24^ The Irish Natiualist. December, 



REVIEW. 



BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



The British Bird Book : Au account of all the Birds, Nests, and 

 Pvggs found in the British Isles. Edited by F. B. Kirkman, B.A., 

 Oxon. Illustrated b}- 200 coloured dravv'ings and numerous photo- 

 graphs. London and Edinburgh : T. C. and E. C. Jack. In 12 sec- 

 tions lOi-. dd. net cash, each. 

 * Ornithologists cannot but welcome an addition to the literature of 

 their favourite subject, which is so ably edited and so beautifully illus- 

 trated as Mr. Kirkman's undertaking— so far as can be judged from its 

 first section — promises to be. " The British Bird Book " has for its 

 object the bringing up to date within the compass of a single work of 

 our knowledge of the habits of British birds, to which, as is truly observed 

 in the preface, large additions have been made since the publication of 

 the existing standards. Nearly every species is to be illustrated in 

 colours, and the book may fairh' claim to be a new " History of British 

 Birds '' — relegating, hov/ever, to the limbo of an appendix or special 

 supplementary chapter such rare stragglers to the Britannic area as the 

 Alpine Chough and Nutcracker. 



The opening Section deals only with the Crows and the Finches — the 

 classification followed being that which places the former family at the 

 head of the class. The Crows are dealt with chiefly by Mr. Kirkman 

 himself, and the Finches by Mr. Edmund Selous. One cannot avoid 

 remarking on the extraordinary difi"erence that distinguishes the modes 

 of treatment adopted by these two writers. It will scarcely meet an 

 ordinary reader's ideas on the subject of proportion. Mr. Kirkman is 

 careful to write as one whose primary business is to impart knowlege, 

 though he is not slow to point out, when it seems advisable, the bearings 

 that certain facts may have on the question of theory. Mr. Selous has 

 certainly much to say that is of real interest ; but he imparts his infor- 

 mation in the midst of so large a dose of fauc3'-writing and sarcastic 

 raillery at all * doxies " other than his own, as must tend to discourage 

 the reader from turning over his pages in the pursuit of mere know- 

 ledge. It may be, as Mr. Kirkman hints in his preface, that Finches 

 do not lend themselves to the same methodical treatment as Crows. 



A feature of the book which ought to add much to its value is the 

 special attention paid to such subjects as the nuptial displays of birds, 

 and the respective parts played by both sexes in nest-building, incuba- 

 tion, and the feeding of the young. As might be expected, there is for 

 many species a dearth of certain information ; but if it were for that 

 reason alone the summarizing of such evidence as exists is highly 

 useful, as indicating— amongst other things— the gaps that remain to be 

 filled. Even in those cases where it is fully ascertained that both sexes 

 build, and that both incubate, the question of the manner in which the 

 labour is apportioned between them too often remains— or perhaps nearly 

 alwa) s does so— a terra incognita. 



