126 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



BOOK NOTICES. 



My Life among the Wild Birds of Spain. By Colonel 

 Willoughby Verner (late Rifle Brigade). (London : John Bale, 

 Sons, and Daniellson, 1909.) Price 21s. net. 



Colonel Verner has long been known to ornithologists as one 

 who has devoted the leisure half of an active life to the study of 

 birds amid their native haunts, and to Spanish birds in particular. 

 His handsome volume on the birds of Spain will prove a " treasure- 

 trove " to all field ornithologists, for it does not often happen that 

 a book based upon such ripe experience falls to their lot. The 

 author devotes his opening chapters to the discussion of the para- 

 phernalia and equipment of the would-be tree- or cliff-climber, and, 

 after affording much practical information, gives interesting accounts 

 of some of the almost overwhelming difficulties he has overcome, in 

 which he shows very clearly that great skill, coupled with unflinching 

 pluck, are necessary for \vork of this kind. He then proceeds to 

 treat of the bird-life to be found in various haunts, commencing 

 with a laguna with its Herons, Terns, Flamingos, Storks, Cranes, 

 Bustards, and Stone Curlews. The Flamingos he alludes to as 

 " flying close together and presenting the spectacle of a moving 

 mass of crimson and rose and white streaming over the blue wave- 

 lets below." Another chapter describes a day in the cork woods 

 among the small birds, such as Cetti's, Bonelli's, Orphean, and 

 Rufous Warblers, Serin Finches, Orioles, Hoopoes, and Bee-eaters. 

 Most of the book, however, is devoted to the Birds of Prey, for 

 Spain is par excellence a country for their study. It is among 

 the Raptores that we find Colonel Verner at his best, and he 

 has much to tell us regarding the various species of Eagles, Kites, 

 Vultures (the Lammergeir in particular), that is of extreme interest. 

 The illustrations are numerous, and are either from drawings in 

 water-colour by the author or from photographs taken by himself. 

 Being entirely a record of personal experiences, and replete with 

 original observations, the book is a valuable contribution to the 

 literature of field ornithology, and is a most excellent and entertain- 

 ing work throughout. G. G.-M. 



Through Southern Mexico, being an Account of the 

 Travels of a Naturalist. By Hans Gadow, M.A., Ph.D., F.R.S. 

 (London : Witherby and Co., 1908.) Price i8s. net. 



It is quite exceptional to have a work of this description from 

 the pen of a trained zoologist of Dr. Gadow's standing, and the 

 stay-at-home naturalist is placed under a debt of gratitude to the 

 author for a singularly instructive and entertaining- book. The 

 author tells us in his preface that Southern Mexico " swarms with 

 life," and yet how^ little has been offered us concerning its animals 



