94 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 
of the velvet. But even then the antler still continues to live, and 
it is only when the central blood vessels in turn are strangled by 
the growth of bone, and the region between the antler and the skull 
becomes softened by the absorption of the bony matter, that the 
antler drops off, like the slough of a wound. The book is very fully 
and well illustrated. 
EARLY ANNALS OF ORNITHOLOGY. By J. H. Gurney, F.Z.S. 
London: H. F. & G. Witherby, 10921. Pp) 240. “Price 
TAISy (Gh eva e 
Here is a mine of information for the student who would learn the 
history of bird-lifein Britain. As ina mine, careful digging is necessary, 
for the chronological order adopted obscures the continuity of the 
veins that run through the book, but the veins carry many a grain 
of gold. The author traces, from the results of excavations, from the 
observations of early writers and from the contemporary records of 
kitchen accounts, the story of British bird-life from prehistoric times 
to the eighteenth century. The prehistoric chapter is somewhat 
lightly dealt with, and the author is at his best in unravelling the 
many references to the rich avifauna of the fen-lands, which are 
scattered throughout such works as the sixteenth century household 
book of the Le Straunges of Norfolk. It is refreshing to read of times 
when as many as nine Great Bustards, twenty-eight Cranes, ten 
Spoonbills and many other rarities found their way to the table of 
Hunstanton Hall. Early English literature supplies much more 
information as to bird-life than does Scottish, but there are here, 
amongst others, references to the birds eaten by prehistoric Picts, 
to Boece’s “Gustard” of the Merse, and many notes on the Gannets 
of the Bass Rock. Quaint cuts and maps add to the interest and 
old-world flavour of Mr Gurney’s book, which is indispensable to anyone 
concerned in the changes wrought by time and by man in the bird-life 
of these Isles. 
A Local Weevil (Sitona lineellus, Gyll.) on the West 
Coast of Arran.—This little Weevil, which is one of the scarcer 
species of Sztona, occurred in some numbers at Machrie Bay in 
Arran during the summer of 1913 and in subsequent years. The 
beetle has been recorded as occurring at the roots of bent grass 
on the sandhills at Macrihanish on the west coast of Cantyre by 
Commander J. J. Walker. In the Arran locality it was found 
usually under small stones on the grass a little above the beach, 
and seemed to be attached to a species of trefoil which grew 
abundantly in that situation.—A. FERGusson, Glasgow. 
