78 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



The Birds of Derbyshire. By F. B. Whitlock ; annotated with 

 numerous additions by A. S. Hutchinson, Taxidermist to 

 the Derby Museum. 8vo. Pp. 239. With a Map and Six 

 Illustrations. London and Derby : Bemrose & Co. 1893. 



Mr. Whitlock's name will be well known to the readers 

 of this journal as that of an enthusiastic ornithologist, and his 

 zeal has prompted him to try and write a book about the birds of 

 his county. This very laudable design he has carried out, no 

 doubt to the best of his ability ; but it seems to us that his book 

 might have been very much better if he had not been in such a 

 hurry to publish it. It is evident that he had not sufficient 

 materials for the purpose, as may be gathered from two or three 

 circumstances. We have been surprised to find no reference to 

 the most important collection in Derbyshire, that of Sir Vauncy 

 Crewe at Calke Abbey, a collection which includes many very 

 noteworthy birds obtained in the county ; while in his endeavour 

 to extend his list of species, Mr. Whitlock seems to have 

 travelled quite outside the limits of the area he had to deal with, 

 and has recorded a number of rarities that, upon his own 

 showing, were not obtained in Derbyshire. 



For instance, he includes specimens of the Glossy Ibis and 

 Purple Heron which were killed in Staffordshire and Notts, and 

 a Hen Harrier which was shot on the moors near Macclesfield in 

 Cheshire. The Hawfinch is stated to " breed regularly near 

 Sheffield, a few miles from the boundaries of Derbyshire " ; and 

 a pair of Smews in the author's possession came from Beeston 

 Rylands in Nottinghamshire. Doubtless the boundaries of a 

 county are more or less artificial, and as it is impossible to set a 

 limit to a bird's flight, it is in some cases highly probable that a 

 species may have sojourned for some time within the county in 

 question, and be subsequently killed beyond the boundary. But 

 to entitle it to a place in the local avifauna, some more direct 

 evidence of its occurrence within the county limits is desirable. 



Again, we have evidence here and there that Mr. Whitlock is 

 but imperfectly acquainted with several of the localities of which 

 he writes, some of which even he does not appear to have visited. 

 For example, he refers on page 8 to Lathkill Dale as " treeless," 

 whereas it is well wooded for two or three miles on one side, and 

 for some distance on the other. 



