150 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



The Breeding Range of the Twite. — I shall esteem it a favour if 

 Mr. E. P. Butterfield will justify his remarks in the last issue of ' The 

 Zoologist' {ante, p. 112) by pointing out where I have stated that the 

 Twite is " generally distributed " in any part of the British Islands. 

 The statement that this bird " breeds in most parts of the British 

 Islands where moors, mountains, and exposed heathy places are 

 found " seems to me to be a sufficiently broad and indefinite one, and 

 fairly to represent the distribution of this species in the nesting season. 



I have nowhere asserted that it breeds on all moorlands, nor even in 

 all parts of the country where moors, mountains, &c, are found. A 

 reference to my first note (Zool. 1905, p. 390) will show that after 

 making the general statement I proceeded to point out exceptions and 

 limitations, one of these being that the bird is much less common on 

 the eastern side of our islands than on the western ; and it is curious 

 that Mr. Butterfield should fail to see that his want of success in 

 searching for this bird on the moors near Whitby is a mere illustration 

 of what I have just said. If Mr. Butterfield was acquainted with the 

 West of Ireland he would probably know of districts there where 

 Twites are far more common than in Yorksbire. Future researches 

 and closer scrutiny may reveal this bird as occasionally nesting even 

 in parts of the country where it it has been declared not to breed. It 

 is difficult to prove a negative, and the Twite is a species which is 

 both sporadic and local. I did use the words "wide distribution" 

 {ante, p. 29) in speaking of this bird's range, some dim recollection of 

 which may have been in Mr. Butterfield's mind. But this expression 

 has a different meaning from "generally distributed," and would seem 

 particularly appropriate to a species which breeds in various localities 

 from the Shetlands to Kerry, and from the Outer Hebrides and Donegal 

 to Derbyshire and Devonshire. Surveying Britain as a whole, we may 

 find considerable tracts of country in which the Chaffinch, the Black- 

 bird, the Robin, and the Book do not breed ; yet it would be pedantry 

 to object to the statement that these are widely and even generally 

 distributed species. — Allan Ellison (Watton-at-Stone, Herts). 



The Geese of Europe and Asia. — In the review of Alpheraky's 



II The Geese of Europe and Asia" {ante, p. 118), an impression of the 

 reviewer appears to me to be somewhat misleading. At the commence- 

 ment it is stated that the author of the book " is not disposed to lay 

 too much dependence on the dimensions of the bill as a specific 

 character, and which he regards as largely dependent on age, and also 

 practises the greatest caution in using the colouring of the bill for the 

 same purpose." From my careful reading of the book the reverse is 



