EDITORIAL GLEANINGS.
In Prof. Newton's 'Dictionary of Birds' (Introd. p. 2) it was stated that there still seemed to be need of a report by an ornithologist with regard to the species of two of the Geese in the celebrated fresco found in a tomb at Maydoom. Mr. G.E.H. Barrett-Hamilton has recently contributed to the 'Ibis' some results of a careful examination he made of this fresco during a visit to the Ghizeh Museum. There are six Geese in the picture, and, as Prof. Newton states, "four of these figures can be unhesitatingly referred to two species (Anser erythropus and A. ruficollis)." Of the two larger Geese in question, Mr. Hamilton considers they are "very poor representations of A. segetum, and rather resemble the nondescript kind of Geese which may be seen frequently in farmyards in Egypt." His opinion is that "either the artist did not know of the characters which distinguish the various species of Grey Goose among themselves (with the exception of the White-fronted species), or else his intention was to depict both wild and tame Geese together—a course of procedure which would, I think, be quite in keeping with the methods of the artists who produced the beautiful series of animal drawings on the Tomb of Thi, at Sakkârah, which are said to date from about b.c. 3500. The latter drawings show conclusively, I think, that the Egyptians of those early times had both tame Geese and tame Ducks."
"The Birds of London" are the subject of a most interesting article in the last number of the 'Edinburgh Review.' The author defines his area as comprised within a radius of four miles from Charing Cross. Among the record of many interesting facts we may mention that last year there was but one rookery in London. The Dabchick, or Little Grebe, is a regular visitor to St. James's Park. "It is not uncommon in the early hours of the morning for wandering Cuckoos to make their way into the parks, and last spring, about seven in the morning, one even roused the inhabitants of the Temple by its call." The last record of the Nightingale's appearance in London comes from Lincoln's Inn (April, 1897). It is at least singular that while most birds are diminishing, there is a "gradual invasion of London by the Wood Pigeons."
