Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 1 (1897).djvu/272

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244
THE ZOOLOGIST.

Province has occupied the attention of the committee for some time past, and it was thought that it is largely due to the wholesale destruction of insectivorous birds. As under the provisions of the game-laws of this country, divisional councils and municipalities have, subject to the approval of Government and his Excellency the Governor, the power of protecting any birds for a period of several years, a circular was addressed by the committee to the municipalities and divisional councils of the Eastern Province, recommending (1) that certain birds and their eggs should be protected; (2) that saloon rifles, air-guns and catapults be classed as weapons, and placed under the same restrictions as firearms." It is hoped that "by strictly enforcing these regulations we may see within a short time a considerable increase in the number of our feathered friends."


We have received the fifth volume of the 'Journal of Malacology,' with its excellent bibliography of current literature on its special subject. A. paper by Mr. G.W. Chaster, on "Some New Marine Mollusca from Tangier," is noteworthy, if only by the description of the material from which the specimens were obtained, viz. "heaps of anchor-mud and dredgings" obtained during a Mediterranean cruise. "The material from Tangier consisted of a bag of dredgings (weighing but a few pounds) from about seven fathoms, and a quantity of shore-sand brought on board for the purpose of deck-scrubbing." This produced five new species, and a new genus of Mollusca.