5/o 



NATURE 



[July 31, 1913 



gneiss is described (p. 91) from Cam Chuinneag, con- 

 taining aegirine and albite, and albite-gneisses occur 

 near it, with streaks of magnetite and cassiterite. 

 Scyelite, the remarkable biotite-hornblende-peridotite, 

 occurs at Cam Cas nan Gabhar, two and a half miles 

 north of the head of Loch Morie. Its exposures are 

 almost too small to appear upon the map. Both the 

 foliations in the great mass of igneous " augen 

 gneiss" (why not "eye-gneiss"?) of Cam Chuinneag 

 are attributed to pressure-metamorphism (p. 55). 



In glacial times the ice moved from west to east 

 across this area, Ben Wyvis forming an obstacle that 

 was not completely overtopped. Ice, however, 

 descended from it in the general easterly direction. 

 The fluvio-glacial terraces of Glen Glass, east of the 

 mountain, are finely illustrated in plate viii. (Fig. 1). 



G. Barrow and E. H. Cunningham Craig, in 

 Memoir 65 (2s. 6d.), describe a varied district centring 

 in the pranite mass of Balmoral Forest. The accom- 

 panying map, with its bands of quartzite and amphi- 

 bole-schists folded with the Caledonian trend, shows 

 clearly how the main granites are of later date than 

 the earth-movements that made the Highlands. There 

 remains some difference of opinion as to the extent 

 to which these granites are responsible for the 

 development of the contact-silicates present in the 

 adjacent schists, and also (p. 26) as to the succession 

 in the schists^ themselves. The remarkable boulder- 

 bed, representing so continuous a horizon of erosion, 

 is accepted by both authors as being near the summit 

 of the series. 



The same authors, with L. W. Hinxman, have 

 explored the adjacent region of Upper Strathspey and 

 the Forest of Atholl (Memoir and Sheet 64, 25. and 

 2s.6d. respectively). The huge granite domes of the 

 Cairngorm Mountains lie in the north-east of the map, 

 and the central high-road from the Grampians descends 

 through Kingussie on the north-west. Glen Tilt, 

 memorable for the researches of Hutton, Playfair, and 

 Macculloch, between 1785 and 1816, on the contact 

 of granite and limestone, occupies the south-east 

 corner. Here, then, is a country full of inspiration 

 for the geologist. The phenomena of river-capture 

 are naturally interesting on the Grampian watershed; 

 the case of the Feshie (p. 7) is notable, where it draws 

 off the head-waters of the eastward-running Geldie 

 Burn. On the map it appears that a preliminary 

 capture was made of the Eidart, descending from the 

 Cairngorm range, and that the increased flow enabled 

 the stream to reverse the drainage at the east end of 

 Sr6n na Ban-righ. Is it, however, quite right to 

 suggest, as is done in the memoir, that the upper 

 part of the Feshie, at 1800 ft. above the sea, has 

 "practically reached the base-level of erosion"? 



The glacial features, including the formation of 

 hanging valleys and dry gaps, are described in 

 chapter ix. 



In conclusion, we note that a new geological 

 language is developing in the north. Are we to 

 accent " calc-flintas." " hornfelses," and "kamiform"? 

 After all, we have absorbed " taluses " and "vol- 

 canoes." G. A. J. C. 



ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES. 



A paper on the Plumage Bill in relation to the 

 British Empire was read by Mr. James Buckland at 

 a meeting of the Royal Colonial Institute on June 13. 

 This Bill proposes to forbid the sale, hire, or exchange 

 of the plumage or skin of any species of wild bird 

 inhabiting, during the whole or part of the year, any 

 region of the British Empire or Protectorates, outside 

 the United Kingdom. Ostriches, game-birds, domes- 

 tic pigeons and poultry, are excepted from the opera- 

 NO. 2283, VOL. 91] 



tion of the Bill, as w ell as skins for museums. The 

 effect of the measure would be, by prohibiting im- 

 portation, to cut off a large proportion of the plumage 

 supplies that now reach the London market. Mr. 

 Buckland argues that the protection of wild birds 

 throughout the British Empire would be of immense 

 value to agriculture and forestry, in tending to keep 

 down injurious insects, and that the wealth thus 

 gained would enormously overbalance the loss neces- 

 sarily sustained by the comparatively small number 

 of merchants interested in the feather trade. 



The proceedings at the annual meeting of the Royal 

 Society for the Protection of Birds, presided over by 

 Earl Curzon of Kedleston, covered practically all the 

 subjects and objects in which the society interests 

 itself. Foremost among these was the plume trade 

 carried on in order that women may decorate their 

 hats with the plumage of the most beautiful birds in 

 the world. Despite what has been done in some 

 countries beyond the seas to stop this trade, it seems 

 to flourish here exceedingly — humming-birds and 

 birds of paradise being sold by the tens of thousands 

 — and we seem as yet far off getting the only law 

 which will stop the destruction, viz. a law to prohibit 

 the wearing by women of feathers of this description. 

 Another important subject which came before the 

 meeting was the protection of migrating birds from 

 the dangers they incur at lighthouses through being 

 attracted by the brilliant lights, and flying round until 

 they become exhausted and fall to the ground, the 

 gallery, or the sea. To prevent this it is proposed 

 to fit up round the lights an apparatus, newly in- 

 vented, on which the birds can perch and rest. This 

 has been tried with good result on the Frisian coast. 

 Funds for this special purpose are required by the 

 society, and a considerable sum has been raised. 

 Other subjects treated of by the speakers included 

 sanctuaries for birds, nesting boxes, reserves for wild 

 birds, the pole-trap in Norway, and the watchers' 

 fund, which enabled the society to see that protective 

 legislation was carried out. The society has more 

 than twenty watchers spread over the country from 

 Shetland to Cornwall. This society issues quarterly 

 its very interesting publication, called Bird Notes and 

 News, and the sixth number of vol. v. contains much 

 that concerns the bird protector. The frontispiece 

 gives a view of St. Catherine's Lighthouse, which has 

 now been fitted with racks and perches for the use 

 of migrating birds, as before mentioned. There are 

 two short articles on the plume trade fnom which 

 much may be learned. 



A serious falling-off in the supply of guano from 

 the islands off the coast of Peru induced the Peruvian 

 Government to enlist the services of Dr. H. O. Forbes, 

 the well-known naturalist, with a view to the sugges- 

 tion of remedial measures. Dr. Forbes, who reached 

 Peru at the commencement of 1912, but was unable to 

 get to work until late in that year, has recently 

 returned to this country, and an account of his experi- 

 ences and investigations appeared in The Times of 

 July 25. The guano-islands form a chain of more 

 than 1000 miles in length, commencing with the 

 Lobos Islands in the north to a point off Mollendo 

 in the south. In the breeding season they are the 

 resort of countless thousands of gannets, cormorants, 

 pelicans, and other sea-birds, the two most important 

 species from a commercial point of view being 

 Bougainville's cormorant (Phalacrocorax boitgainvUlei] 

 and the pelican known as Pelecanus tha^us. Each of 

 these voracious birds consumes from 8 to 10 lb. of 

 fish per diem, and the production of guano from the 

 whole assemblage is consequently enormous. Dr. 

 Forbes succeeded in calculating the product of each 

 pair of birds and their offspring in a season, from 

 which he was enabled to form an estimate of the 



