462 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Mr. Drax. They used to be hunted by Mr. Pleydell, of What- 

 combe, with dwarf fox-hounds, and harriers, but we never heard 

 of greyhounds being employed for the purpose. Perhaps on this 

 point Mr. Dale may be mistaken. It is to be regretted that he has 

 not given us a little more information on the subject. 



The Kite we are told (p. 31) was formerly common in the parish, 

 and used to breed in the Middlemarsh Woods, but none have been 

 seen for thirty years. 



Amongst the Reptilia we do not find any notice of the Smooth 

 Snake, Coronella l<evis, which has been met with occasionally on 

 the extensive heaths of South-West Hampshire and East Dorset. 



Little else calls for remark. The raison d'etre of this book, if 

 we may judge by its contents, seems to have been a filial and 

 laudable desire on the part of the author, to place on record a list 

 of the large series of British insects in his father's cabinet, that 

 gentleman, who died in 1872, having been an enthusiastic collector. 

 As a monument to his assiduity in that capacity, it no doubt will 

 stand ; but it can scarcely be said to add much to our knowledge 

 of the subjects upon which it professes to treat. 



A History of British Birds. By the late William Yarrell, 

 V.-P.L.S., F.Z.S. Fourth Edition. Revised by Alfred 

 Newton, M.A., F.R.S., Professor of Zoology and Com- 

 parative Anatomy in the University of Cambridge. Part XII. 

 October, 1878. Van Voorst, Paternoster Row. 



We have heard it remarked on more than one occasion that 

 British Ornithology is " worked out," and that, whatever may 

 be said of exotic species, as regards the avifauna of Great 

 Britain at least, nothing remains to be discovered or written. 

 A more mistaken idea, however, could not well be conceived, and 

 if any of our readers be disposed to share it, we recommend them 

 to consult the pages of the fourth edition of YarrelPs ' British 

 Birds,' now in course of publication. 



A comparison of the material in the present issue with that 

 contained in the third edition will, without any disparagement of 

 the original work, serve, we think, to convince the most sceptical 

 not only of the important additions which are being made to our 

 knowledge on the subject, but also of the amount of work which 

 still remains to be done for want of observers and well-ascertained 



