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VERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY IN YORKSHIRE. 



Members of the Vertebrate Zoology section of the Yorkshire Naturalists' 

 Union held a meeting at the Church Institute, Bradford, on February 

 1 6th, and the attendance justified the change of meeting place from Leeds 

 to Bradford. Mr. A. Haigh-Lumby presided. 



There was a generous response to the appeal for exhibits, those of 

 Yorkshire interest being a Ruff brought by Mr. Pollard, killed from a 

 flock of six at Ardsley, near Wakefield, September 25th, 191 7 ; and a Viper, 

 on behalf of Mr. Ashwell, obtained between Whitby and Scarborough. 



Mr. Booth focussed attention on the unusual scarcity of fieldfares and 

 redwings this winter, his experience of failing to find a single one of the 

 former and but a few of the latter in his district being confirmed by ob- 

 servers in other parts. Though most species are less plentiful as a result 

 of last year's extraordinary spell of severe weather, its effect on these two 

 Norwegian breeding birds was particularly pronounced. 



Mr. Rosse Butterfield reported that on the previous day he had observed 

 a party of waders which he believed to be Bar Tailed Godwits on sub- 

 merged low lying ground in the Keighley district. He also recorded a 

 Goosander shot at Silsden. 



In a paper on ' Colloquial Names of Yorkshire Birds,' Mr. Butterfield 

 maintained that scientific names, although indispensable, are of little 

 interest in comparison with colloquial names, which are of ancient origin 

 and historical value. With the spread of education and the tendency for 

 unification of language, these names were rapidly being displaced, and it 

 seemed worth while to put as many as possible on record, not adapted to 

 modern spelling, but imitating as nearly as possible the spoken sounds. 

 He inclined to the idea that the majority of these names were introduced 

 by our Teutonic ancestors, and possibly some were of Celtic origin. Others 

 were undoubtedly of French origin, especially those connected with the 

 sport of hawking. Mr. Butterfield gave several examples of these names, 

 many of which are permanently recorded in the Union's publication on the 

 county avi-fauna. Altogether he suggested that it was a subject worthy 

 of being treated by a scholar of deep and wide knowledge, with an un- 

 prejudiced mind and an acute sense of judgement. 



Mr. William Hewett, in some notes from the York district, gave the 

 following as the dates when spring migrants were first observed ; — 



House Martin . . . April 



Chiffchaff , 



Swallow ... ... ,, 



Whitethroat 



Cuckoo ... ... „ 



With the exception of Rook and Heron all the species were late in 

 nesting. The Turtle dove seemed to be increasing as a nester. Among 

 numerous ducks shot on the Derwent during the frost were the Tufted, 

 Pochard, Wigeon, and female and young Smews. A pair of wild swans 

 was seen on Wheldrake's Ings and an Egyptian Goose was shot at Sutton 

 on Derwent. Partridges were fairly common in the neighbourhood of 

 York and Woodcocks were increasing as residents, about ten pairs now 

 nesting in one wood. He was informed by John Hodgson that no eggs 

 had been seen on the Bempton Cliffs up to May nth, 1917, and the season 

 had been a poor one. A double-yoked Guillemot's egg obtained last season 

 from these cliffs weighed 5I ozs., 70 grains. 



In some notes from Wakefield district, covering a period from 1906 

 to the present, Mr. H. Pollard, M.R.C.V.S., recorded from personal observa- 

 tion, the Black Tern, Bittern, Black Throated Diver, Green Sandpiper, 

 Sanderling, Wigeon, Shoveller, Pochard, Pintail, Ring Plover, Sheldrake, 

 Great Crested Grebe, Little Auk. He also alluded to some unusually 

 long strides of a rabbit on January i6th, over a field coated with snow. 



1918 April I. 



