386 
Publications of Interest to Agriculturists. 
in the subject to the accurate and comprehensive articles by Mr. 
Archibald which appeared in Part IY. of Yol. III., 3rd series, 1892, 
and in the current volume of the Journal (Part I., 1894, p. 60). 
The Report on the plague of field-voles 1 in Scotland issued by 
the Board of Agriculture last year also deals with the economic 
value of the kestrel, the sparrow-hawk and the owls. 
To return to the American publication, the twenty-six coloured 
plates deserve a special word of commendation. The drawings are 
evidently original, being in no sense a reproduction of Audubon’s 
figures, and, to judge from the few species familiar to us, they are 
remarkably faithful portraits, and add greatly to the value of the 
bulletin. The department recognised so clearly the importance of 
ample and faithful illustration of a work intended for the use of 
practical men that the publication was considerably delayed in 
order that satisfactory plates might be prepared. 
The figures are of course reduced, but their relation to the size 
of the actual birds is indicated on each plate. This plan is no doubt 
the best, though such awkward ratios as -f- and might surely 
have been avoided without much difficulty. Absolute measure- 
ments of length and “extent” are calculated to mislead rather 
than to enlighten the uninitiated. Twenty-two inches across the 
wings would probably suggest to the average mind a bird of much 
larger dimensions than the familiar sparrow-hawk. 
Cecil Warburton. 
Zoological Laboratory, Cambridge. 
THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ENGLAND 
AND WALES . 2 
The general scope of the work of the Geological Survey has been 
made the subject of a paper in the current volume of the J ournal 
(Pai’t I., pp. 140-162). As, however, the work of the Survey is con- 
tinuously progressing, and as many of the results are of direct 
interest to agriculturists, the following extracts are made from 
the latest published report of the Director-General. 
Drift Survey . — In the early maps published by the Survey, 
superficial deposits were generally left unrepresented. The import- 
ance of these deposits in questions of agriculture, drainage, water- 
supply, and public health having at length been recognised, it was 
determined that in future they should be traced and shown upon 
the maps. As at first they were inadequately understood by geo- 
logists, the mapping of them could not be made wholly satisfactory 
and complete. But as they came to be more thoroughly studied and 
1 Reviewed in the Journal, Vol. IV. 3rd series, Part II., 1893, p. 421. 
- Excerpts from the Annual Report for 1892 of the Director-General of the 
Geological Survey. From the Fortieth Report of the Science and Aft 
Department, published in 1893. 
