22 
HAMLYN'S MENAGERIE MAGAZINE. 
cousin to this beautiful deep-water denizen is the 
Histioteuthys Rueppelli. The body of this fish 
is about three feet long, and its eight tentacles 
are joined at their base by a bright red membrane. 
It inhabits waters less than a thousand feet deep, 
and specimens have been found in the Mediter- 
ranean near Nice. Its, body is studded all over 
with tiny lights, varying from dazzling sapphire 
blue to sparkling topaz yellow. 
Another interesting species is. the Inops Mur- 
ray!, which has no eyes, but has two windows on 
the top of its head; these are lighted from below 
by a very complex arrangement of lamps. In its 
case, the lights are undoubtedly to attract, dazzle 
and entrap its prey, for, as it cannot see, they can 
be of no active help to it in searching out its 
food. In some fishes reflectors are situated behind 
the source of their lights, and almost always! there 
is a powerful lens in front of it. Some have shut- 
ters like those of a camera, and! some of these 
shutters have coloured slides by means of which 
these wonderful fishes can change the hue of their 
lights. Even the deep sea fishes " are wonderfully 
and fearfully made." 
ROYAL ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY 
OF IRELAND. 
At the meeting of the Royal Zoological 
Society on Saturday, it was reported that visitors 
to the gardens during the week numbered 4,394. 
The Secretary announced that the collection had 
been increased by a gift of a cobra from Ceylon, 
sent by Mr. Edward B. Creasy, junior, of Colom- 
bo. Captain Henderson, of the 17th Lancers, 
sent a Titi monkey, a rare specimen seldom seen 
except in museum collections. There has also 
been given to the gardens on deposit a woolly 
monkey of the nigger tribe. Two Kestrels and a 
hooded crow are among other gifts. All the 
donors were thanked. 
SOME DESIRABLE ALIENS. 
"British Birds." Written and Illustrated by A. 
Thorburn, F.Z.S. With Eighty Plates in col- 
our, showing over four hundred species. To be 
completed in four volumes. Vol. III. Long- 
mans, Green and Co. £1 lis. 6d. net. 
The third volume of Mr. Thorburn's magnifi- 
cent illustrated catalogue of the feathered popu- 
lation of Great Britain presents a number of 
desirable aliens, some of whom might become 
naturalised but for the reclaiming- of waste lands 
in the past — a process likely to be vigorously 
renewed in the future — and the hateful habit of 
shooting unfamiliar birds at sight. The 
gentle sportsman is content with an actual 
or even a mental photograph of the rare visitant, 
but his game-keeper so scrupulous, and the cad 
with a gun — such as the fellow pilloried by Mr. 
Punch, who shot sea-gulls for "the fun of bring- 
ing 'em down" — of, of course, beyond argument 
or appeal. There is no hope of seeing die Flamin- 
go settled in this country in any case; he is the 
rarest of visitors (of fifteen appearances, only 
three were of really wild birds), and we cannot 
think of a British river where he would care to 
establish one of his cities of mud-built nests. 
Nor is it possible that such quaint American 
strays as the Buffel-headed Duck (known as the 
"Spirit Duck" in America owing to the surpris- 
ing rapidity with which he dives out of sight) or 
the Harlequin Duck (which is said to breed in 
Iceland) would ever become naturalised in these 
small and remote islands. How specimens ever 
reached our country is a question easily asked, 
not easily answered. But it is quite possible, if 
the destruction of rare birds and also the rifling 
of their nests could be entirely stopped by the force 
of public opinion, that the melancholy "squak" 
of the Night-Heron might become an occasion 
note in the symphony of nocturnal sounds. This 
curious, contempative bird has been known as a 
straggler in England since 1782; and it is probably 
far more frequent than the records would have us 
believe, for its habits are entirely nocturnal, and 
it secretes itself all day long in willow clumps and 
such like shady coverts, sitting quietlv on a 
bough till the sun goes down. Anyhow, the 
Common Bittern (called by the Onomatopoeic 
name in Holland) might once more become a resi r 
dent if it nest were spared. It was common 
enough in East Anglia until the end of the first 
quarter of last century, but its complete disap- 
pearance as a breeding species followed the exten- 
sive draining of the marshes where it nested. It 
is known to' have reared its young in Norfolk as 
late as 1911 (in at least one instance), and suffi- 
cient protection from the egg-collector would 
probably enable this strange fowl, with its deep 
and resonant booming note, to become once more 
a British citizen. Ducks are a feature of this 
penultimate volume, which also includes swans, 
geese, doves, and the various game-birds. Mr. 
Thorburn's little biographies are admirable as 
usual; they often contain the results of personal 
observation, as when he tells us that the Wood- 
Pigeon's ordinary reduplicated plaint (apt to be- 
come irritating when reiterated hour after hour) 
is not really amorous, as all poets have said and 
sung. The true love-song of the male is much 
softer in tone and more subtly blended, and the 
accompanying "display" consists of the adoption 
of a crouching attitude, while the pupils of the 
eyes are contracted until they are mere specks. 
