60 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



mpestre or Byssus nigra as including two forms, the one of which 

 incloses filaments of C/adophora, while the other incloses cells of 

 Chroolepus aureus ; and records the latter type as found in Dumfries- 

 shire. 



BOOK NOTICES. 



THE EGGS OF THE BIRDS OF EUROPE. By H. E. Dresser, 

 F.L.S., F.Z.S., etc. London: The Author, 110 Cannon Street, 

 E.G. Price IDS. 6d. per Part. 



Since our notice on the appearance of the first number of this 

 highly important and beautiful work, several parts have been issued ; 

 and we are now able to form a more deliberate opinion as to its 

 merits, that is to say of its artistic merits, for the value of its letter- 

 press was assured by the high scientific status of the author. It is 

 a source of great satisfaction to us to offer our sincere congratula- 

 tions to Mr. Dresser on the marked success he has achieved in the 

 matter of his plates. We confess we were at first sceptical as to 

 whether the three-colour process was suitable for the reproduction 

 of portraits of such difficult subjects as birds' eggs are so well 

 known to be. Now we are more than pleased to pronounce that his 

 plates are surprisingly excellent. Indeed, so realistic do the eggs 

 appear that one has the feeling that it were possible to pick up each 

 of them from the plate : the unfortunate flatness which has hitherto 

 been so manifest even in the best productions having been entirely 

 overcome. It is an immense advantage too, as we have already 

 pointed out in our previous notice, that we have now for the first 

 time a great work on bird's eggs in which absolutely reliable 

 portraits of specially selected specimens are afforded, in the place of 

 the interpretations of artists, who have for the most part failed to 

 produce satisfactory likenesses. 



Mr. Dresser has been successful in securing the co-operation 

 of a number of naturalist-photographers, who have supplied him 

 with pictures of the nests and eggs, many of them rare and difficult 

 to obtain, and these add much to the attractiveness of his pages. 



In all, six parts of this work have been issued. These contain 

 29 plates, whereon are depicted many hundreds of specimens, 

 showing the range of variation in the eggs of over 170 species. 



A FAUNA OF THE TAY BASIN AND STRATHMORE. By J. A. 

 Harvie-Brown. Edinburgh: David Douglas, 1906. Price 305. net. 



The object of this notice is to draw the attention of our readers 

 to the fact that Mr. Harvie-Brown has again rendered British 

 naturalists indebted to him for another great contribution to our 

 knowledge of the Vertebrate Fauna of Scotland. The book in this 

 instance deals with one of the most interesting, beautiful, and highly 



