Field Naturalist Research Articles

The Winding of Rivers in Plains

BEFORE writing to NATURE on the theory of winding rivers, it would have been wiser for me to have had some observations made as to the conditions of actual flow in the field in different circumstances. It is possible that the more complicated conditions which obtain in some places render the simple theory only partially applicable. My letter was immediately applicable rather to the flow in Prof. James Thomson's simplified model, where the artificial stream had a wooden bed, and the tendency to silt was indicated by short pieces of cotton pinned by one oend to the bottom. It may be that the deposit of drift on the inner side of some streams retards their flow by an unexpected amount; and probably there are other causes which prevent the James Thomson theory from being the last word on the subject. I do not pretend to be a field naturalist in any sense, and my cautionary note concerning the flow of glaciers I would ask readers to apply to the flow of rivers also, and to interpret the whole of my letter as a hint and exposition of theory rather than as an assertion and statement of fact.

Some Experiences of a Collector in Alaska

(Editorial Note.-Mr. Dixon is a member of the party headed by Miss A. M. Alexander for the purpose of exploring from a faunal standpoint some of the islands of southeastern Alaska. The following article is compiled with scarcely any emendations from personal letters written by Mr. Dixon to the Editor of this Magazine. We hope we do not overestimate the interest which we believe should attach to such direct accounts of the conditions under which the field naturalist must work in that portion of our continent. This is in no wise intended as an exploitation of the scientific results of the expedition, which will doubtless be reported upon in an altogether different form.-J. G.)

Practical Wildfowling A Complete Guide to the Art of the Fowler, with Descriptions of the Various Birds usually met with

THE new edition of Mr. Fallon's useful little hand-book of practical wildfowling has been brought up to date, and a considerable amount of new matter and many new illustrations have been added. Thoroughly to enjoy his sport the wildfowler must be a good field naturalist, and this little work aims, inter alia, at making easy the identification of those species of birds he is most likely to meet with. The enjoyment of wildfowling lies not only in killing, but in seeking to kill by pitting one's endeavours and skill against the cunning and wariness of the fowl. Unlike pheasants and partridges, they cannot be brought over the guns. Herein lies the essence of the sport, and hence the absolute necessity of understanding the life-habits and peculiarities of the various kinds of wildfowl. Practical Wildfowling. A Complete Guide to the Art of the Fowler, with Descriptions of the Various Birds usually met with. By W. J. Fallon. Second edition, revised and greatly enlarged. Pp. 248; illustrated. (London: L. Upcott Gill; New York: Chas. Scribner's Sons, 1907.) Price 6s.

Parrakeets. A Handbook to the Imported Species

MR. SETH-SMITH'S valuable monograph of the imported species of parrakeets is now complete, and forms a handsome, well-proportioned volume. Scientifically speaking, there is no distinction between a “parrot” and a “parrakeet,” the latter word being merely a popular term used for the smaller parrots. It cannot be applied to any particular family, or to those species with long or short tails. The title of this work must therefore be interpreted in the sense in which it is generally used by aviculturists. The work treats of about 130 species belonging to the families Loriidæ, Cacatuidæ, and Psittacidæ (subfamilies Nasiterninæ, Conurinæ, Palæornithinæ, and Platycercinæ). No less than thirty-three species are represented on the beautifully executed coloured plates, and there are more than a score of illustrations in the text, chiefly illustrating the nesting and other habits. Moreover, the author has been careful to indicate the work or works in which a coloured illustration of those species not figured by him may be found. Full and most useful directions as to feeding and managing the different species are given, as well as for breeding those species which have reared, or are likely to rear, their young with us. It is also pointed out which species are most suitable for large aviaries, arid which are more adapted for smaller cages. The whole book throughout is most readable and instructive. For as well as all worth reproduction which has been written about the different species in captivity, the author has collected from the folios of Gould, Mr. A. J. Campbell's “Nests and Eggs of Australian Birds,” Dr. Mivart's “Monograph of the Loriidæ,” and many other works a great deal that has been written about the life-history and habits of the birds in a wild state, so that his work forms an excellent history of these beautiful birds, and is alike interesting to the field naturalist and the aviculturist.

