1920.] Recently published OrnithoJoyical Works. 957 



district of Bengal, lying at the foot of the Himalaya. It 

 seems a pity that these two last lists do not contain more 

 precise inforniation of the exact height at which the birds 

 nest. There is ample opportunit}'^ for nioi-e work on the 

 altitudinal distribution of Himalayan hirds on the lines of 

 the zonal work carried out so ct)nipletely in North America^ 

 more especially as it is in this region that the Palroarctic 

 and Indian faunas meet. 



' British Birds ' Ma<iazine. 



[British Birds: An illustrated Magazine, etc., etc. Vol. xiii., llanos. 

 Jmie 1919-May 1920.] 



This is a very good volume of 'British Birds/ and con- 

 tains a very large numl)er of valuable contributions. Miss 

 Turner records a number of furtiier details of tlie nestins- 

 habits of the Bittern in the Norfolk broads, with a list of 

 nests watched and a good series of her well-known photo- 

 graphs. There seems no reason why the Bittern should not 

 be completely and permanently re-established as a breeding 

 bird in England. Mr. J. S. Huxley sends a short notice of 

 the drumming habit of the Spotted Woodpeckers^ which is 

 undoubtedly due to a rapid series of blows on a dead loo- 

 with the be;ik. A very similar habit often ob.served by 

 Mr. Huxley is cliaracteristic of the American Bed-headed 

 Woodpecker (^Melanerjies erythrucephalus). Another [)aper 

 by the same author deals with the sexual habits of the 

 Little Grebes. As these birds have no tufts or special sexual 

 plumage adoruments, lie fiiuls that vocal duets appealing to 

 the ear ap[)car to take the place of: the dance-like displavs 

 appealing to the eye which characterize the other Grebes. 



Mr. E. Chance contributes some detailed observations on 

 the Cuckoo. Between May 18 and July 5 he found eighteen 

 nests of the Meadow-Pipit in a restricted area in Worcester- 

 shire, in which he believes a single individual Cuckoo had 

 deposited her eggs. He believes that the clutcli of a Cuckoo 

 depends on the facilities afforded and that the number of 

 eggs laid is quite indefinite. It would })erhaps have been 

 better if Mr. Chance luul confined himself to observation, 

 but he tried a good many experiments in the matter of 



