340 Recently published Ornithological Works. [Ibis, 
absence from Devonshire of the Nightingale, Great Reed- 
Warbler, Marsh-Warbler, Icterine Warbler, Crested Tit, 
Shore-Lark, Ortolan Bunting, Tree-Sparrow, and Hazel 
Hen, all more or less abundant in Belgium, is noted. 
M. A. Paque records the occurrence for the first time of 
j Brant a ruficollis in Belgium. It was taken on the Scheldt, 
near Antwerp, on 3 December, 1919, and is figured in a 
coloured plate. Another rare bird found nesting recently in 
Belgium is the Great Black Woodpecker. No satisfactory 
record of the occurrence of this bird in the British Islands 
is known. 
There are a number of other useful and interesting con¬ 
tributions dealing with the avifauna of Belgium in its 
varied aspects, and we hope that the 1 Gerfaut' is now firmly 
established and will continue to prosper. 
Irish Naturalist. 
[The Irish Naturalist: A monthly Journal on General Irish Natural 
History. Vols. xxviii. & xxix. for 1919 & 1920.] 
There are not very many articles dealing with ornitholo¬ 
gical topics in the last two volumes of the ‘ Irish Naturalist/ 
Perhaps the most interesting and novel is that of Mr. J. P„ 
Burkitt on the so-called “ cocks' nests 55 of the Wren. 
From careful observations carried out by the author he 
concludes that the several nests are built by the male 
alone before the arrival of the female, and that the 
male during this period of anticipation keeps in touch 
with all the nests, roosting in them at night. On the 
arrival of the female, and until the young birds are out 
of the nest, the male takes little interest in his family. 
Some of these observations are controverted by Mr. E. P. 
Butterfield, who is familiar with the Wrens in Yorkshire, 
where their habits may be somewhat different. In another 
article Mr. Burkitt deals with the question of the length of 
the song-period of certain Warblers. He believes that song- 
ceases as soon as incubation begins, and that all the later 
singing males are mateless. 
Mr. Moffat's address to the Dublin Field Naturalists' 