Country Rambles: a Field Naturalist's and Country Lover's Note Book for a Year

MR. WESTELL has made a serious mistake; he has let himself become the slave of his note-book. He seems to have made up his mind to write a year's diary for publication, with the result that he has filled it with trivialities which after a few pages will weary the reader, be he naturalist or not. On almost every page we find entries such as the following, which are taken quite at random:—“February 2. The snow will act as a deterrent on the singing of our feathered musicians, although I have often heard Robin and Wren singing in the very depth of winter, evidently cheered by the transient gleam.” “arch 21. I was tempted out into the garden early by the brilliant sunshine, and did a bit of gardening. Chaffinch ‘pinking.’ How delicate-looking the first Snowdrop as. it peeps through the brown earth!” “June 10 (among other similar entries). What a variety of small beetles cross the path of the rambler, like dark little jewels darting about in the sunlight! There are many hairy caterpillars too. Cannot they move at a rate ! How they curl up into the ball of protection!” No wonder that we read on the same page, “How often the Note-book comes out at this season! ”Mr. Westell's mind has been working more upon his note-book than upon nature, and he would do well to leave it behind him for some time to come, and to reconstruct his ideas of observation and of a naturalist's work. When he touches a difficult or doubtful problem, he shows us at once what manner of naturalist he is. On p. 125 we read that “an instance is recorded by Herr Muller (sic), a well-known German Naturalist, of a Cuckoo sitting on, and hatching, her own fledgling. Three Cuckoo's eggs were found by Herr Muller in a hollow under a tussock of grass, &c.“This statement seems to be taken from Dr. Japp's book on the Cuckoo; the Herr Muller is Adolf Müller, the forester; the occurrence he described, though, of course, in itself not impossible, has not been accepted by ornithologists whose opinions at any rate deserve some consideration, e.g. Prof. Newton, Mr. A. H. Evans, and Mr. Howard Saunders. Yet Mr. Westell retails this as a proved but extraordinary fact, without making the least attempt either to test the truth of it himself by going to the original source, or to collect the opinions of scientific naturalists on an alleged zoological fact of such great importance. He has to learn that there are other qualifications for a naturalist besides the constant companionship of a note-book and a binocular glass. We are very far from wishing to discourage the proper use of these, or the intelligent enjoyment and observation of nature, but what we cannot possibly encourage is the publication of bulky and expensive volumes like this (weighted, too, by photographs, only some of which are really excellent), which cannot satisfy the real naturalist or even the ordinary reader; and in this we are sorry to disagree with Mr. F. G. Aflalo, who has written a kindly preface to the book. It is to be hoped that Mr. Westell's love of the country and of nature will in the course of time be turned to better account.

Fertilisation of Flowers in New Zealand

ON p. 16 of your issue of November 2, 1899, reference is made to an article in the London Quarterly Review, by “A Field Naturalist,” in which the writer expresses the opinion that “under natural and equal conditions, self-fertilisation of flowers is both the legitimate fertilisation and the most productive.” I have not seen the article, but would like to place on record the following facts, which may be of interest to botanists in this connection.

Kearton's 'With Nature and a Camera' With Nature and a Camera Being the Adventures and Observations of a Field Naturalist and an Animal Photographer Richard Kearton Cherry Kearton

Kearton's 'With Nature and a Camera' With Nature and a Camera Being the Adventures and Observations of a Field Naturalist and an Animal Photographer Richard Kearton Cherry Kearton

Hints on the Management of Hawks (Second Edition); to which is added Practical Falconry Chapters, Historical and Descriptive

MR. HARTING is such an authority on the art of hawking, and is, furthermore, such an excellent field naturalist, that it was only to be expected his volume on this branch of sport would reach a second edition. But, as the author states in his preface, the additions to the new edition, both as regards letter-press and illustrations, are so extensive as almost to give it a claim to rank as a new work. Hints on the Management of Hawks (Second Edition); to which is added Practical Falconry Chapters, Historical and Descriptive. By J. E. Harting. 8vo. Pp. viii + 268, illustrated. (London: H. Cox, 1898.)

Memories of the Months; being pages from the Note-book of a Field Naturalist and Antiquary, to wit, Sir Herbert Maxwell, Bart, MP

Memories of the Months; being pages from the Note-book of a Field Naturalist and Antiquary, to wit, Sir Herbert Maxwell, Bart, MP

Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received

Books.—Sun, Moon, and Stars. 20th Thousand: A. Giberne (Seeley).—The Field Naturalist's Handbook: Revs. J. G. Wood and T. Wood (Cassell).—A Manual of Dyeing, 3 vols.: E. Knecht. C. Rawson, and R. Loewenthal (Griffin).—A Dictionary of Applied Chemistry, vol. 3: Prof. T. E. Thorpe (Longmans).—The Iron Ores of Great Brtain and Ireland: J. D. Kendall (C. Lockwood).—The Glacial Nightmare and the Flood, 2 vols.: Sir H. H. Howorth (S. Low).—Seventh Annual Rsport of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1885-86: J. W. Powell (Washington).—Cntributions to North American Ehnology, vol. 7 (Washington). PAMPHLETS.—Bibliography of the Athapascan Languages: J. C. Pilling (Washington).—A List of some of the Rotifera of Ireland; Miss Glascott (Dublin).

