59



We have no doubt of the accuracy of Dr. Butler’s statement, that the cock

bird having once acquired his adult plumage never again assumes the

inconspicuous plumage of the hen.


The fadl that both sexes of this and other species are described and

illustrated adds greatly to the value of the book : it is often very difficult

for Aviculturists to be certain whether hen birds offered for sale, really

belong to the species which the) r are represented to be. _ We have no

hesitation in saving that “Foreign Finches in Captivity” is a work that

must be accepted by Aviculturists as the standard treatise on the subject

with which its deals.



Hard-billed British Birds, by Dr. W. T. Greene, M.A., F.Z.S.


A lecture delivered before the Cage Bird Club.


Dr. Greene, who occupies a well-assured position as the most popular

English writer on Aviculture, has in this lecture fully maintained liis

reputation, and has compiled a most interesting account of the British

Birds which subsist more or less exclusively on seeds. He reckons that

there are 19 species of Hard-billed British Birds. These he divides into 5

groups, namely:—the Finches proper, the Pseudo-F'inches, the Buntings,

the Sparrows, and the Tits. For the purposes of a popular lecture a

scientific classification is of course supremely unimportant, but as Dr.

Greene appears to claim something more than this for his system, we can¬

not help remarking that it seems a pity that he should endeavour to set up a

classification of his own, which is quite at variance with that adopted by

the best modern ornithologists. Thus, he calls the Greenfinch a true finch,

although it does not require much scientific knowledge to perceive that the

bird is a Grosbeak ; while, on the other hand, he will not admit that the

Chaffinch and Brambling are Finches at all, and, for some inscrutable

reason sets up the genus passer into a separate family by itself.


It appears to us that Dr. Greene very much over-rates the facility

with which British Birds can be induced to breed in confinement — practical

Aviculturists tell a different tale.


It is the function of a critic to find fault, and if we have dwelt

more upon what we deem to be the defects of the lecture than

upon its merits, we have done so merely because its merits lie upon the

surface, and can be perceived by all Dr. Greene’s readers, among whom

will we hope be numbered all the members of the Avicultural Society. But

we cannot help regretting that so attractive a writer should go out of his

way to teach a system of classification opposed to that now generally

adopted by the scientific world — as the multiplication of systems leads to

endless confusion.


We are glad to find that the Cage Bird Club continues to grow—it has

now 57 members. It is a .Society which perforins much useful work, and

deserves the good wishes of all Aviculturists.



CORRESPONDENCE.


RARE VISITORS.


Sir, —The following from the Yorkshire Post for February 4th, may

interest members.


“ The presence of Arctic birds in these latitudes, a frequent phenomenon

of hard winters, has been noted within the past few days by several corres¬

pondents. The little Auk, with the Puffin, is widely distributed over the

northern temperate as well as the true Arctic zone ; but its appearance in

Yorkshire in large numbers may be taken as an indication that the cold

will not quickly pass away. More remarkable is the alleged capture of an

Arctic Guillemot (Uria Bruennichi) near Wisbech St. Mary’s, in the

Cambridgeshire Fens. This bird is almost as rare a visitor to the British

Isles as the great Auk, of which, we believe, no specimen has been secured



