146 Notes and Comments. 



Conference of Delegates, will be held in London. This is 

 the first break in the continuity of the Association's meetings 

 since its foundation in 183 1. 



' NEW ' BRITISH (?) BIRDS ! 



In its April number British Birds has ' broken out ' again, 

 and badly ! In less than a page, three ' new ' species' are 

 added to the British list, and then follow eight pages of editorial 

 comments thereon. In the first case, Mr. J. B. Nichols tells 

 us that two Calandra Larks were shot at St. Leonards in May, 

 1916, and shown in the flesh to Mr. Ruskin Butterfield. Mr. 

 Nichols, also, records an Eastern Great Reed-Warbler, also 

 from St. Leonards (' picked up under wires '), also last year, 

 and also examined in the flesh by Mr. Butterfield. Mr. T. 

 Parkin records a Semi-Palmated Ringed Plover, also from St. 

 Leonards, shown to him, in the flesh, by a taxidermist, in 

 April, 1916. 



DELAYED RECORDS. 



In view of the apparent extraordinary importance attached 

 to these records, is it not odd that these valuable additions to 

 our fauna — made in April, May and August last year, are not 

 given to the world until April, 1917 ? Why did not Mr. 

 Butterfield tell the scientific world of the great things he had 

 seen ? It is admitted that, with regard to the Calandra 

 Larks, two have previously been recorded. One said to have 

 been got near Devonport and the other near Exeter, and 

 were recorded in The Zoologist and the Birds of Devon at 

 the time. But it is naively added ' these records have very 

 properly never been accepted as authentic' Why? Cer- 

 tainly Mr. Butterfield was not living then, and therefore did 

 not see them ' in the flesh ' ; and British Birds was not then 

 published. But, after all, we must remember that these new 

 Calandra Larks were ' said ' to have been shot at St. Leonards ; 

 the Eastern Great Warbler was ' said ' to have been ' picked up,' 

 and the St. Leonard's taxidermist ' said ' his Semi-Palmated 

 Plover had been shot. 



dealers' business methods. 



While this particular St. Leonard's taxidermist may be 

 like Caesar's wife, in some respects, we certainly do not like 

 this periodical immigration of new British Birds in this one 

 particular locality, and certainly do not feel justified in accepting 

 the records as British on the evidence brought forward. A 

 little while ago * we were able to investigate a case, and proved 

 that a dealer had sold an imported bird as ' British,' and a new 

 record at that ; he did so as ' one is apt in trade to make the 

 most and get the most,' and that the information about the 

 alleged locality of the record ' was only business in sale.' f 



* 1915 pp. 3-5. t l° c - °it- P- 60. 



Naturalist 