The Anatomy of Pentastomum teretiusculum (Baird)

ABSTRACT During the summer of 1887-8 the Field Naturalist Club of Victoria arranged for the annual collecting expedition of its members to be made to King Island. The latter lies to the west of Bass Straits, halfway between the mainland of Victoria and Tasmania, and is a wild and, save for two lighthouse keepers, uninhabited island. Whilst collecting we came across very numerous specimens of the copper-head snake (Hoplocephalus superbus), and in one of these my attention was drawn by my friend and pupil, Mr. E. Dombrain, to the presence of a parasite in the lung, which proved on examination to be a large specimen of some species of Pentastomum. Shortly afterwards I killed another snake of the same species, and on cutting the body open found the lung to be crowded with the same parasite. The weather was extremely warm, and, as we were on the tramp, all that could be done was to put the animal into spirits, and trust to finding the parasite again for the purpose of watching it alive. This opportunity has unfortunately not occurred, though since that time I have cut open many “copper-heads” in the hope of finding the Pentastomum. Mr. D. McAlpine has been good enough to give me four specimens of the same species of Pentastomum, which he has found in the lungs of a black snake (Pseudechys por - phyriacus) in Victoria.

Fauna and Flora of the Aleutian Islands

THE last number of Naturen contains an interesting report by Dr. Leonhard Stejneger of the result of his six months' observations of the fauna and flora of the Kamsehalkan coast and of the so-called Kommandorski Islands, which form the western group of the Aleutian archipelago between Behring's Sea and the Pacific, in 50°–55° N. lat. The Kommandorski group consists of two islands, one of which is known as Mednoj Ostrov, Copper Island, from the large amount of the pure metal found there; while the other, which was the scene of Behring's shipwreck and death, bears his name. Both islands are geologically allied to Kamschatka, and excepting at the north of Behring's Island, where the gradual subsidence of the sea has left raised beaches, terraces, and tabulated rock-formations, the islands consist generally of deep narrow valleys separated by rocky barriers, which rie precipitously to a height of from 1000 to 2000 feet above the level of the sea. The islands, which were uninhabited before their annexation by Russia, are now occupied by about 700 persons, in the employment of a Russo-American fur company, which has been attracted to the spot by the enormous numbers of sea-bears (Collorhinus ursinus) and sea-olters (Enhydra lutsis) which frequent the coasts. The climate is foggy, and the vegetation stunted and sparse, while in the neighbouring Kamschatkan territory the blue of the summer sky, the stillness of the sea, and the softness of the air, are almost Italian in character. The flora, moreover, is so exuberant that numerous plants, which in Norway never exceed two or three feet, here attain the height of a tall man. Next to the birch (Betula ermanni), alders, willows, and roans (Sorbus Kamschaticus), are the most frequent trees, the berries of the last-named, and those of Lonicera cœrulea, possessing a sweetness which brings them into great request among strangers as well as natives. Some flowers also, as the wild, indigenous, dark red rose, several rhododendrons, and native lilies, are equally remarkable for exceptional fragrance. Among wild flowers, some of the geraniums, potentillas, taraxacums, &c., are almost identical with those found in Norway. Besides a large whale, and a specimen of the walrus (Rosmarus obesus), which had been killed near Avatscha Bay, Dr. Stejneger could find no trace of any mammal but a small specimen of Arvicola œconomus. Of birds there is, however, an enormons variety, some of which, as Calliope Kamschatica, Carpodacus Erythrinus, and a kind of sedge-warbler, provisionally named by the author “Acrocephalus dybowskii,” combine an almost tropical brilliancy of colouring with a sweetness of song equal to that of our own nightingale or thrush. Besides these melodious warblers, Kamschatka harbours large numbers of Locustella lanceolata, whose grasshopper-like cry is heard when all else is still. Cuculus canorinus represents our common cuckoo. Pipits, chats, and wagtails abound; Larus capistratus is commoner than any other gull, and the osprey is not unfrequent. Mosquito. like gnats of vindictive nature swarm in such numbers as to make the pursuits of the field naturalist almost impracticable. The fanna, generally, is palæarctic in character, with a scarcity of American firms which is very remarkable when we consider the vicinity of the western continent.

Microscopic Objects, Figured and Described

ABSTRACT This work contains 194 tolerably executed figures of what are sometimes called “natural history objects,” among which we find, for instance, the “pollen of the evening primrose/’ “a skin parasite from the human nose,” and “marble from the Temple of Diana, at Ephesus;” represented under various degrees of magnifying power, and some without any enlargement at all. The figures are accompanied by short descriptions and a few hints as to preparation. When we say that the specimens selected are almost unclassified, and that the author does not claim to establish, by his delineations, any facts unknown before, or to contribute anything to the settlement of disputed points, the character of his book will, we think, be evident. It does not fall specially under the head of any one of the sciences which the microscope is used to illustrate, but rather appeals to those who are on the look-out for objects to use their microscope upon. It is obviously the work of a zealous and experienced field naturalist, who has brought together his materials from very various sources, and takes genuine delight in the beauty and strangeness of the forms which display themselves before him.