Revieivs mid Book Xotices. 



So far as I know, the birds have never been molested duruig- 

 the four months they have been here. 



The wings and leg's of one which was picked up near a post- 

 and-wire fence have been shown to me. It was a female bird, 

 and nearly through the moult, except that the first four primaries 

 had not been shed at the time of its death. The only recognis- 

 able food in the gizzard was clover seed, no doubt picked up on 

 the 'old seeds.' Apparently this flock never broke up into 

 pairs, and there is no evidence that the birds have ever attempted 

 to breed. 



♦» 



A Guide to the Domesticated Animals (other than horses). 



British ^Museum. Cromwell Rd., London, 1908. 54 pp., 6d. 



This is a further useful and cheap guide issued by our National ^Museum. 

 It is written by ISIr. R. Lydekker, and is illustrated by twenty-lour blocks. 

 The introducton,- pages refer to the various breeds of English Cattle, a 

 subject of peculiar interest to our readers in view of the contribution 

 recently appearing in our pages. Amongst the other animals dealt with 

 are sheep, pigs, dogs, cats, ferrets, guinea-pigs, rabbits, rats and mice, 

 pigeons, poultry-, ducks and geese, and canaries. AVe cannot sufficiently 

 recommended these exceedingly cheap and useful publications. 



•The Birds of Handa,' Sutherlandshire, is the title of the well- 

 illustrated Presidential Address of Dr. S. H. Lang to the Norfolk and 

 Norwich Naturalists' Society, appearing in its Transactions for 1907-8, 

 recently to hand. The volume is a particularly interesting one, and amongst 

 the many articles we notice ' Distribution of Veronica verna L., V. triphyllos 

 L., Herniaria glabra L., and Scleranthns perennis L.,' by A. Bennett ; ' Xotes 

 on a Tame Hare ' ; ' The Occasional Luminosity- of the White Owl ' ; ' Norfolk 

 Neolithic Harpoon-Barbs, etc.,' by W. G. Clarke ; ' Some Breckland Charac- 

 teristics ' ; "Notes on the Herring Fishery of 1907'; 'Additions to the Norivich 

 Museum,' etc. 



The Viking Club continues to publish its ' Saga Book,' and also the 

 separate volumes dealing with ' Orkney and Shetland Old Lore,' 



both of which are indispensable to all students of northern antiquities. 

 Of the former, Volume V. part 2 is the last issued, and of the latter part 7 

 has recently made its appearance. The ' Saga Book,' in addition to con- 

 taining various original articles by well-known specialists, ha? some useful 

 notes on current topics, contributed by the editor, Mr. A. F. Major ; and 

 there is also a good series of reviews. To even enumerate all the interesting 

 items in these useful publications would be a lengthy matter, but amongst 

 them we notice in the Saga Book ' Some Illustrations of the Archaeology^ 

 of the Viking Age in England,' by W. G. CoUing^vood ; ' Ship Burial at 

 Kiloran Bay, Scotland ' ; ' Western Influence on the Earliest Viking 

 Settlers ' ; ' The Viking Ratf or Pontoon Bridge discovered at Glamford- 

 Brigg, Lines. ' ; etc., etc. The reports from the district secretaries are 

 also verv' useful. In one, by Dr. Auden, we notice photographs of ' A 

 Viking Ship on a Church Door ' at Stillingfleet, Yorks. In ^Ir. Colling- 

 wood's article there is an illustration of a Hogback at Lowther, Westmor- 

 land. On this is a representation of a boat, armed with eight men, each 

 with two round shields — an upper smaller, and lower larger one. The 

 similarity between this and the well-known images from Roos Carrs is most 

 striking. In the volumes dealing with ' Orkney and Shetland Old Lore ' 

 are papers on ' The Romans in Orkney and Shetland ' ; ' Some Old Time 

 Shetland Wrecks ' ; ' Shetland Phrase and Idiom ' ; etc,, as well as 

 numerous short notes of interest. The Viking Club is doing most useful 

 work, and should be encouraged. 



1908 November i. 



