ce it, not alongside of the boatbill,
but alongside of the African genus Scopus. The boatbill, says he, is
merely a heron provided with a singular bill, which has but little
analogy with that of the balaeniceps, and not a true resemblance. The
nostrils differ in form and position in those two birds, and in the
boatbill there exists beneath the lower mandible a dilatable pouch
that we do not find in the balaeniceps. An osteological examination
leads Parker to place the balaeniceps near the boatbill, and the
present classification is based upon that opinion. The family of
Ardeidae is, therefore, divided into five sub-families, the three last
of which each comprises a single genus.

Ardeidae.--Ardeineae (herons).
Botaurineae (bitterns).
Scopineae (ombrette).
Cancomineae (boatbill).
Balaenicepineae (whale-headed stork).

All the whale-headed storks that have been received up to the present
have come from the region of the White Nile; but Mr. H. Johnston, who
traveled in Congo in 1882, asserts that he met with the bird on the
River Cunene between Benguela and Angola, where it was even very
common. Mr. Johnston's assertion has been confirmed by other travelers
worthy of credence, but, unfortunately, the best of all confirmations
is wanting, and that is a skin of this magnificent wader. We can,
therefore, only make a note of Mr. Johnston's statement, and hope that
some traveler may one day enrich our museums with some balaeniceps from
these regions. The presence of this bird in the southwest of Africa
is, after all, not impossible; yet there is one question that arises:
Was the balaeniceps observed by Mr. Johnston of the same species as
that of the White Nile, or was it a new type that will increase this
family, which as yet comprises but one genus and one species--the
_Balaeniceps rex_?--_Le Naturaliste_.

* * * * *

THE CALIFORNIA RAISIN INDUSTRY.

Fresno County, for ten miles about Fresno, furnishes the best example
of the enormous increase in values which follows the conversion of
wheat fields and grazing land into vineyards and orchards. Not even
Riverside can compare with it in the rapid evolution of a great source
of wealth which ten years ago was almost unknown. What has transformed
Fresno from a shambling, dirty resort of cowboys and wheat ranchers
into one of the prettiest cities in California is the raisin grape.
Though nearly all