1899.] Economic Zoology 19 



The Farmer and the Birds. By Edith Carrington, with Preface 

 by Canon Tristram, F.R.S. London : George Bell and Sons, York- 

 street, Covent Garden, 1S98. 

 Miss Carrington writes as an avowed advocate on behalf of the birds, 

 but her very attractive little volume is, on the whole, remarkably free 

 from foolish exaggeration or rhodomontade, and may cordially be 

 wished a wide circulation. Discarding appeals to sentiment, the 

 authoress confines herself to indicating the practical value of birds to 

 the agriculturist, which in many instances is done by means of a 

 "balance sheet," showing in opposite columns the services and dis- 

 services of particular species of birds, such as the Blue Titmouse, Rook, 

 Robin, Yellow-hammer, Barn Owl, Lapwing, and Corncrake. We need 

 scarcely add that in every case the meritorious deeds are found in the 

 longer column. The authoress does not shrink from defending the 

 Magpie, Wood-pigeon, Sparrow-Hawk, and Sparrow, and her vindication 

 of each is backed by copious extracts giving the " Opinions of 

 Authorities." We will not say that in every instance the case made out 

 is altogether convincing. The list of " foods by consuming which a bird 

 benefits man " is frequently enlarged by such items as shrews, frogs, 

 earth-worms, humble-bees, and dragon-flies, which are all, to some 

 extent (and some of them in a very high degree), excellent friends to the 

 farmer ; and if the Sparrow-Hawk is to be preserved for his services in 

 "thinning" Sparrows, it is a little difficult to understand why the 

 agriculturist is dissuaded from thinning them himself. To Irish farmers 

 the question of the Redstart's food is of little moment, but it would be 

 of great interest to know whether Miss Carrington has any grounds for 

 including the larva of the Magpie Moth (pp. 29-31) under this heading, 

 the generally received opinion being that Abraxas grossulariata is rejected 

 by birds in all its stages. The abbreviation "Blackstart" for ''Black 

 Redstart " is a disfigurement which occurs, we think, only once, but 

 must nevertheless be protested against : a name which, etymologically, 

 means " black-tail," should on no account be applied to a bird whose 

 tail is fiery red. On the whole, however, Miss Carrington has produced 

 an excellent little book, and Canon Tristram's short but thoughtful 

 preface should more than suffice to bespeak for it an attentive reading. 



C. B. M. 



The Wanton Mutilation of Animals. By George Feeming, 



C.B., LL.D., F.R.C.V.S. 4to; 24 pp. and ten figures. London; 



G. Bell and Sons, 1898. 



This is a reprint of Dr. Fleming's vigorous article in the Nineteenth 



Century, March, 1895, against the barbarous practice of docking horses' 



tails. Its force is greatly increased by the illustrations which have been 



added, and one would think that a comparison of figs. 7 and 9 with 10 



would convert the most hardened advocate of mutilation to Dr. 



Fleming's views. 



