{Authors are responsible for tiODtettclature used.) 



. I g R A R Y) 



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The Scottish Naturalist 



Nos. 127 AND 128.] 1922 [July-August 



THE NATURALISATION OF ANIMALS. 



The naturalisation of animals in countries to which they 

 do not belong is a process which began with the migratory 

 tribesmen who drove their domesticated flocks and herds 

 from one land to another in the days of the Polished Stone 

 Age, and which has been continued with increasing intensity 

 ever since. In Scotland we are familiar with its workings, 

 for our Squirrels and Capercaillies are the descendants of 

 importations from Europe ; our Rabbits were first established 

 by the Normans probably early in the twelfth century ; our 

 Black Rats and Brown, American Blight, Bed-bugs, and 

 a score of other pests have found their way unsought and 

 made free to settle in the land. But this is as nothing to 

 the naturalisation of foreign animals which has been pro- 

 ceeding in New Zealand during the short space of a century 

 and a half, and which is described in detail in a valuable 

 and arresting volume which will remain a standard work 

 on the subject.^ 



There, since Captain Cook first set free domesticated 

 Geese and Pigs in 1773, in order that future voyagers might 

 find sufficiency of food, 48 mammals have been introduced 

 and 25 have become established, including several species 

 of Deer, Weasels, Stoats, as well as Rabbits, Hares, Rats 

 and Mice (all, curiously enough, grouped under Carnivora !) ; 



^ The Naturalisation of Animals and Plants in Nezv Zeahmd. By 

 Hon. Geo. M. Thomson, M.C.L., F.L.S., F.N. Z.Inst. Cambridge, at 

 the University Press, 1922. Price 42s. net. 



127 AND 128 N 



