The Zoologist— May, 1867. 747 



; been so long known, and to whom credit is now given for having been, 

 centuries ago, acquainted with inventions which, until recently, were 

 considered to be modern. It may be so ; but, not being acquainted 

 with Chinese, I am unable to say whether there is, in that language, 

 an equivalent for "swallow-stone," or " swallow's herb," or whether 

 ancient Chinese authors in any way throw light upon the subject. 



J. E. Harting. 



Kingsbury, Middlesex. 

 April, 1867. 



NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 



' The Birds of Norfolk, with Remarks on their Habits, Migration 

 and Local Distribution.'' By Henry Stevenson, F.L.S. In 

 Two Volumes. Vol. 1. London : Van Voorst, Paternoster 

 Row. Norwich : Matchett and Stevenson. 1866. 446 pp. 

 Demy 8vo. 2 litho. plates, drawn by Wolf. Price ten shillings 

 and sixpence. 



There are three reasons why this book should be especially 

 acceptable to the readers of the ' Zoologist,' as the acknowledged 

 organ of British ornithologists: 1. In the pages of that journal 

 appeared the first really complete and digested list of the Birds of 

 Norfolk; so that the subject seems peculiarly its own. 2. Mr. 

 Stevenson, with unwearying assiduity, has continued the theme in 

 these pages up to the present time. 3. The work is one of those 

 masterly contributions to British Ornithology which it is the peculiar 

 province of the 'Zoologist' to introduce to every one of its readers as 

 an essential addition to his library. 



It is impossible to open the volume at any page without being made 

 aware how extensive have been the author's researches into the labours 

 of his predecessors, and how admirably he has filled in such lacuna 

 as necessarily occur, with observations of his own. But a higher 

 meed of praise than this is due to Mr. Stevenson for the candour and 

 openness with which, in every instance, he has acknowledged the 

 sources whence he has obtained information. I well recollect that 

 when I first published my 'British Ferns' an eminent botanist, 

 alluding to the constantly recurring acknowledgment of the sources 

 of information, told me "he thought such excessive conscientiousness 

 was quite superfluous :" this opinion is very common, and some 

 conceal their conscientiousness so entirely that one fails to discover its 



