206 
Northern News. 
Tenimber, Australia and Fiji ; Report on Collections made by Mr. T. A. 
Barns on an Expedition through East Central Africa ; Descriptions of the 
New Forms of Lepidoptera from the Island of Hainan ; and an Index. 
A Laboratory Manual for Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy, by 
L. H. Hyman. Chicago : The University Chicago Press, xv. j- 380 
pp., $2.50 net. The Great American Universities are following the 
example of those in Britain in publishing standard works for use of 
teacher and student alike. In the present publication, Mr. Hyman 
brings together a valuable text -book containing thirteen chapters dealing 
with General Considerations on Animal Form ; The Phylum Chordata ; 
General Study of Typical Chordates ; General Features of Chordate 
Development ; The Comparative Anatomy of the Integument and the 
Exoskeleton ; The Endoskeleton ; The Comparative Anatomy of the 
Vertebral Column and Ribs, of the Girdles, the Sternum, and the Paired 
Appendages ; of the Skull and the Visceral Skeleton ; of the Muscular 
System ; of the Coelom, Digestive and Respiratory Systems ; the 
Circulatory System, the Urogenital System, the Nervous System and the 
Sense Organs. Appendices deal with pronunciation and derivation 
of technical words and the preparation of materials. The illustrations 
are numerous and clear. 
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CORRESPONDENCE . 
OTTERS AND BIRDS. 
With regard to Mr. F. D. Welch’s note on ‘ Otters Destructive to 
Birds ’ (p. 76) : in the case of the grebes at Fairburn, otters are not the 
culprits. The gamekeeper (J. Fox) tells me that he has seen none for 
some years. The otter being a nocturnal feeder, would have to disturb 
the old grebes, which would be covering the young amongst the reeds. I 
think Mr. Fortune’s answer the correct one. — W. G. Bramley. 
EARLY RECORDS OF CUCKOO. 
In The Naturalist for May is a note recording the cuckoo on March 29. 
Mr. Riley Fortune remarks that this is a phenomenally early record, 
and that the previous earliest is April 4th. Mr. A. House, of York, and 
I both saw and heard the Cuckoo when within twenty yards of it at 
Fangfoss, on April 1st, in either 1912 or 1913. The record is with those 
of the York Naturalists’ Club, and appeared in their ornithologist’s 
report for the year in which it occurred. — C has. F. Procter, Hull. 
In The Naturalist for 1894, page 157, there is an earlier record of a 
Cuckoo being heard in Bilton Banks, near Harrogate, on March 27th, 
1894. There is, however, little reliance to be placed on these early 
records of birds which have only been heard. Many boys frequent the 
wood at Bilton Banks, and they, like myself when a boy, frequently 
amused themselves by calling ‘ Cuckoo,’ often in a very natural manner. 
Unfortunately, records in local societies’ publications are not always 
available to the general public, consequently, interesting ones like this 
of Mr. Procter’s may easily be overlooked. — R.F. 
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It is interesting to notice that the Yorkshire Naturalist’s Union has 
just held its three -hundredth meeting. 
Sir Ernest Rutherford, F.R.S., has been elected President of the 
British Association for the Liverpool meeting in 1923. 
Mr. S. E. Harrison, of the Cheltenham Library, Museum and Art 
Gallery, has been appointed Curator of the Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle., 
We notice that Sir Charles Parsons, who was President of the British 
Association at Bournemouth, has given -£10,000, which he places un- 
reservedly at the disposal of the Council of the British Association for 
the advancement of Science. 
Naturalist 
