November ii, 1909] 



NA TURE 



57 



own particular playing-ground without a mate. The play- 

 grounds are cleared from dead leaves and other debris, and 

 drcorated with large fresh leaves placed face downwards. 

 The leaves used are of various kinds, though sometimes 

 only one kind may be found in a particular play-ground. 

 The work of decoration is carried out afresh every morn- 

 ing, the leaves of the previous day being thrown on one 

 side and new ones substituted. " Up to 6 a.m. they 

 appeared to be hard at work clearing their bower floors 

 of the old leaves and re-carpeting them with fresh ones, 

 and until this early house-work was done they appeared 

 1.) be in little mood for song or mimicry. I came across 

 them hard at their re-furnishing, and carrying the long, 

 hiavy leaves in their bills hy ihe stems, and just as they 

 bad severed them from the trees." The birds feed upon 

 a kind of red berry, not yet identified, and the author is 

 inclined to think that the serration of the beak has nothing 

 to do with the collection of food. It is, however, appar- 

 ently of use in cutting or sawing off the leaves for the 

 -iccoration of the playing-ground, as was actually observed. 



The tooth-bills are wonderful mimics, and Mr. Jackson 

 gives a graphic account of their vocal performances. They 

 seem able to imi^te almost all the char.acteristic soimds 

 of the forest, from the distinctive notes of other birds to 

 the " pulsating rattle of a captured cicada." 



After many disappointments the nests were at length 

 found in very tall trees, very loosely constructed of twigs 

 and containing only two eggs of a uniform brown colour. 

 The character of these eggs leads the author to the con- 

 clusion that the tooth-bill is really a cat-bird, and not a 

 true bower-bird at all. We rannot refrain from quoting 

 the description of the finding of a pair of these eggs :• — 

 " The nest is placed fully qo feet from the ground, in a 

 mass of dense vegetation at the top of a bean or scrub 

 chestnut-tree {Castanospcrmum austrnle). The climb is an 

 awkward one, and our best black, who had examined the 

 nest in the first instance, is again chosen to tackle the 

 task. Strapping the egg-pouch around his waist, I say 

 * Good luck ! * and up he goes. Placing the perpendicular 

 and suspended vines between the first and second toes of 

 each foot, he simnlv walks up, with marvellous and un- 

 tiring agility. Making his way through the masses of 

 vines and foliage near the top, he at length gains the 

 rare nest, and suddenly exclaims, ' Two pfeller heg sit 

 down ! ' " 



Although the tooth-bill was the main object of the 

 author's quest, the account of his wanderings contains 

 much interesting information about other birds and some 

 very good photographs, and is well worthy of perusal by 

 all field naturalists. 



INTERCHANGE OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS. 

 T N July last (vol. Ixxxi., p. 55) we directed attention to 

 ■*■ a scheme, which is in course of development, to provide 

 an interchange of university students between the United 

 Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. It was pointed 

 out on that occasion that the objects in view are to enable 

 as many as possible of the educated youth of the countries 

 named to obtain some real insight into the life and customs 

 of other nations at a time when their own opinions are 

 forming, with a minimum of inconvenience to their 

 academic work and the least possible expense. The scheme 

 will afford technical students facilities to examine into 

 questions of interest to them in manufactures and so on. 

 by observation in other countries, and will allow men of 

 one part of the Empire to realise the needs and potentiali- 

 ties of the others. 



.Among the immediate needs of the executive committee 

 in charge of the scheme, it may be mentioned that, to cover 

 the estimated expenses of twenty-eight annual travelling 

 scholarships, and of two students' travelling and informa- 

 tion bureaux (one in Great Britain and one in .\merica) 

 for a provisional period of three years, in which the value 

 of the scheme can be successfully demonstrated, a total 

 sum of i3.ooo(. is needed. This is to be raised in three 

 amounts, proportionate to the expenses incurred ; — from the 

 United States, 4500/. ; from Canada, iSool. ; and from the 

 United Kingdom, 7500/. There is not likely to be any 

 difliculty in raising the monev required in Canada and the 

 United States. British studrnls will incur nnirc i-\prn-,r 



NO. 2081), VOL. 82] 



than others on account of the distances to be covered on 

 the other side by the scholars, who will travel through 

 Canada to the Pacific coast and return via the United 

 States. 



