NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 319 
in autumn. It must have been surely by inadvertence that 
Mr. Mitchell has included them amongst winter visitors in his 
Introduction. 
Referring to the occasional visitors, amongst which we 
presume are to be included the rare and accidental stragglers, 
Mr. Mitchell notices the Roseate Tern, which not many years 
ago was a regular summer migrant, and which, though 
seemingly extinct, he has been “reluctant as yet to cut out 
altogether.” 
The two rarest birds which have occurred in Lancashire 
are those of which two excellent coloured plates are given, 
- namely, the Black-throated Wheatear (Sazicola stapazina), and 
the Wall Creeper (Tichodroma muraria). The former was shot 
in May, 1875, near the reservoir at Bury; the latter was 
obtained in May, 1872, at Sabden, a village at the foot of 
Pendle Hill. The abundance of the Twite in Lancashire is 
noteworthy considering how scarce a bird it is considered in 
more southern counties. Mr. Mitchell describes it as ‘‘ resident, 
occurring on open moorlands, and breeding as commonly on the 
South Lancashire mosses as in more elevated districts. It leaves 
the higher grounds in winter, and approaches the towns, feeding 
in company with its congeners, in considerable flocks, on the 
stubble fields and waste lands.” 
Referring to the marked decrease of the Wood Lark (p. 86), 
My. Mitchell states that, although once a common resident in 
many parts of Lancashire, it is now almost extinct. He adds 
that this appears to be the case generally throughout the north 
of England, and probably the incessant pursuit of this species 
by the professional birdcatcher has a good deal to do with its 
increasing scarcity. 
We are surprised to notice the statement, on page 117, that 
the Hobby, a summer visitor to this country, has been procured 
in Lancashire in winter. This, probably, is a mistake, and, no 
particulars being given, it is not unlikely that the authovr’s 
informant may have mistaken a young Merlin for a Hobby. 
Amongst species which are absent from Lancashire are noticed 
the Nightingale, Dartford Warbler, Bearded Titmouse, and 
Thickknee, while some others, like the Nuthatch, though 
plentiful in other parts of England, are said to be “ exceedingly 
rare and very seldom seen.”’ 
