(The gotmj .jtottiralist : 



A Penny Weekly Magazine of Natural History. 



No. 43. AUGUST 21st, 1880. Vol. 1. 



ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES. 



UP to this date our pages have had 

 but little ornithological matter, 

 and scarecly anything from our 

 ornithological readers who take notes 

 of their observations. Many parts of 

 England, and especially Lancashire 

 and Yorkshire, swarm with bird 

 stuffers, while in other places, though 

 they may not be so numerous, they are 

 studded here and there at no very 

 great distance from each other. Most 

 of these men are intelligent 

 observers, and have the best of 

 opportunities of knowing the food of 

 every bird they skin. Many of them 

 we know, dissect every bird, or at all 

 events, all of any rarity, and make 

 notes of the contents of the stomach, 

 the state of plumage, and other matters 

 of interest. Extracts from these note 

 books would be of great interest to our 

 readers, and now that we are com- 

 mencing our papers on British Birds, 

 their Nests and Eggs, we hope to ex- 

 pand our circle of readers among 

 Ornithologists and Taxidermists 

 generally. Perhaps they may have 

 had little interest in our pages in the 

 past, but everything could not be done 

 in a day, and we hope those interested 



in various subjects have less and less 

 reason to complain of our Bill of Fare. 

 Entomologists have never had much to 

 find fault with, and our paper was 

 specially begun for them. The Con- 

 chologist, too, has had his share lately, 

 and we are now beginning a series of 

 papers on Ferns, by a gentleman who 

 has studied them practically for years. 

 Thus, the Entomologist, Conchologist, 

 Botanist, and Ornithologist should all 

 find something to interest them, and 

 we hope they, too, will endeavour by 

 their notes and observations to add to 

 the interest for others. We have the 

 more reason for referring to this at 

 present, as we are desirous that when 

 our papers on British Birds are 

 separately printed as a handbook, they 

 should be as perfect as they can be 

 made, and there are many points about 

 which little is known. Probably some 

 one or more of the thousands of in- 

 terested naturalists in the United 

 Kingdom, could give an answer to 

 almost every question that could be 

 raised, but knowledge confined to the 

 individual, is scarcely knowledge in 

 the meaning of the word now-a-days. 

 As this work goes on in these pages, 

 readers will have an opportunity of 



