Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 1 (1897).djvu/415

Rh has recently been continued in the 'Saturday Review' on the alleged extermination of rare British birds. This has now been reprinted and issued as a leaflet by the Humanitarian League. We are glad to learn from the testimony of Sir Charles Dilke that the Kingfisher is not "near extinction," at least on the Thames. He writes:—"Mr. Collinson, in a letter to you on 'The Destruction of Rare Birds,' in which I agree, speaks of 'the near extinction' of the Kingfisher. This statement, which is often made, is an erroneous one, and may damage our case. Some years ago, when I gave evidence on behalf of the Thames users before the Select Committee on the Thames, I had to allude to Kingfisher-shooting, and the result was a clause which prevented all shooting on the river. Since that time the bird has increased on the Thames, and there are as many now as there were in 1863, when I first began to row much on the river. At Dockett Eddy I have two nests this spring, though I have seldom previously known more than one. A third pair was broken by a recent shooting case; but, owing to the public spirit of an innkeeper at Chertsey Bridge, prosecution and conviction followed."

[The Editor well remembers the year mentioned by Sir Charles Dilke as representing an epoch when the Kingfisher was no great rarity on the Thames. He was then an enthusiastic Roach-fisher, aud when angling off an eyot above Hampton has, on more than one occasion, seen a Kingfisher alight and rest on his long bamboo-rod, while the bushes almost concealed himself from view.]

new monthly, devoted to the lore of the area from which it takes its title, 'East Asia,' has just been launched, and the first number (July) has reached our hands. An article on the Cocos Keeling and Christmas Islands, based principally on a "British Blue-Book," contains an interesting zoological observation. Mr. Ross, who may be almost styled the proprietor of these coral islands, once witnessed a fierce combat between two huge Sharks, in water so shallow that they could not turn on their backs according to usage. "In this instance the creatures faced each other and dodged warily, while each made fierce attempts to reach the base of his antagonist's tail. As each parried the attack in turn, their jaws locked and remained so for a space, until they mutually disengaged. This fight continued for some considerable time, till at length, avoiding the jaws of his adversary, one seized the other by the vulnerable spot at which he aimed, killing him instantly with one crunch of his teeth."

the Annual Report (1895–96) of the Curator—Prof. Alex. Agassiz—of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College, we see that