Field Notes. 



J55 



Mr. Elliot Stock has recently pablished a fascinating^ work by W. 

 Johnson and W. Wright, dealing- with ' Neolithic Man in East Surrey ' (6s.). 

 Whilst the book is principally confined to this charming piece of country, 

 it is of more than local interest. The introductory chapters, for example, 

 dealing with 'The Sequence of Races in Britain,' 'Neolithic and Bronze- 

 using Races of Britain,' etc., might be read with profit by any student ot 

 the past. Besides being a readable summary of our knowledge of the 

 subject, these chapters have the advantage of being reliable. In reference 

 to ' pigmy flints' it is refreshing to read that the authors, who have collected 



Polished Flint Axe. 



minute flint implements from Scunthorpe and other places, nevertheless are 

 of opinion that ' The notion that these flints were fabricated and used by a 

 race of diminutive men may at once be dismissed.' Apparently the district 

 described is not particularly prolific in implements, as the axe-head figured 

 herewith, presumably of flint, is the best discovery in the neighbourhood. 

 Hundreds of specimens of the same type, but finer, have been picked up on 

 the Yorkshire W^olds. The authors are therefore to be all the more con- 

 gratulated on the success of their work. To the publisher we are indebted 

 for the loan of the block. 



FIELD NOTES. 



MAMMALS, 



Otter near Grimsby. — On ist February, whilst on a visit 

 to Grimsby, Mr. Alfred Stephenson kindly showed me a fine 

 specimen of a dog Otter which had been shot by Mr. W. Myers 

 on a small stream (Barnaby Beck) some six or seven miles from 

 Grimsby. It weighed 23 pounds without entrails, length from 

 nose to tip of tail 49 inches, skull 12)/^ inches, circumference of 

 neck 14 inches, root of tail 7^ inches, muscle of fore leg 8^ 

 inches. Personally I am sorry this animal has been destroyed, 

 as it is far better to behold it alive, if only for a few seconds at 

 a time, than to be the poor possessor of the stuffed skin of a 

 once beautiful creature. — W. H. Parkin, Shipley. 



BIRDS. 



Structure of a Rook's Nest.^ — A gale sprang up on Friday, 

 I St April, and continued with little break till late on the evening- 

 of the 7th. A number of Rooks' nests were blown out of the 



1904 May I. 



