Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 4 (1900).djvu/289

Rh As some of your readers are afloat, I appeal to them to make use of the ample opportunities that occur, principally in spring and autumn, for studying land birds that come on board. Some annotated observations on them re the two above-mentioned points would, I am sure, be of interest.

The majority of vessels in the navy now having merely pole masts and nothing in the way of rigging, but plenty in the way of funnels and ventilators, fail to offer the perching attractions that a masted vessel does.

When one starts discussing birds, the subject is so interesting that it can be spun out to an indefinite length, and the points in their economy that are after all only slightly known are many. I only hope that in writing these few notes and observations I have not wearied the patience of the reader.