544 
NATORE 
[JuLy.23, 1@14 
the head and neck are darker than the back; later on 
the head and neck become lighter than the back, but 
by the time the bird has become adolescent the whole 
body is almost completely white, the head and neck 
alone being flecked with brown; the beak has 
increased inordinately in length, with the assumption 
of a pink tinge. Finally, in the case of the cock, the 
whole plumage becomes pure white, while the long, 
sickle-shaped beak, together with a large bare area at 
its base and in the orbital region, has become brilliant 
crimson. Although the article is headed ‘‘ Notes on 
the ontogeny of the white ibis,’’ no clue to the real 
meaning of these changes in form and colouring is 
suggested. 
In the June number (vol. viii., p. 2) of British Birds, 
Messrs. Hans Stadler and Cornel Schmidt direct atten- 
tion to the general neglect of the study and interpre- 
tation of the notes of birds in Great Britain, as com- 
pared with what is being done in Germany. Apart 
from the lack of musical appreciation or musical 
education, three main difficulties—namely, the deter- 
mination of the pitch, the admixture of non-musical 
sounds with the notes of birds, and the “colouring ”’ 
of these notes, which is often widely different from 
that of the human voice or ordinary musical instru- 
ments—have hitherto materially hindered this branch 
of study. The authors now demonstrate how these 
difficulties may be overcome. 
Prof. R. Ridgway is to be congratulated on the 
publication (after an interval of three years since the 
appearance of its predecessor) of the sixth volume 
(Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus., No. 50) of his invaluable 
monograph of the birds of North and Middle America. 
This volume not only completes the Passerines, but 
also includes the Picarians and related groups, as well 
as the owls. In the latter group it is a matter for 
regret to see the barn-owls figuring as Tyto, while 
Strix, following the classification of the late Prof. 
Newton, is transferred to the tawny owl. This is 
eminently a case for the intervention of the “fiat” of 
the International Commission on Zoological Nomen- 
clature. In most other respects Prof. Ridgway’s 
latest effort is worthy of high commendation. 
In a handbook and guide to the British birds ex- 
hibited in the Lord Derby Museum, Liverpool, it is 
claimed that a coot mounted amid an imitation of its 
natural surroundings in 1865 was the first exhibit of 
this kind shown in this country, if not in the world. 
Groups of all species nesting in the Liverpool district, 
together with a few others, are now exhibited in the 
museum, and of a dozen of these groups photographs 
are reproduced in the guide. The nomenclature is 
much the same as in Newton’s ‘ Yarrell,’’ but it seems 
illogical to use the name Lagopus lagopus for the 
willow-grouse, and yet to retain Perdix cinerea tor the 
partridge. 
We have to acknowledge the receipt of a copy of a 
nonee fram the March number of the Ottawa Natural- 
ist, by Dr. C. G Hewitt, on local bird-protection ; also 
of a catalogue of more than 1400 publications on 
ornithology offered for sale by Messrs. John Weldon, 
oO 
38 Great Queen Street, London, W.C. Ry ok: 
TERRESTRIAL MAGNETISM. 
HE present activity of the department of terrestrial 
magnetism of the Carnegie Institution of Wash- 
ington and the largeness of its future aims are alike 
illustrated in the annual report for 1913, by the direc- 
ton, Dr. Ue AL Bauer, andwineay-sprogressmneponts 
which he contributes to the latest (March) number of 
Terrestrial Magnetism. The department, which has 
lately entered on its eleventh year, has under construc- 
NO. 2334, VOL. 93] 
tion new buildings at an estimated cost, including 
site and equipment, of about 25,oool. The main 
structure, which is already completed, is shown in the 
accompanying figure. It has a length of 1o2 ft., a 
width of 52 ft., and from basement to roof a height of 
62 ft. Besides ample accommodation for observers 
and computers, engaged on the reduction and dis- 
cussion of observations, it includes several lJabora- 
tories, an instrument-maker’s shop, and store places 
for instruments. A detached building for tests and 
researches requiring a non-magnetic environment will 
shortly be completed. 
Of late years the energies of the department have 
been mainly devoted to a magnetic survey of the 
earth, including the oceans. In the financial year 
which ended on October 31, 1913, the expenditure of 
the department, apart from building, reached 22,000l. 
In addition to important work at sea by the surveying 
vessel Carnegie, it had land observations in progress 
in many quarters of the world. One party observed 
at seventy-two stations in the Sahara between Algiers 
and Timbuctoo. Another party in Australia observed 
in Queensland, Victoria, and New South Wales. A 
as a, Raa eee Nat ape 
ill, ii i il 
Sea eat 
em inn ny 
Main building of the Department of ‘Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie 
Institution of Washington. 
third journeyed some 2000 miles by canoe in remote 
parts of Canada. South America engaged three par- 
ties, observing in Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Venezuela, 
British Guiana, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and 
Uruguay. It is expected that by 1915 data will have 
been obtained adequate for the construction of satis- 
factory magnetic charts for the epoch January I, Igo, 
extending from 50° N. to 50° S. latitude. 
The work of the department is not confined to 
terrestrial magnetism. In future more _ atten- 
tion is’ to be given than in the past to 
atmospheric electricity. Dr. W. F. G. Swann, 
lete of Sheffield University, has been engaged 
as chief physicist, and is devoting special attention to 
this subject. One of the objects to which much atten- 
tion continues to be devoted is the improvement of 
magnetic instruments. Dr. Bauer’s article in Terres- 
trial Magnetism is largely devoted to a discussion of 
the degree of accuracy reached with existing types of 
magnetometers, and the prospects of obtaining supe- 
rior results with electrical methods of measuring the 
direction and intensity of the earth’s field. While 
ae 
| 
