REVIEWS 135 



gives picture-records the chief scientific value of such work of the 

 nesting habits and haunts of more than one hundred species, many of 

 which are both excellent and beautiful. There are, however, some 

 inherent defects in the photographic process when applied to nest- 

 subjects. The most obvious of these is a failure to realise, in many 

 instances, all sense of scale, and hence there is difficulty in identify- 

 ing the nest represented. We think that this serious defect would 

 be overcome, to a considerable extent, if the pictures were repro- 

 duced on a larger and uniform scale. 



The letterpress is sufficient for the purposes of a book of this 

 kind, and consists of a concise description of the parents, the site for 

 and structure of the nest, coloration and number of the eggs, the date 

 of nesting, of each species of bird that breeds in Britain. In ad- 

 dition, a pleasant account, written in an enthusiastic vein, is given 

 of the difficulties often very great under which his pictures were 

 obtained. 



The book is well got up in every respect, and to those interested 

 in this aspect of British Ornithology will prove a welcome and very 

 worthy contribution to the subject which it treats. 



We have pleasure, through the kindness of the publishers, in 

 reproducing one of Mr. Kearton's pictures a fair example of his 

 work. It represents a nestful of young Gray Lag Geese, and the 

 scene is laid in the Outer Hebrides. 



A FAUNA OF THE MORAY BASIN. By J. A. Harvie-Brown and 

 Thomas E. Buckley. Two vols. small 410, with Map, Plates, and 

 Cuts. (Edinburgh: David Douglas, 1896.) 



Just as we were going to press there appeared the handsome and 

 important volumes of the Scottish faunal series now under notice. 



The great extent and varied nature of the physical features of the 

 Moray Basin, and the richness too of its Vertebrates past and present, 

 have necessitated the appearance of the work in two volumes. 



To-day Moray is the home of some of the most interesting birds 

 to be found in Britain. The Osprey, the Golden Eagle, the Crested 

 Titmouse, the Snow Bunting, the Siskin, the Dotterel, the Greenshank, 

 among other uncommon species, still reside in or seek annually its 

 fastnesses. Though some of the rarer carnivorous Mammalia, such 

 as the Marten, the Polecat, and the Wild Cat, are even there border- 

 ing on the very verge of extinction. 



Dr. Traquair's chapters on the remarkable reptiles and fishes 

 which in the remote past inhabited Moray and its waters are a 

 special feature of the work. It is very proper to find these fossil 

 forms introduced as members of the fauna, and not considered part 

 and parcel of the rocks of the geological age through which they are 

 distributed. This is a contribution of high scientific value, and is 

 illustrated by a number of plates and figures in the text. 



The importance of the area, the wealth and interesting character 



