SOME NEW BOOKS. 



Birds of Heligoland. 



Heligoland as an Ornithological Observatory. By Heinrich Gatke. Trans- 

 lated by Rudolph Rosenstock, M.A. Crown 8vo. Pp. x., 599. Edinburgh; 

 David Douglas, 1S95. Price £1 is. 



A MOST fascinating addition to recent ornithological literature is to be 

 found in the English version of Mr. Gatke's " Birds of Heligoland." 

 The original text, " Die Vogelwarte Helgoland," was pubhshed at 

 Brunswick some four years ago, under the sponsorship of Professor 

 Rudolf Biasius ; so rapidly was its popularity evinced that, for the 

 last year or two, it has been out of print, and even difficult to procure. 

 Englishmen are notoriously reluctant to take the trouble to read 

 German texts. It was, therefore, a happy thought of Mr. J. A. 

 Harvie Brown to secure the publication of an English edition in this 

 country. Mr. Harvie Brown is not only one of our leading authori- 

 ties on avian migration, but he has a delicate taste in making books, 

 and is careful to blend artistic illustrations with a severely accurate 

 resume of facts. In the present instance, he enjoyed the cooperation 

 of another accomplished student of migration, Mr. Eagle Clarke, of 

 Edinburgh. At the suggestion of the latter gentleman, the difficult 

 task of translating " Die Vogelwarte Helgoland " was assigned to 

 Mr. Rudolph Rosenstock. Comparisons are apt to be invidious, but 

 we are bound to confess that Mr. Rosenstock has carried out his share 

 of the work with singular fidelity. The labour of revising upwards of 

 600 pages must have been enormous, and the results reflect the 

 greatest possible credit upon all concerned. The English edition is 

 bound in the usual sage-green cloth affected by that spirited 

 publisher, Mr. Douglas ; and it makes an exceedingly handsome 

 volume. Mr. Gatke is essentially a cosmopolitan naturalist. He 

 has specially studied the birds which visit Heligoland, because he 

 had convenient or even unequalled opportunities for doing so. Had 

 his lot in life been cast among the Andes, he would have studied the 

 " Ornis " of the Andes with equal alacrity. The reader who desires 

 to do justice to Gatke's genius must guard against the mistake that 

 Mr. Gatke is merely a local faunist. Mr. Gatke is primarily occu- 

 pied -with first principles. Accordingly, he places in the van of his 

 work a series of admirable essays upon topics of such general 

 importance as the velocity of avian flight, the direction of flight, the 

 meteorological conditions which govern avian migration, and allied 

 questions, such as are of universal interest. Gatke may or may not 

 be right in his conclusions, but they deserve the closest examination 

 at the hands of professed experts. The second division of the book 

 consists of a single essay on changes in the colour of feathers. This 

 is extremely suggestive, and might very well have received a more 

 exhaustive treatment. It is only when we reach the third section of 

 the book that we find ourselves really at home with the genial author 



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