252 The Irish Nat7iraUst . [November, 



counties in an order of his own, wliicli is neither Professor 

 Babington's nor Mr. Praeger's, but is made to correspond with 

 their arrangement into provinces ; thus the Munster counties 

 come first, followed by those of Leinster, Connaught, and 

 Ulster. The S3'mbols emploj^ed in this table need to be .studied 

 attentivel}^ but we think we are safe in inferring, although Mr. 

 Ussher does not sa}^ so definitelj' in his ''ke}^" that wherever 

 an asterisk is used and is not followed b}^ a note of interroga- 

 tion, the implied statement is that the species breeds regiilarly 

 in the county under whose name such asterisk occurs. Then 

 come the articles on each species which compose the bod}' of 

 the work (pp. 1-396), the order followed being that of Mr. 

 Howard Saunders' Illustrated Manual. In an Appendix, fifteen 

 aliens, whose claims to inclusion in the list of Irish birds are 

 considered insufficient, are shortly noticed ; and a final supple- 

 ment communicates some additional information received 

 since going to press. There is a handsome coloured frontis- 

 piece — " Peregrine Falcon's Eggs from Ireland," — and several 

 photographs, showing nests of the Siskin, Peregrine, Cor- 

 morant, Woodcock, Little Tern, &c., add to the attractiveness 

 of the book. A map of Ireland, in two sections, showing the 

 unreclaimed land, is placed after the index. 



It is obvious on the most cursor}^ inspection that the volume 

 before us nobl}^ fulfils its primary- object of outlining the dis- 

 tribution of birds in Ireland. On this subject Mr. Ussher has 

 spared himself no pains, and the information given is as full 

 and exact as could possibly be asked for. It was a work of 

 years to collect the data presented in the opening table, and 

 equal labour has been bestowed on the occurrences of irregular 

 visitants. These are chiefly grouped according to counties, 

 but when onl}^ about six occurrences of a species are known, 

 they are placed in order of time, instead of in geographical 

 arrangement. As might be expected, habits and nidification 

 have not been lost sight of, especiall}^ as regards birds which 

 are considered characteristic of Ireland. The articles on the 

 Peregrine Falcon, Chough, Siskin, Crossbill, Woodcock, and 

 Common Guillemot are, from this cause, written at much 

 greater length than most of the others, and are of more than 

 average interest. The Peregrine article is probabl}^ the 

 masterpiece of the book, and the passage descriptive of the 



