Abstract
THE place of the late H. F. Witherby, who so successfully conducted British Birds through thirty-six volumes, has been taken by Bernard W. Tucker, in accordance, it is understood, with Mr. Witherby's wishes. With Mr. Tucker will be associated in the editing of the journal, Dr. Norman F. Ticehurst and Major A. W. Boyd. British Birds has been assiduous in publishing about birds in Britain items of information many of which would otherwise have been lost to record, but it has played a more important part in encouraging scientific observation of bird-life and in suggesting problems and, by example, showing how problems may be tackled. In January 1917, British Birds incorporated The Zoologist, and thus disappeared after a long and useful history the only magazine which published notes on any aspect of British natural history from any part of Great Britain. The Scottish Naturalist performed a similar duty for the northern part of the kingdom, but it is a war casualty. The result is that there is now no magazine available for recording the minor observations of British naturalists on subjects other than birds, so that the cumulative value of the work of that great band of amateur observers, for which Great Britain has long been noted, is being lost. Is it too much to hope that when the War is over a British Naturalist will arise, wherein the ordinary student of Nature will be able to put on record field notes of casual interest and articles of connected observations ?
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Editorship of British Birds. Nature 153, 458 (1944). https://doi.org/10.1038/153458c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/153458c0