SKETCHES OF EUROPEAN ORNITHOLOGY. 
1*22 
Cambridge and Oxford; but is this a reason why the British Association should 
refuse the reasonable request of two of its Sections ? 
The Natural History Section receives a grant of £6 ! Whether this minimum 
grant is to be attributed to the backwardness of the General Committee, the 
indolence of the Sectional Committee, the impossibility of advancing Natural 
History by so unscientific a thing as money, a want of general interest in the 
science, or what else, it is difficult to' say—the readers of The Naturalist must 
guess. There was, however, one grant made to the Mathematical Section from 
which, it is to be hoped, all Sections will receive benefit. I allude to the £100 
that was voted for the “ translation and circulation of foreign scientific memoirs.” 
Several of the members staid till the Monday, for the purpose of attending the 
annual dinner of the Natural History Society. In the morning a small party 
was formed for a botanical excursion to the coast between Sunderland and Shields. 
This was not the region, however, for any rarities; and, except an excellent 
appetite for the Natural History dinner, it did not appear that the party brought 
back any thing very remarkable. The following plants, however, were obtained, 
which were new to some of the party:— Campanula hybrida , Atriplex roseat, 
Siene nocliflora , Galium tricorne , and some plants common to the sea shore. 
The next meeting will take place at Birmingham. 
SKETCHES OF EUROPEAN ORNITHOLOGY. 
Gould’s “ Birds of Europe,” Part XYIII. 
By Neville Wood, Esq. 
Resuming our analysis where we left off last time, we find the— 
Martin Swallow, Hirundo urbica ,—Hirondelle de-fenetre, Fr. —Rondine 
commune, It. —Haus Schwalbe, G.—The plate is a very pretty one. It repre¬ 
sents a pair of these birds, the female sitting in the Rest, her loving mate perched 
on the ledge of the beautiful though mud-built structure. This bird—too familiar 
and too justly cherished by our countrymen to need a minute description— 
migrates in spring, from warmer latitudes, to countries far north of Europe, 
Chimney Swallow, Hirundo rustica ,—Hirondelle de-cheminee, Fr. — Rondine 
domestica, It. —Rauch Schwalbe, G. —This species is obviously more fitted for 
displaying the powers of the artist than the last; but at the same time it is 
perhaps a more difficult subject; and although the plate before us—representing 
an adult and a young bird—is very far from being a failure, it pleases our critical 
taste less than the preceding. Inhabits the whole of Europe in summer, passing 
