The collection of local fishes taken by members of the Birmingham and Midland Piscatorial Association (established in 1879) of which Mr. James Gregory is Honorary Secretary, contains some very handsome and well-mounted specimens which may ordinarily be seen in the Society’s Room, at the Grand Hotel, on application to Mr. Field, the proprietor. The collection for the present forms part of the Exhibition in Bingley Hall. It should be mentioned that this Association has done good work in stocking the River Trent with about 35,000 Trout fry (Salmo fario) during the last few years.
The Editor offers no apology for mentioning the exceptionally fine Ornithological collection of Mr. R. W. Chase, President of the Birmingham Natural History and Microscopical Society. The collection comprises, in sequence, the eggs, and the birds in various stages of growth towards maturity. The specimens are mounted so as to show instructively the surroundings of the various birds as seen in their natural habitats. Mr. Chase will be happy to show his collection to members of the British Association, on application at his residence, Southfield, 7, Edgbaston Road, Edgbaston.
Although Birmingham is nearly the central part of England, and thus farthest removed from the sea, it may not be uninteresting to state that some attention has been given to Marine Zoology, the Birmingham Natural History and Microscopical Society having several times made excursions to parts of the coast for the purpose of dredging specimens. The PENNATULIDA, dredged by the Society, at Oban, in 1881, were described by Professor A. Milnes Marshall, M.D., D.Sc., F.R.S., and Mr. W. P. Marshall, M.I.C.E., in a Report, with illustrations by the authors, published in the “Midland Naturalist” for 1882, which gained the Darwin Gold Medal, awarded by the Midland Union of Natural History Societies, at the sixth annual meeting, held at Tamworth, in 1883. The specimens may be seen in the annexe of the Exhibition, at Bingley Hall.
The limit of radius of about twenty miles round Birmingham, including parts of the counties of Warwick, Worcester, and Stafford, chosen by the botanists who have contributed to the present work, has been generally accepted by the zoologists except in the division of the Mollusca, which is mainly confined to a radius of twelve miles, as fixed by local Conchologists several years ago. Some latitude has however been allowed, to meet exceptional cases, necessitated by the wider range of animals as compared with that of plants.
The thanks of the Editor are due to the various local contributors, and especially to Mr. E. de Hamel, late President of the Tamworth Natural History Society, for his kind co-operation in furnishing the chapter on Mammals and Reptiles. In strict order of classification, the division of Reptiles should have followed that of Birds, but for convenience in the present arrangement it has not been thought desirable to separate this chapter.
Chapter I.
Mammals and Reptiles.
BY E. DE HAMEL.