Birds. 



5957 



and the development of Cydippe, &e. An explanation was ihen entered into of ihe 

 laws of development as enunciated by modern physiologists, and their application lo 

 the phenomena in question, showinjj; the probability of the existence of relations be- 

 tween the different classes hitherto unsuspected. He next discussed the various opi- 

 nions entertained by naturalists on these subjects, and concluded by giving an account 

 of the methods proposed for their classification. 



The discussion of this paper was postponed until the next Meeting. 



William Speuce Bate, F.L.S., was proposed for election as a Corresponding 

 Member. 



Destruction of Rare Birds. — I regret much to observe, in some late numbers of ihe 

 ' Zoologist,' records of the destruction — wanton destruction, I cannot help calling it — 

 of several of our rarer birds, and I desire to enter my protest against the same, and to 

 call upon all true lovers of Nature to unite in endeavouring to put a stop to the 

 practice. It is all very well to shoot a single individual of a species you have never 

 seen before, or of which you may wish to preserve a specimen for yourself or a friend, 

 but ruthlessly to destroy every individual of any of our rarer species that can be had 

 "by hook or by crook," deserves the strong reprobation of every true field naturalist. 

 Even supposing the birds so spared did not remain with you, might they not gladden 

 the eyes of some brother ornithologist in another part of the kingdom (or even in a 

 foreign land), and is it not selfish to deprive others of the pleasure of viewing these 

 rarer specimens of Nature ? Besides, might not the spared birds breed, and so 

 increase their number? In many cases it would not be difficult to make out a bird 

 one did not know by the aid of a telescope, and thus avoid the necessity of shooting 

 it, and one might even observe its habits, in some measure, with that instrument. — 

 Archibald Jerdon ; Mossburnford, Jedburgh, N.B., December 14, 1857. 



Birds at Sea. — On the voyage from Constantinople to Malta, on the I9th of April 

 last, when half-way exactly between the latter place and the Island of Cerigo, the 

 vessel, at daylight, was suddenly surrounded by a number of birds, whose flight was 

 from the southward ; they consisted principally of titlarks, in a very exhausted condi- 

 tion, as also of swallows, wheatears, goatsuckers and whinchats. Flights of turtle 

 doves were continually passing, occasionally one or two alighting on the rigging, but 

 apparently not in the least fatigued ; high over head a flight of eagles or vultures 

 passed, apparently as little f.itigued as rooks returning home in the evening. Now 

 these birds must have traversed at a single flight 270 miles from the African coast, 

 with 250 miles yet before them ; and I should have observed before that most of the 

 titlarks, exhausted as they were, left the ship a few hours after their arrival, ap- 

 parently in a very weak state : how they are enabled thus to perform such a passage 

 is a mystery, for no doubt, without meeting the vessel, their voyage would have been 

 accomplished in safety. On arriving at Malta, quantities of a small description of owl, 

 cuckoos, bee-eaters, quails and doves appeared in the market, all of which must have 

 performed a voyajje of about 220 miles. This ye.ir again, while shooting in Algeria, 

 in November, I was astonished at the quantity of jack snipes and woodcocks, which 

 must all, to have reached that continent, travelled from the very northernly parts of 

 Europe, none certainly from nearer than Denmark. The house martin, I find, leaves 

 Algeria on the 23rd of October, only ten days earlier than with us, though the difference 

 is about 17 degrees of latitude; but, as I have observed the swallow common at 



