Notices of Neiv Books, etc. 185


BRITISH BIRDS.


The March number of this publication begins with an in¬

teresting article by William Barren, on the crouching habit of

the Stone-Curlew: four admirable reproductions of photographs

of the young at various ages, crouching amongst different sur¬

roundings, accompany this paper, which is a valuable addition

to the many recorded cases of protective assimilation in nature ;

Dr. N. F. Ticeliurst describes some bird remains from the Brocli

of Ayre, Orkney ; Major F. W. Proctor gives us some further in¬

formation touching the Lesser Redpole as a breeding species in

Berkshire ; Messrs. H. F. Witherby and N. F. Ticeliurst continue

their account of the more important additions to our knowledge

of British Birds since 1899, and various notes complete the

number ; among the latter an instance of three Cuckoo’s eggs in

a Robin’s nest and a clutch of seven eggs in the Great Crested

Grebe’s nest are perhaps the most noteworthy ; four seems to be

the usual number to a clutch, five being a rare number, yet it

seems odd that two hens of this quarrelsome species should lay


in one nest. -


THE EMU.


The January part of this important publication provides

us with an admirable photographic portrait of Colonel-Surgeon

C. S. Ryan, the third President of the A.O.U. ; it commences

with an account of the proceedings of the seventh session of the

Union, the Balance Sheet for the year, the address of the Vice-

President, on the subject of Bird Protection; the Report of the

Hon. Secretary ; Notes by Robert Hall and John P. Rogers on a

collection of birds from North West Australia ; some notes on

the location of birds in the vicinity of Homesteads, Break-o’-day

District, Tasmania, by Colonel W. V. Legge ; More notes about

Herons, by A. H. E. Mattingley, with two excellent reproduc¬

tions of nests with eggs and young of Nycticorax caledo?iicus : a

number of short notes on various subjects; two Reviews;

Notices of Meetings, and lastly an excellent reproduction of the

portrait of the late Professor Alfred Newton which was published

in the October number of British Birds : altogether this number

condenses a considerable amount of information into a very

limited space.



