126 



Northern Nei'os. 



Observing and Forecasting the Weather : Meteorology without 



instruments, by D. W. Horner. Witlierby & Co., London. 46 pp., 

 6d. net. 



This is an interesting pamphlet relating to the subject referred to in the 

 title. There are also chapters on ' Phenological observations,' ' Weather 

 sayings,' etc. We learn from the title-page that there are ' illustrations 

 from photographs taken by the author.' This presumably refers to the 

 two amateurish attempts of ' Typical Cloud Forms ' in the frontispiece, 

 which have been so carelessly trimmed that the horizon seems to be getting 

 on towards the perpendicular. 



Adventures in Bird Land, by Oliver Q. Pilce. Religous Tract 

 Society, London. 108 pp. 



On the cover of this volume is a representation of a man with a camera 

 hanging down a precipice at, presumably, a height of some thousa.nds of 

 feet. This, we assume, is supposed to represent the author, and it is also 

 typical of the kind of thing to be met with throughout the book. He 

 certainly talks about the birds which he has come across in his various 

 rambles, and here and there are some pieces of information relative to the 

 habits of the various members of the feathered tribe v/hich he has acquired 

 during the past few years. We learn early on that he has changed from 

 a boy w^ho delighted in killing into a keen lover of birds. A little later we 

 are informed that the author writes from experience, as he v.^as as keen 

 a sportsman as it would be possible to find. Further on, an awful exper- 

 ience of photographing birds in a bog and getting nearly lost is given. 

 ' What added to our feelings of discomfort was the discovery of the skeleton 

 of a cow^ The creature had reached this spot and evidently found it 

 impossible to return ; and the skeleton told us in a terrible manner what 

 our fate would be if w^e missed our foothold,' and so on, and so on. The 

 illustrations to the volume, of wmich there are very many, are usually well 

 produced, generally from very good negatives (see plate xiii., which w^e are 

 permitted to reproduce). They are from the author's own camera, but 

 whether all the birds photographed were living or not at the time, we 

 cannot guarantee. A hundred pen sketches by Mr. E. R. Paton are distri- 

 buted through the book on the margins, and as tail pieces, etc., and add 

 to its attractiveness. The volume is very cheap. 







NORTHERN NEWS. 



Mr. R. S. Bagnall writes on ' Some Genera and Species of Thysanopteva 

 new to the British Fauna ' in the January Entomologist's Monthly Maga- 

 zine. 



Mr. J. Murray, of Carlisle, records that on August 23rd last. Epinephele 

 tithonus was flying in hundreds in a lane between Nethertown and St. Bees. 

 Previously this butterfly had been almost unknown in Cumberland (Dec- 

 ember ' Entomologist's Record).' 



The interesting marsupials of Australia will soon be but a memory 

 unless steps are taken to protect them. The Colony of Queensland has 

 moved in this direction by passing a Native Animals Protection Act, 

 which provides a close season for the Native Bear, the Opossum, the 

 Platypus, the Hedgehog, and the Flying Squirrel. The Opossum, formerly 

 the commonest of all the indigenous animals of the Australian ' bush,' is 

 rapidly being exterminated on account of its very valuable fur skiii, 

 enortnous numbers of which are shipped to this country. It is a common 

 form of occupation in Australia for young fellows to devote themselves 

 to Opossum hunting. It is now^ proposed in Queensland to protect the 

 native bear ail the year round, to prevent the total exti iction of this 

 curious animal, which, perched on the top of a gum tree, fal an easy prey 

 to the gunner. 



ralist, 



