REVIEWS 63 



Aquarium; Amphibians. The subject matter relating to the multitude 

 of creatures treated of has been carefully and judiciously selected ; 

 while the instructions for collecting and preserving are eminently 

 practical. 



As a book for young naturalists, it is unrivalled on the subjects 

 to which it is devoted, and worthy of being well recommended. 



A CONCISE HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS. By H. Kirke Swann. 

 (London : John Wheldon and Co.) 



Of the making of books on British Birds there appears at present 

 to be no end. Among them Mr. Kirke Swann's Handbook may 

 claim as its raison d'etre that there is still room for a handy book at 

 a moderate price, which can be carried conveniently in the pocket, 

 for use in the field or in the museum. In some respects the book 

 before us meets this want. The type is clear, and, so far as its form, 

 size, and binding are concerned, it leaves nothing to be desired; but its 

 claim to be a " handy text-book for reference" will be open to dispute 

 until it is provided with an alphabetical index. Unfortunately, in 

 the work itself there is a lack of proportion ; two or three species 

 having as many pages assigned to them in the first part, while 

 towards the end ten or eleven species are crowded into the same 

 space, and some species are inadequately described. The in- 

 formation given regarding the distribution of birds in Scotland is 

 frequently misleading and erroneous. The Stock Dove is stated to 

 be locally distributed as far as South Scotland. This is an under 

 statement, while that Wigeon breed throughout the Highlands is at 

 once too much and too little. The Buzzard extends north to the 

 Inner Hebrides according to Mr. Kirke Swann, but it is well enough 

 known in West Ross. The Gray Crow does not breed throughout 

 Scotland it is rare between Clyde and Solway in summer. The 

 Marsh Tit, readers of this journal will be surprised to learn, only 

 breeds in the South of Scotland. The Jay is " rather common and 

 generally distributed, except in extreme north of Scotland." As a 

 matter of fact, there are counties in the south of Scotland where it 

 has perhaps never been anything but a straggler, and in others it is 

 now quite extirpated, although formerly abundant. These are only 

 a few examples of inaccuracies regarding Scottish Distribution, but 

 the book has no defect that cannot be remedied in another edition, 

 in which we hope it will be thoroughly revised and justly pro- 

 portioned. J. P. 



BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. By J. W. Tutt, F.E.S. (London : 

 George Gill and Sons, 1896.) 



This is a capital book, of a handy size, handsomely got up, and 

 wonderfully cheap. For the remarkably low sum of five shillings the 

 collector of butterflies may here obtain an excellent account of our 

 native species, with descriptions of all the varieties, and of the egg, 



