REVIEW. 539 



The doubt that is cast upon the well-recognised habit of the Shrikes of 

 storing their captures impaled on the thorns of bushes is not exactly calcu- 

 lated to inspire one with the author's observances in the field, for even if 

 he has never come across such a " larder", we and many others have done 

 so. and it is a pity such previously undisputed evidence should be ridiculed. 

 It is quite probable that some of the smaller shrikes have not the habit of 

 ■• impaling their victims " in this manner but the remarks are generalized 

 for the whole family. 



We should have been much better pleased with the book if such articles as 

 those on " The Stability of Species " and " Up-to-date-Species making " had 

 been omitted as they are here completely out of place. The author essentially 

 claims to be a field naturalist and plainly expresses his contempt of the 

 museum worker. Much that is utterly foolish has been written and done by 

 both sections of naturalists but it must always be borne in mind that all are 

 striving within their own lights for the advancement of the same object and 

 equally that neither section could make much real progress without the other. 



The book is illustrated with reproductions of photographs taken by Captain 

 Fayrer, I.M.S., some of which, that are evidently from specimens in confine- 

 ment at Zoological Gardens, are quite excellent, but we must enter the strongest 

 protest against these photographs being described as a whole on the title page 

 as being " of living birds." Many of them are grotesque caricatures of the 

 birds they are intended to represent and can only have been photographed 

 from " stuffed " specimens such as we are accustomed to see in Indian Mu- 

 seums as the result of the efforts of native taxidermists to mount them. 



