The Zoologist — November, 186G. 485 



move without treading upon them. I noticed the ringed guillemot 

 here. 



Puffin. — Numerous ; breeding in the rabbit-burrows, A bird was 

 caught wliile sitting, and I had an opportunity of testing the strength 

 of its mandibles, as it caught my finger between them, and fully con- 

 vinced me of their ability to hold the bird's slippery prey. 



I have published the above notes in the hope that they may prove 

 useful to naturalists. Great credit is due to Mr. H. for the way he 

 has preserved the birds from the ruthless plunder of both their eggs 

 and young, to which they were subjected before he took up his 

 re.sidence on the Island. Many species had been almost driven away 

 that are now quite numerous. The shieldrake and little tern, which 

 used to breed on the Bamborough coast, are now never seen in that 

 neighbourhood. Wild-fowl are plentiful during the winter. The Fame 

 Islands are well worth a visit by the naturalist, the birds being so tame 

 that they can be observed at leisure, and the eggs and nests quite 

 accessible. 



William Beown. 



Slo(,k oii-oii-Tees, October 4lb, 1866. 



NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 



' The Birds of Middlesex : a Contribution to the Natural History of 

 the County' By James Edmund Harting, F.Z.S. London : 

 Van Voorst. 1866. Post 8vo., 284 pp. letter-press, and a frontis- 

 piece by Wolf. Price seven shillings and sixpence. 



From a scientific point of view a list of the birds of an English 

 county promises but little of interest. The area of a county has no 

 natural limits, and the birds which accidentally pass over it, or occa- 

 sionally perch on its trees or alight on its waters, have no dwelling 

 place there : they are no more birds of Middlesex than birds of Dorset 

 or of Shropshire ; they have no claim on the county or the county on 

 them. The birds of Great Britain, Ireland, Iceland, Madeira, the 

 Azores, &c., seem to possess a kind of connexion with those islands : 

 the limits are clearly marked by the ocean ; but the limits of a county 

 are purely artificial, laid down by man, with some political object. 

 Viewed thtu as a contribution towards physical geography, I regard a 

 county list of birds as entirely useless, and only interesting as it affords 



