THE ZOOLOGIST—NOVEMBER, 1876. 5141 
In examining into the claims of many rare birds to be inserted 
in the British list, Mr. Gurney has undertaken a work which we 
trust he will continue. There are, undoubtedly, many soz-disant 
British examples of scarce stragglers to our shores which will not 
stand any scrutiny into their genuiness. But the investigations 
Mr. Gurney has been pursuing require not only perseverance but 
audacity. Not a little confidence is needed by the naturalist who, 
after examining some private collection, first of all points out to 
the owner that several of his choicest specimens are not the 
species they profess to be, and who next declares himself unsatisfied 
with the evidence brought forward in proof that other rarities have 
bond fide been captured within the limits of the British Islands. 
Collectors do not look pleased when they are remorselessly told 
that their golden eagles are young ernes; their pine grosbeaks 
hawfinches; their American bitterns only young examples of the 
common bittern, and so on. Nor are they pleased if, after all they 
have urged in favour of the admission of their Greenland falcon or 
spotted sandpiper as unquestionable English examples, they find 
that all the impression they have made on the hard-hearted cross- 
examiner is no more than to lead him to mark their treasures in 
his note-book as “doubtful.” We feel sure that in what he has 
already done Mr. Gurney has produced many heart-burnings, and 
has often found it unpleasant work. Still, for the sake of scientific 
accuracy, it is very necessary that all these unintentional mistakes 
should be brought to book; and there are few of us who have 
not, at some time or other, inadvertently contributed erroneous 
records of the kind Mr. Gurney has been seeking to correct. 
The birds which pass under Mr. Gurney’s scrutiny in the volume 
we are noticing are— 
The Eagle Owl. 
The Red-throated Pipit. 
The Spotted Sandpiper. 
The Great White Heron. 
The Harlequin Duck. 
The Redbreasted Goose. 
Briinnich’s Guillemot. 
Two of these, the red-throated pipit and Briinnich’s guillemot, 
Mr. Gurney would, after sifting the evidence in favour of their 
admission, expunge entirely from the British list. It has come 
under our own experience how little known a bird the latter of 
SECOND SERIES—VOL. x1. 3G 
