CURRENT LITERATURE 255 



CoMiTAL Census Numbers. By G. Claridge Dmce, M.A., 

 F.L.S. {Journ. Bot. 1909, pp. 318-320). 



Orchis ericetorum, Lint. = O. maculata precox, Webster. 

 By G. Claridge Druce {Joiirn. Bot. 1909, pp. 322-323). 



BOOK NOTICES. 



The British Warblers : a History, with Problems of 

 THEIR Lives. By Eliot Howard, F.Z.S., M.B.O.U. London : 

 R. H.Porter. Parts H. and IH. Price 21s. net each. 



In the "Annals" for 1907 (p. 191) we welcomed the appearance 

 of Part L of this important and beautiful work : important on 

 account of the originality of the greater part of its letterpress, and 

 beautiful with respect to the excellence and wealth of its illustrations. 

 Parts n. and HL have since been issued, and these fully sustain the 

 high standard of merit foreshadowed by the initial number. 



It is a long time since anything so largely original has been 

 written regarding the histories of any British birds. It is abundantly 

 evident to those who have read these singularly interesting accounts 

 of the more or less obscure habits of the various species of Warblers 

 treated of, that Mr. Howard knows more about them than any other 

 British ornithologist who has written on the subject. Some may be 

 inclined to doubt certain of the author's deductions as to the motives 

 of the particular actions he describes so well, but we must accept 

 with more than ordinary respect the opinions of one who has made 

 this subject his own, and who has laboured so long and to such good 

 purpose. The species dealt with in the parts under notice, are the 

 Blackcap, Radde's Bush Warbler, Pallas's Willow Warbler,^ Chiff- 

 chaff, and Yellow-browed Warbler. The illustrations comprise nine 

 in colours and fifteen in photogravure, while four maps are given 

 showing seasonal distribution. Like the letterpress the photogravure 

 pictures (which are from the original sketches made by Mr. Howard) 

 are highly original, and portray the birds in attitudes in which 

 they have not hitherto been depicted. 



A Tourist's Flora of the West of Ireland. By Robert 

 Lloyd Praeger. 8vo, pp. xii. 243, pis. 27. (Dublin: Hodges, 

 Figgis, and Co.) Price 3s. 6d. 



This must commend itself to everyone interested in the flora of 

 the British Islands as an excellent book, containing a very large 

 amount of information in small bulk, and remarkably clear in its 

 exposition. The area dealt with is chiefly Ireland west of the 

 Shannon, but takes in also the districts of Limerick and Enniskillen, 

 thus including in its flora a number of species found elsewhere 



