Page:The Zoologist, 3rd series, vol 2 (1878).djvu/486

462 Mr. Drax. They used to be hunted by Mr. Pleydell, of What- combe, with dwarf fox-hounds, and harriers, but we never heard of greyhounds being employed for the purpose. Perhaps on this point Mr. Dale may be mistaken. It is to be regretted that he has not given us a little more information on the subject.

The Kite we are told (p. 31) was formerly common in the parish, and used to breed in the Middlemarsh Woods, but none have been seen for thirty years.

Amongst the Reptilia we do not find any notice of the Smooth Snake, Coronella lævis, which has been met with occasionally on the extensive heaths of South-West Hampshire and East Dorset.

Little else calls for remark. The raison d'etre of this book, if we may judge by its contents, seems to have been a filial and laudable desire on the part of the author, to place on record a list of the large series of British insects in his father's cabinet, that gentleman, who died in 1872, having been an enthusiastic collector. As a monument to his assiduity in that capacity, it no doubt will stand ; but it can scarcely be said to add much to our knowledge of the subjects upon which it professes to treat.

have heard it remarked on more than one occasion that British Ornithology is "worked out," and that, whatever may be said of exotic species, as regards the avifauna of Great Britain at least, nothing remains to be discovered or written. A more mistaken idea, however, could not well be conceived, and if any of our readers be disposed to share it, we recommend them to consult the pages of the fourth edition of Yarrel's 'British Birds,' now in course of publication.

A comparison of the material in the present issue with that contained in the third edition will, without any disparagement of the original work, serve, we think, to convince the most sceptical not only of the important additions which are being made to our knowledge on the subject, but also of the amount of work which still remains to be done for want of observers and well-ascertained