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Northern Ntnvs. 



An article on ' Baldness in Birds ' in a birdy magazine, is illustrated by 

 a photograph of the editor ; but he's got a cap on. 



Mr. W. P. Pycraft, of the British Museum, ought to be a proud man. 

 The editor of a certain weekly is ' quite prepared ' to accept his evidence. 



Honour for a Yorkshire ornithologist. A photograph of ' A climber 

 in mid-air,' by a well-known Yorkshire ornithologist, appears in the 

 ' Country-side ' for August 29th. 



An authority is ' inclined to think that when men lived as hunters in 

 caves and huts, the robin used to be encouraged as a killer of insect vermin.' 

 This, of course, accounts for the robin's familiarity to-day. 



According to the ' Liverpool Echo,' some prehistoric human skeletons 

 have recently been found, the femur bones of which ' exceeded in length 

 by several inches the same bones in the ar7ns of the biggest workman.' 



' How to distinguish birds at sight. The blackbird can be distinguished 

 from tiie fieldfare by its uniform black colour,' so we read. We can quite 

 believe it. For the same reason we could distinguish a crow from a snowy 

 owl, if we were properly trained. 



The best ' fly ' for bass, according to the editor of ' The Fishing- 

 Gazette,' is ' a silvery little bit of soleskin made like a white-bait.' In 

 order to catch the sole, ' Punch ' has found that ' the best worm for this is 

 the v/ing-Hver of a sea-anemone made like a minnow ! ' 



The Report of the Marine Biological Station of the West of Scotland 

 for 1907 shews that the Committee has had a very anxious year's work. 

 Matters now seem on a much better footing, and we trust that the useful- 

 ness of the Station at Millport will increase as years go on. 



A writer on ' Life on the Sea-shore ' in Cassell's ' Nature Book,' figures 

 and frequently refers to various species of ' Pectans.' In case the author 

 should further contribute to a natural history publication, he might at 

 least ascertain the correct spelling of some of the commonest objects he 

 describes. He also recommends the old method of ' putting salt on its 

 tail ' for catching a razor-shell. 



According to the local press, the Duke and Duchess of Connaught 

 recently went cliff pigeon shooting at Speeton. This, the editor of a cer- 

 tain weekly, will not believe ; and we can scarcely credit it. But, this 

 same editor feels quite sure that cliff pigeon is a misprint for ' clay pigeon,' 

 the latter being a small disc, like a little gramophone record, which is 

 mechanically thrown out in a swerving flight . . . There is no close time for 

 ' clay pigeons.' Nor for editors ! We can just imagine Ned Hodgson and 

 his ' gallant men ' throwing clay pigeons up and down Speeton Cliffs, to 

 be ' potted ' by Royalty. 



We have received the following from Mr. Otto Hermann, Director of the 

 Hungarian Central Bureau for Ornithology. — ' The winter-quarters and 

 routes of our migrant birds are until now yet unknown, and there is only 

 one method which leads to positive knowledge on this account : the mark- 

 ing of birds by aluminium rings, a method which has been tried with success 

 in Germany and in Denmark, as a house-stork marked in Pomerania, was 

 caught in Africa, 15° S. of the Equator. The Hungarian Central Bureau 

 for Ornithology has now also begun the marking of young storks, herons, 

 gulls, and swallows. The aluminium ring is fastened around the leg of the 

 bird, and it bears in each case the inscription ' Budapest,' followed by a 

 number which corresponds to the entry in the Register-book of the Hun- 

 garian Central Bureau for Ornithology. Anyone catching such a marked 

 bird, or hearing of the capture of such, is kindly requested to send the ring 

 on to the Hungarian Central Bureau for Ornithology, Jozsef-konit 65, 

 Budapest VIII., Hungary, accompanied by a notice stating the locality, 

 time, and particulars of capture." 



Naturalist, 



SOCI130B 



