VOL. viii.] REVIEW. 27 



We regret to notice that the now discredited record of the 

 breeding of the Dartford Warbler in Yorkshire is resuscitated 

 by Mr. Walpole-Bond on page 2. Most of the attempts 

 to represent birds' songs in syllabic form are so unsuccessful, 

 that we need not be surprised that " Pit-chou " has been 

 copied from book to book so frequently as representing 

 the call of the Dartford Warbler. Its origin is not, however, 

 due to invention, but to a fanciful attempt to explain a 

 French provincial name of the species. 



We cannot help thinking that Mr. Walpole-Bond lays 

 too much stress on the discrepancies between the habits 

 of birds as observed by him and as recorded in many works 

 on ornithology. All field-^^-orkers are well aware that many 

 of these books are written by men who have little or no 

 personal acquaintance with the birds of which they \vrite. 

 and whose life-work has been concerned with some entirely 

 different branch of science, such as geology, entomology, 

 or anatomy. Under the circumstances, it is too much to 

 expect that the compilers should be able to distinguish the 

 chaff from the grain, and misleading and erroneous statements 

 are repeated with wearisome iteration. Many of the details 

 given by Mr. Walpole-Bond in the present work are of great 

 interest and help to fill up the numerous gaps in our knowledge 

 of the life-liistory of the rarer birds, especially with regard 

 to the incubation -period and share of the sexes in brooding, 

 though it is necessary to take the mean of a series of 

 independent observations before we can regard these points 

 as definitely settled. 



As most of Mr. Walpole-Bond's experience of the Raven 

 has been gained among the Welsh hills, it is rather surprising 

 to find him wTiting so severely on the misdeeds of this species. 

 There is of course no doubt that occasionally ewes in 

 difficulties or newly-born lambs have been killed by these 

 birds, but the main food of the Raven at the breeding-time 

 consists of the placenta of the sheep, and in removing this 

 he does useful service. The loss of life in these wild 

 hills among the untended sheep is so large that the Raven 

 is seldom at a loss for food, and it is very doubtful whether 

 he will go out of his way to kill when braxy mutton is 

 available. This probably also accounts for the early breeding 

 of British Ravens, for it is a curious fact that the Spanish 

 and Maroccan races are much later in their breeding -period, 

 in spite of the warmer climate in Avhich they live, and do not 

 lay till late April and even early May. 



