FIELD NOTES. 327 
FLOWERING PLANTS. 
A Yorkshire Locality for tiabenaria albida. — I have 
recently paid a visit to the locality for the White Mountain 
Orchis ( Habenaria albida) near Hardcastle Crags, and .much 
regret to record that this habitat for the plant is almost 
completely destroyed by quarrying and tipping in connection 
with the construction of a mountain tramway. — J. Firth, 
Liverpool. 
BIRDS. 
Albino Blackbirds at Bishop Monkton. — A friend had 
reported to me that three albino blackbirds had been reared 
in one nest this year, near Bishop Monkton. Two of them 
were caught, one of which I recently examined, and found it 
an absolutely pure albino. It is a male bird and already sings 
fairly well. — A. Haigh Lumby. 
Barn Owls in Morley. — A pair of Barn Owls has this 
year nested in the false roof of one of the gables of St. Peter’s 
Church, Morley, entering at a louvre window. They brought 
off three young, one of which was strong enough on the wing 
to look after itself. The other two were found in the Church- 
yard unable to rise, so the Vicar, the Rev. F. Sykes, with 
kindly intentions, placed them in a box, and fastened it in a 
tree where the parents often spent the day, intending to 
liberate them when a little stronger ; but much to his disgust, 
some one removed them without his knowledge or consent. — 
Jasper Atkinson. 
: o : 
Impurities of Agricultural Seeds. By S. T. Parkinson, B.Sc., and 
G. Smith, B.Sc. Headley Bros., pp. 105. 3s. net. N.D. The writers 
of this little book, who are botanists at the Agricultural College at Wye, 
tell us they are not seed specialists, but have been induced to issue the 
work because the specialists have not done so. There is a need for such 
a book, beyond the range of agriculturalists, and we welcome this attempt. 
A hundred and fifty weed ‘ seeds ’ are described and illustrated by 150 
photographs from actual specimens. They show clearly the characteristics 
of the ‘seeds,’ and will prove a great help in their identification. The 
introductory chapters are clearly written, and deal with such topics as 
the harm done by weeds ; introduction of new weeds ; a national seed 
testing station ; state legislation ; seeds from foreign countries ; weed 
seeds common in samples ; testing and identification. A key is given but 
the student is advised to ‘ construct a key for himself.’ As the authors 
ask for ‘ information on any errors ' we may say that we have seldom 
seen so small a book with so large a number of misprints, especially in 
the scientific names of plants, e.g., errors occur on nearly every page from 
27 to 34 and 40 to 61, while in the index (which by the way, is unusually 
complete), they occur on every page. There is even an error in the cor- 
rection note on page 4, and the definition of ‘ cypsela,’ to which this note 
refers, is inaccurate, apparently due to a confusion between cypsela and 
caryopsis. Figure 63 shows a fruit case and seed of Galuim Aparine, 
both magnified 10 diameters, yet the fruit case is much smaller than the 
seed, though in the text we are informed that the seed is ‘ only slightly 
smaller than the fruit.’ 
1914 Oct. 1 . 
