District of Columbia. By Paul Bartsch. 

 Smiths. Misc. Coll. vol. xxv. pp. 104-111.] 



This is a nicely written account of the manners and habits 

 of the Ardeidae that are found in the District of Columbia, 

 where the two arms of the Potomac " afford splendid 



