Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 6 (1902).djvu/284

238 away. Birds ceased singing, and left the trees that shaded the sides of the mountain. A great fear seemed to be upon the island, and though it was shared by human inhabitants, they alone neglected to protect themselves."

have received the Report of the "Breydon Wild Birds Protection Society" for the seasons 1898–1901. This Society is doing a work that should receive the support of all British ornithologists. It particularly concerns itself with the protection of Spoonbills, which again show a tendency to make a permanent residence at Yarmouth. That this protection is much needed the present writer can testify. Last Eastertime he was shown a specimen, purchased from a London purveyor, and said to have come from Caithness. This locality he at once denied, and further enquiries elicited the new locality "Suffolk." It was doubtless a Breydon bird! It need scarcely be said that the Society requires funds, and to those willing and able to assist, we may give the address where subscriptions will be heartily welcomed:— Hon. Sec, 3, South Quay, Great Yarmouth.

extract the following from the 'Veld,' an excellently illustrated monthly, published at Cape Town:—"Forty years ago whaling was a prosperous industry at the Cape of Good Hope, and several whaling stations, with their boats and crews, were situated all round the peninsula. At Sea Point the fishery was known as Grainger's, and when a certain flag was hoisted on the Lion's Rump it was known that a Whale was in the Bay, and that Grainger was after it. The only survivor of these stations is that at Muizenburg, and the Aurets are now the only regular whalers in these regions; although, should a 'fish' put in an appearance in any of our waters, our fishermen are prepared, at very short notice, to give him a hot time. Year by year the Aurets manage to harpoon an odd Right Whale which has wandered north from his Antarctic fastnesses, and last year, on Sept. 27th, they made a fine capture. After a hard chase and a hot fight in the Bay the leviathan was landed on the Muizenburg beach, about a mile from the station, and the next morning the process of cutting up began at an early hour. A great number of people came from Cape Town to see the sight, and the Muizenburg beach was quite lively with comers and goers. The Whale-beef—coarse loose flesh—was eagerly carried off by coloured people, who evidently esteem it a dainty. The blubber, which lies immediately under the skin to the depth of ten or twelve inches, was next taken off in long strips, and carried to huge tubs