352 



Northern News. 



Early in October exceptionally hig-h tides and strong- winds caused 

 considerable damage along the Yorkshire coast. Great quantities of land 

 have been washed away, particularly in the boulder-clay districts, and at 

 Easington the land was flooded. (See also pp. 335 and 336.) 



A large sturg-eon, caught near Goole early in Aug-ust, and sold to 

 a. Goole firm, was claimed by H.M. Customs as the property of the Crown. 

 The sturgfeon was duly despatched to the King-, who, however, returned it, 

 stating that on this occasion he did not wish to enforce his right. 



It is pleasing to discover that even our leading comic journals find 

 Natural History items at times worthy of their notice : — ' Has he COME HOME? 

 To the Sn.all Mammals House at the Zoo has lately been added an Arctictis 

 Bintiirong^ known in its native Assam as Bhal-hilli. We seem to recog-nise the 

 name. Can it be our old friend Bhil-halli under a slight disg-uise ? ' — Punch. 



The Annual Report of the Huddersfield Naturalists' and Photographic 

 Societv for 1905 has just been received. It speaks well for the work of the 

 Hon. Treasurer to find that 'there are now no subscriptions in arrears.' It 

 is not often that a remark of this kind is found in annual reports. Brief 

 notes on the principal ' finds ' during- the year are given by the respective 

 recorders. 



Parts II. and III. of Mr. H. Bolton's valuable paper on 'The Paleon- 

 tology of the Lancashire Coal Measures ' have been reprinted from ' The 

 Transactions of the Manchester Geological and Mining Society' as one of 

 the well-known Museum handbooks issued by the Owens College Museum. 

 The present contribution deals with the fossils of the Middle and Upper 

 Coal Measures. 



At the recent annual meeting of the Bradford Scientific Association 

 Mr. H. E. Wroot was elected president for the coming year. The society 

 has taken a prominent part during the last year in connection with the 

 Museum at the Cartwright Memorial Hall and the Botanical Garden in 

 Lister Park. It also took a lead in opposing the scheme of the Bradford 

 City Council to place paths along the stream at the bottom of Shipley Glen, 



Among the features of the October double number of ' Bird Notes and 

 News ' (issued by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, 3, Hanover 

 Square, W.) are a special report of the recent International Ornithological 

 Congress so far as it dealt with Bird Protection ; an article on the Antarctic 

 Penguins, by Dr. Wilson, of the 'Discovery'; and a strong appeal to 

 members and friends of the society to discourage the use of ' ospreys ' 

 and birds in autumn millinery, and to expose the fraud of the so-called 

 ' imitation ' or ' artificial ' ospreys. 



It is pleasing- to find that Mr. E. R. Waite, at one time joint-editor of 

 this journal, and now zoologist at the Australian Museum^ Sydney, is 

 frequently contributing to our knowledge of the natural history of the 

 district in which he is now situated. The recently-issued ' Records of 

 the Australian Museum' (Vol. 6, No. i) contain the following arlicles from 

 his pen, viz., 'The Breeding- Habits of the Paradise Fish,' 'An addition 

 to the Lacertilian fauna of the Soloman Islands,' 'Climbing Habits of an 

 Australian Snake,' and Pseiidaphrites iirvillii, Cuv. &Val., a Fish new to 

 Western New South Wales.' 



From the 'Yorkshire Post' we g'ather that a conference of repre- 

 sentatives from the North, East, and West Riding County Councils was 

 held in York on Wednesday, 27th September, to consider a petition from 

 the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union. There attended from the West Riding 

 Mr. W. Chadwick and Mr. C. D. Nicholson, from the East Riding Mr. W. 

 H. St. Ouintin and Mr. Fowler Burton, and from the North Riding the Earl 

 of Ronaldshay and Mr. E. R. Turtcn. The close season was agreed upon 

 as from the last day in February to the ist of September, with exceptions 

 in favour of the golden plover, snipe, woodcock, and wild duck. A list of 

 birds and birds' eggs to be prohibited for the next five years was drawn up, 

 and it was unanimously agreed that no shooting, snaring-, or taking of wild 

 birds should be allowed on Simdays throughout Yorkshire. 



4 i^UV. ib06 Naturalist. 



