BOOK NOTICES 63 



a most valuable addition to the library of the advanced student in 

 natural science. The volume is profusely illustrated by excellent 

 diagrams and figures, which cannot fail to be of considerable service 

 to the reader. 



EGYPTIAN BIRDS. Painted and described by Charles Whymper. 

 (London: Published by A. & C. Black. Price 205.) 



Among the painters of bird life, Mr. Whymper's name has 

 long been much appreciated, but never has he been in more charming 

 combination as author and artist than in this volume on Egyptian 

 birds. In the modest preface, it is intimated that this book is for 

 the amateur and not the scientist, but every ornithologist will 

 congratulate the author on a production which meets perfectly the 

 wants of numbers of British visitors to Egypt who are interested in 

 bird-life. To such the book will undoubtedly add a new interest 

 to their tour, for the wealth of bird life in that mysterious land 

 is both rich and varied. Hitherto there has been only one 

 standard volume available, "A Handbook to the Birds of Egypt," 

 by Captain C. E. Shelley (1872), and as this is now "out of 

 print" and somewhat costly, Mr. Whymper's work comes 

 as a boon to the wandering bird-lover. Not only is the 

 traveller provided for, but also the naturalist who has perforce to 

 stay at home, for the reader of Mr. Whymper's " Egyptian Birds " will 

 be able to enter into every ramble the author describes so well, and 

 may behold in his charming representations many of the birds 

 depicted in their native haunts. Mr. Whymper proves himself to 

 be a most careful and accurate observer, and his work abounds in 

 details of the varied habits of each bird treated of. The numerous 

 coloured illustrations are all singularly beautiful, and seeing that 

 they all attain to a high degree of excellence it would perhaps be 

 invidious to select any particular one for special praise. A word of 

 praise is also due to the publishers for producing the book in such 

 a suitable and pleasing form, a special feature being the lightness of 

 the volume, which is unusual in a work illustrated with 51 coloured 

 plates. 



In an appendix the author gives a useful annotated list of 356 

 different Egyptian birds. This will prove most useful to ornithologists 

 visiting the country. That it is up-to-date and accurate is vouched 

 for by the fact that Mr. M. J. Nicol is mainly responsible for it, 

 and there is no better authority. G. G.-M. 



A GUIDE TO THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 

 Edited by Frank Morey, F.L.S. Pp. xx + 56o. The County 

 Press, Newport, 1909. Price 8s. 6d. net. 



In this useful work, which contains a " series of contributions 

 by specialists relating to the various branches of Natural History 

 and kindred subjects," Mr. Morey has made a painstaking and 



