138 
Boole Kof/ces and Heviews. 
" larders have been carefully examined in a great many instances, and if 
" we had only the evidence of the remains found there little objection 
" could be taken to the LittUe Owl. Its food consists of beetles and 
" other insects and mice We found remains of some, but very few. small 
" birds, tits and wrens, i^-c, occasioidy a young thrush or blackbird, once a 
" water rat, but never any game. Keepers round about assert that they 
" take both young partridges and pheasants, but we have found no evi- 
" dence to support the statement. But it so happens that the increased 
" observation of the Little Owl coincides with a gradual but marked de- 
" crease in the numbers of small birds which were at one time common 
" in the neighbouahood — whitethroats, warblers, chiff-chalfs, willow-wrens, 
" and birds of this type. Even finches appear to be diminishing. At one 
" time I ascribed this growing scarcity of small bii-ds to activity of the 
"County Councils in insisting on the trimming of the roadside hedges and 
"to the disturbance caused by the noise and dust of motor-cars. These 
"two causes combined would account for the dearth of small birds on the 
" high roads, but not in the country lanes, the edges of woods, the gorze 
" patches, and the hedges in the fields, where the scarcity is quite as notice- 
"able. The Little Owl is diurnal as well as nocturnal in its habits, and 
" the mischief arises from its liunting by day. The small birds must be 
" continually disturbed and alarmed by its almost ceaseless acti\ ity. Is it 
" not iiatural th it they should be driven further afield, esjjecially in the 
"breeding season, when they instinctively try to find (jniet nesting-])laces? 
" Up to this year our society has been careful to pi-otect the Little Owl, 
" and to encourage it in every way possible to become acclimatised. I 
" wonder if it would not be wiser to exterminate it. — W. J. Const .vni.K. " 
('Uppingham). 
Hand-list of Beitish Birds: Messrs. Witherby are publish- 
iiig- the above, givinig a detailed account of the distribution of each bird 
in the British Isles, and a general account of its rangie abroad, 
together with details of the occurences of rarities. The Hand-list is 
the joint work of Messrs. E. Hartert, F. C. R. Jourdato, N. F. Tice- 
hurst, and H. F. Witherby. See prospectus in this issue. 
The Flight of Birds: By F. W. Headley, author' of " The 
Structure and Life of Birds" — with 16 plates (photo-reproduction.s) 
and many text figures. Crown 8vo. 5s. net. London: Witherby and 
Co., 326, High Holborn, W.C. 
This "work is certainly what is claimed for it, " a clear 
ex]iosition of a fascinating subject," and is clearly and intelligibly 
written. The flight of all types of birds is described at all stages 
and the text is fully illustrated by many striking photographs. 
The flight of birds is contrasted with that of areoplanes. The 
following tables of chapter headings and plates indicate the com- 
prehensive character of this interesting book on a fascinating subject. 
Cir.'Vi'TKR Headings: Gliding — Stability — Motive Power — Starting - 
— Steering — Stopping and Alighting — Machinery of Flight — 
Varieties of Wing and of Flight — Pace and Last — Wind and 
Flight — Some Accessories. 
