28 SEPTEMBER 1929, Page 29

Two local naturalists, Mr. N. G. Hadden and Mr. E.

W. Hendy, have done a very useful piece of work in compiling their Guide to the Natural History of Porlock and District (Taunton, Lyceum. Press, Is.). The district is unusually varied in character, and therefore its fauna and flora are extensive, as the pamphlet shows. Of the red deer of Exmoor the authors say that there was no regular hunting between 1825 and 1855, with the result that only sixty deer survived, the rest having been shot in and out of season. The sections -on birds, butterflies, and wild flowers are specially full, and include a number of species that are rare elsewhere in England.