The committee hopes to be able to complete the 

 organisation, so that exchanges may be effected for 1910. 

 To enable this to be accomplished, the treasurer (Lord 

 Brassey) should receive promises to the amount of 7500/. 

 within the next month. 



Thanks largely to the practical support of the president 

 of the movement ^Lord Strathcona), who combines the 

 Chancellorships of .Aberdeen and McGill Universities with 

 his work as High Commissioner of Canada, a central office 

 has been established at C.ixton House, Westminster. 

 The travelling students will h.ive the advantage of reduced 

 rates of travel, of the special information which the bureau 

 will be able to afford, and of the privilege of being brought, 

 so far .as possible, into contact with the actualities of those 

 countries to which they go, whether persons, pl.aces, or 

 institutions. -A publication of great utility in connection 

 with the movement will be compiled by the bureau. 



The arrangements for the other side of the Atlantic also 

 have made good progress. There is to be a bureau in 

 New York under the direction of an .American secretary, 

 while at either Montreal or Toronto there will be a repre- 

 sentative of the Central Bureau established in London, 

 which forms the headquarters of the movement and the 

 centre for the British Empire. In this connection, also, it 

 may be mentioned that hopes are entertained of the open- 

 ing in London of a common room for the convenience of 

 the students concerned. The movement has been t,aken up 

 by prominent educationists and others in the United States 

 and Canada. Inder the direction and guidance of the 

 bureau the scholars, selected in the manner previously 

 described, will travel for ten weeks during the long vacation 

 througli the respective countries. In order lo elicit close 

 observation, a detailed report of the tour will be required 

 from every scholar. Donation forms, and all further in- 

 formation, can be obtained from the honorary secretary, 

 the International Interchange of Students, Caxton House, 

 Westminster, S.W. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



We learn from the Revue scletitifiqiie that the inaugura- 

 tion of the new Swiss university at Neuchatel took place 

 on October 19. The University has grown out of the 

 Neuchatel Academy, which was founded in 1S66 and was 

 re-organised in 1894. 



Major Cr.'MGIe, the Gilbey lecturer at Cambridge in 

 the history and economics of agriculture, will give two 

 lectures on " The History of Can.adian and Australian 

 Development and its Effect on British Agricultural Con- 

 ditions " on November 17 and 18, at 5 p.m., in the Uni- 

 versity Chemical Laboratory. 



Prof. Percival has resigned the directorship of the 

 department of agriculture and horticulture of University 

 College, Reading, and has been appointed to the post of 

 professor of agricultural botany. Mr. Ronald V. O. Hart- 

 Synnot has been appointed director of tlic department of 

 agriculture and horticulture in succession to Prof. Percival. 



The trustees of Princeton University, we learn from 

 Science, have accepted the gift of 100,000/. of Mr. W. C. 

 Proctor, of Cincinnati, made on condition that an equal 

 sum be obtained by May i, 1910. Haverford College has 

 received 20,000!. to establish a fund for pensioning its pro- 

 fessors. The General Education Board in the United 

 States has made a conditional grant of 25,000/. to Ohio 

 Wesleyan University, at Delaware, O. Mrs. Charles 

 E. Perkins, of Burlington, la., has given fiooo/. to Harvard 

 University, to establish scholarships for students from 

 Iowa. Harvard University also has received gifts amount- 

 ing to 1320/., to be lised for the immediate benefit of 

 freshmen in Harvard College. 



TtiE President of the Board of Education received a 

 deputation from the County Councils .Association Rural 

 Education Conference on November 3. .At a meeting last 

 Jul\' the confirrnce passed resolutions in f;ivour of manual 



