EDITORIAL GLEANINGS. 8S7 



A correspondence has recently been continued in the ' Saturday 

 Review ' on the alleged extermination of rare British birds. This has now 

 been reprinted and issued as a leaflet by the Humanitarian League. We 

 are glad to learn from the testimony of Sir Charles Dilke that the 

 Kingfisher is not "near extinction," at least on the Thames. He writes: — 

 " Mr. Collinson, in a letter to you on ■ The Destruction of Rare Birds,' in 

 which I agree, speaks of ' the near extinction ' of the Kingfisher. This 

 statement, which is often made, is an erroneous one, and may damage our 

 case. Some years ago, when I gave evidence on behalf of the Thames 

 users before the Select Committee on the Thames, I had to allude to 

 Kiugfisher-shooting, and the result was a clause which prevented all 

 shooting ou the river. Since that time the bird has increased on the 

 Thames, and there are as many now as there were in 1803, when I first 

 began to row much on the river. At Dockett Eddy I have two nests 

 this spring, though I have seldom previously known more than one. A 

 third pair was broken by a recent shooting case; but, owing to the public 

 spirit of an innkeeper at Chertsey Bridge, prosecution and conviction 

 followed." 



[The Editor well remembers the year mentioned by Sir Charles Dilke 

 as representing an epoch when the Kingfisher was no great rarity on the 

 Thames. He was then an enthusiastic Roach-fisher, aud when angling off 

 an eyot above Hampton has, on more than one occasion, seen a Kingfisher 

 alight and rest on his long bamboo-rod, while the bushes almost concealed 

 himself from view.] 



A new monthly, devoted to the lore of the area from which it takes its 

 title, ' East Asia,' has just been launched, and the first number (July) has 

 reached our hands. An article on the Cocos Keeling and Christmas 

 Islands, based principally on a " British Blue-Book, " contains an interesting 

 zoological observation. Mr. Ross, who may be almost styled the pro- 

 prietor of these coral islands, once witnessed a fierce combat between two 

 huge Sharks, in water so shallow that they could not turn on their backs 

 according to usage. " In this instance the creatures faced each other and 

 dodged warily, while each made fierce attempts to reach the base of his 

 antagonist's tail. As each parried the attack in turn, their jaws locked and 

 remained so for a space, until they mutually disengaged. This fight 

 continued for some considerable time, till at length, avoiding the jaws of his 

 adversary, one seized the other by the vulnerable spot at which he aimed, 

 killing him instantly with one crunch of his teeth." 



From the Annual Report (1895-95) of the Curator— Prof. Alex. Agassiz 

 — of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College, we see that 



