38 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



each day it seemed to be getting weaker, and I have little doubt it 

 ultimately died of starvation. This is the only one I ever saw in 

 this district in November. Eecently I spent about a fortnight in 

 Belgium, and what struck me most in bird life was the comparative 

 scarcity of the House-Martin about the towns and villages I visited. 

 I was pleased, however, at seeing a fair number breeding in Dinant. 

 The Swallow was by far the commoner species, and in one of the 

 busiest towns I visited, it could be seen darting about in the 

 principal streets after insects, much after the manner with us of the 

 House-Martin. November, 1913, had been a most remarkable 

 month for a high average temperature. Various species of birds 

 on December 3rd were feeding in the wood on elderberries and 

 blackberries of good quality. The Blue Tit is very fond of elder- 

 berries; indeed, tbe Tit family are very omnivorous in their feeding 

 habits. I see the Marsh-Tit occasionally feeding upon the seeds of 

 thistle, and H. B. Booth writes me that this species will feed some- 

 times upon the softer portion of maize. On Nov. 3rd I heard the 

 Song-Thrush singing almost as if it were May, at Bingley, I believe 

 the only instance so late in the season. — B. P. Buttekfield (Wilsden, 

 Yorkshire). 



NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 



The Gannet, a Bird ivith a History. By J. H. Gurney, F.Z.S. 



Witherby & Co. 

 This is probably one of the largest books devoted to the 

 history of a single bird. Mr. Gurney writes : " My conscience 

 pricks me with having occupied five hundred and sixty pages 

 with the history of one bird, but I console myself with the 

 reflection that, had the bird been the Cuckoo or the Raven, the 

 book would have been much longer." Even now, if the Gannet's 

 behaviour had been recorded by some of our patient and qualified 

 bird-watchers, this publication could have been increased in size, 

 and then it would have been none too big, for Mr. Gurney has 

 inaugurated a new departure in the literature of natural history 

 which may well, and will doubtless, be followed by other natura- 

 lists, though not, it is to be hoped, by the ordinary compiler. 

 These pages are rich in topographical details and biographical 

 reminiscences, and their author seems to have consulted most 

 of the literature that it is possible to trace on the subject, some 



