8 
VERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY IN YORKSHIRE. 
E. WILFRED TAYLOR. 
A meeting of the Vertebrate Section of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union 
was held at Leeds, October 22nd, Mr. H. B. Booth occupying the chair. 
The general and financial reports of the various Sub -Committees 
were approved. 
Mr. Rosse Butterfield was elected to the chair for the coming year 
and Mr. E. W. Wade was nominated as the. Section’s candidate for the 
Presidential Chair of the Union. 
Exhibits. 
Mr. C. F. Proctor exhibited the dried body of a Kestrel, taken from 
a keeper’s gibbet at Hornsea, in which a Wren had built its nest. 
Mr. F. H. Edmondson showed the skin of a Grey variety of Partridge, 
shot at Scorby ; a similar specimen wa,s obtained at the same place 
two years ago. Mr. C. F. Mason exhibited part of the jaw and the over- 
grown incisor teeth of a hare in which the milk teeth had persisted and 
deflected the adult teeth out of contact with those in the opposite jaw. 
Bird Language. 
Mr. W. R. Grist read a paper on ‘ The Study of Bird Language,’ 
and stated that although the songs of birds had interested mankind 
from the dawn of civilisation, the failing of the older school of 
observers was to argue too anthropomorphically. Actually the structure 
of the brain of a bird is very reptilian in character, although the bird 
is warm blooded. This fact, coupled with other observations, suggests 
high development of instinctive behaviour and limited intelligence. 
Thus, nest building and migration appear to be governed by instinct 
rather than by intelligence. 
The sense of smell is undeveloped but hearing is acute and communica- 
tion is by sound, usually vocal. The whole of the ear, including the 
mechanism of balance, is highly developed. 
The sounds produced by birds may be divided into two main classes ; 
the call note which express alarm, brooding, feeding or gathering, and 
the song, which may be defined as a sustained sequence of notes arranged 
in a recognisable specific pattern. Thus the songs of the Chaffinch, 
Thrush or Robin may vary individually and yet be instantly recognised 
as specific. 
Birds living in colonies do not sing, but those species scattered over 
the countryside have each their own song. A series of charts, compiled 
by Mr. Walter Gyngell, in the Scarborough district, were circulated and 
indicated the song cycles of a large number of species throughout the 
year. It was clearly shown that the greatest activity coincided with 
the middle of the nesting season, and as the birds are then mated it is 
clear that the purpose is not to attract a mate but rather to assert a 
territorial right during a period when the young are defenceless. 
Various means were described by which a knowledge of bird songs 
could be acquired and the lecturer cleverly imitated a number of bird 
songs by means of mechanical contrivances and by whistling. Various 
methods of recording the songs were also explained and examples were 
read from various works on British Birds to illustrate the extreme difficulty 
of indicating correctly the song of a bird in print. Gramophone records 
provided a promising field, but the high cost raised a real difficulty at 
the present time. 
The lecturer enumerated many problems awaiting solution and 
thought that time-tables for the day and year were urgently required. 
It was also important to determine if mated cock birds sing more or less 
The Naturalist 
