NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 445 



volume on the snbject of owls and hawks, and will learn to dis- 

 tinguish and protect those which are really useful to man. On 

 the subject of hawks Mr. Witchell has been fortunate in enlisting 

 the aid of Major Fisher, of Stroud, one of the best falconers of 

 modern times. An observation from his pen (p. 99) suggests a 

 very brief comment. Writing of Merlins " flying at hack," he 

 says, " hack is a word of uncertain derivation, and in falconers' 

 language means the keeping at liberty of any hawk that will come 

 to feed when so at large — for a time." In all probability the 

 term at hack is a corruption of the French au taquet ; voler au 

 taquet meaning to fly to the chopping-board on which the hawks' 

 meat was cut up and presented to them. 



But we must pass on to other sections of the Fauna, or termi- 

 nate our remarks abruptly. Pages 124-148 are devoted to a 

 consideration of the Reptilia and Batrachia found in Gloucester- 

 shire, amongst which the most noteworthy species perhaps is the 

 Palmated Newt (L. palmatus). This is stated to be abundant on 

 the hills near Stroud, and in many upland ponds ten times more 

 plentiful than the Smooth Newt, which is locally uncommon. 



The late Dr. Day, who resided during the last years of his 

 life at Cheltenham, would have taken a keen interest in the 

 Section on Fishes (pp. 149-166) could he have seen the proof- 

 sheets, and from his store of ichthyological knowledge could 

 doubtless have furnished some useful information on the Glouces- 

 tershire species and their distribution. 



The account as it stands seems to us somewhat meagre, and 

 considering the extent of coast-line which abuts on the Bristol 

 Channel we should imagine that a great many more species are to 

 be met with than are here mentioned. We note (p. 158) that 

 some few years ago the Grayling was introduced by Lord 

 Coventry into the Windrush, but has not become numerous. To 

 judge by the Report of the Chairman of the Severn Fishery 

 Board, 1892, there must be a good many ardent anglers in the 

 county, for it appears that in 1891 the sum paid for one shilling 

 licences for rod and line amounted to £508 17s. 



With respect to the gift of Lamprey-pies formerly made to 

 royalty by the Corporation of Gloucester, some curious extracts 

 are supplied (pp. 165, 166) from * Gloucestershire Notes and 

 Queries,' but we have not space to quote them here. 



The Section " Crustacea " contains but a few pages on the 



