32 



NORTHERN NEWS. 



A litter of black foxes has recently been observed at Bedale. 



A Hooded Crow and a Hoopoe have recently been shot in Cheshire 

 (' Zoologfist ' for November). 



Mr. A. Smith records a Little Owl at Humberstohe, North-east Lincoln- 

 shire (' Nature Study,' December). 



A specimen of Leach's Fork-tailed Petrel was taken in an exhausted 

 condition in Hyde Park, Leeds, in November, 



Examples of the Levantine and Sooty Shearwater have recently been 

 shot near Scarboroug-h, and are recorded in the ' Field.' 



Mr. W. H. Pickering-, formerly Chief Inspector for the Yorkshire and 

 Lincolnshire Mining districts, has been appointed Chief Inspector of Mines 

 in India. 



In ' Man ' for December, Dr. W. Wright, who has recently made a 

 careful examination of the skulls in the Driffield Museum, describes a useful 

 skull-stand for photographic purposes. 



Mr. Oxley Grabham has been appointed keeper of the Museum at York. 

 Mr. H. M. Platnauer has not severed his connection with that institution, 

 though such report was erroneously given in the. press. 



The Advisory Committee of the Botanical Garden, Bradford, report 

 various valuable additions during the year. Full advantage of the garden 

 has been taken by teachers, and lecturettes have been delivered. 



Under the will of the late Mr. Emanuel Mirfield, of Bradford, who died 

 in November last, the Bradford Scientific Association has received the 

 bequest of £2.0 clear of duty, and some valuable scientific apparatus. 



At a recent meeting of the Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological 

 Society specimens of Leucophcea siirinaviensis , an exotic cockroach, were 

 exhibited, which had been found breeding amongst turf at Fallowfield, 

 Manchester. 



At the annual meeting of the Lincolnshire Naturalists' Union, held 

 at Lincoln, several changes in the officers took place. The Rev. E. A. 

 Woodruffe-Peacock, who has been the Hon. Secretary so long, was elected 

 President, his place being taken by Mr. X. Smith, of Grimsby. Mr. F. M. 

 Burton asked to be relieved of his duties as treasurer, and his place was 

 taken by Mr. J. S. Sneath, of Lincoln. 



The annual meeting of the Leeds Concholog-ical Club was held in Leeds 

 on 3rd December. During the year eleven meetings were held, six being 

 in the field for the inspection of the habitats of the more interesting- 

 mollusca. Mr. A. H. Pawson, J. P., was elected President for 1905, and 

 Messrs. F. Booth and J. E. Crowther were re-elected Secretaries. The 

 club appears to be in a flourishing- condition. 



The recent appointment of Mr. T. Petch, B.Sc, B.A. , of Hedon, as 

 Mycologist to the Government of Ceylon, removes from our midst one of 

 Yorkshire's most promising- naturalists. Whether studying- bird life, marine 

 zoolog}^ the mollusca, or the lower fungi, Mr. Petch is equally at home, 

 and in each of these branches of natural history he has done incalculable 

 service. To the Yorkshire Naturalists' L^nion and its committees Mr. Petch 

 was a most useful worker, and he has contributed several valuable papers 

 to the ' Naturalist.' The Hull Scientific and Field Naturalists' Club, how- 

 ever, will miss him the most, for which he has done so much, not only in 

 original research, but in encouraging- others. This club has just published 

 his valuable paper on ' The Land and Fresh Water Mollusca of East 

 Yorkshire.' Whilst all northern naturalists will regret that Mr. Petch is 

 leaving the district, all will wish him success in his new sphere, and hope 

 for the day when an important appointment in his mother country may lure 

 him back again. .• ,\j 10AR 



Naturalist, 



