504 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



of the freshwater eel, and the remarkable results of the plaice-marking 

 experiments, are quoted. 



In the chapter on " State Aid and Fishery Research," many startling 

 statements with regard to official discouragement are given. 



The last chapter is descriptive of foreign and colonial fishery administra- 

 tion, commencing with a full account of the magnificent fisheries organisation 

 of the United States of America. 



While it is obviously impossible to treat the subject fully in all its 

 branches, we think the author has maintained the balance well. Personally 

 we should have liked a more detailed treatment of the historical side of the 

 subject, but possibly other readers would prefer other branches, e.g. the 

 scientific to have been treated in greater detail. Students of The Sea 

 Fisheries will find the bibliography of great value, since it appears to 

 contain a reference to practically all the important works on the different 

 branches of the subject. At a time when we are promised a " Fisheries Bill " 

 by the Government, the appearance of a work of this kind is singularly 

 opportune. A. W. 



The Heron of Castle Creek, and other Sketches of Bird Life. By Alfred 



Wellesley Rees, with a memoir of the author by J. K. Hudson, 



and a portrait. [Pp. 217.] (London : John Murray, 1920. Price 

 75. 6d. net.) 



The Heron of Castle Creek, to give the volume its brief cover title, is no easy 

 book shortly to review, as one can approach it from tliree view points so distinct 

 that it almost requires three reviewers to do it justice. While one section 

 conveys the impression that it is a " literary effort " pure and simple, with a 

 bird as the centre of focus, another strikes one as being purely the well-written 

 jottings of an observant naturalist, while others again are simply stories. As 

 a whole the book is quite inconsistent, but it is nevertheless very pleasant 

 reading. While it will probably not tempt any reader to continue reading to 

 the detriment of his work, it will no doubt have a wide appeal, particularly 

 to those who have read and enjoyed lanto the Fisherman by the same author. 



Of the seventeen chapters which make up the volume only two are devoted 

 to the story of the Heron of Castle Creek, but with the exception of the last 

 chapter on the Partridge, they are easily the best. Of the five chapters given 

 to the Partridge, the first four are a mixture of story and observations. The 

 last, entitled " A Day with the Partridge," is the most delightful in the book. 

 Vividly and well written, it cannot fail to charm the reader, be he sportsman, 

 naturalist or layman. 



The remaining chapters—" The Wood Wren " ; " Misadventures of Bird 

 Watching " ; A Moorland Sanctuary," are some of the titles picked at random 

 — while they will no doubt please and even fascinate many readers, are, to be 

 frank, disappointing to the bird lover. Whether it be the style adopted or not 

 it is difficult to say, but they are unconvincing. One is left wondering as to 

 how much of the information is to be taken seriously. On p. 27, to take a 

 single example, the author ascribes to the Wood Wren a nest lined with 

 feathers, while every ornithologist knows that the lack of feathers in the Wood 

 Wren's nest is so constant a characteristic that it makes it a safe guide for 

 discrimination between this nest and those of the Willow Wren and the Chiff 

 Chaff. The very meagre index supplied heightens the impression that the 

 book is not meant for the serious naturalist. 



To leave the reader with this impression is, perhaps, hardly just, for (apart 

 from the memoir of the author by Mr. Hudson stating the fact) it is clear that 

 Mr. Rees was a keen observer of nature, and throughout the volume he raises 

 and comments on problems of very considerable interest to the naturalist. 

 For this reason more than any other the book should be entitled to a place in 

 the naturahst's library. Wm. Rowan, 



