450 BE VIEWS OF BOOKS. LApeil, 



' What really takes place, we believe, is this : The cuckoo lays her egg upon 

 the o-round. The colour of the egg is variable, according to the condition of the 

 ovary, which depends upon the age of the bird, the nature of its food, and state 

 of health at the time of oviposition. With her egg in her bill, the bird then 

 seeks a nest wherein to place it. We are not unwilling to accept the suggestion 

 that, being cognizant of colour, she prefers a nest which contains eggs similar to 

 her own in order that the latter may be less easily discovered by the foster 

 parents. At the same time, we so frequently find the egg in question amongst 

 others which differ totally from it in colour, that we cannot think the cuckoo is 

 so particular in her choice as Dr. Baldamus and the supporters of his theory 

 would have us believe. A friend of Gilbert White found upon trial that the 

 note of the cuckoo varies in different individuals. About Selborne Wood he 

 found they were mostly in D. He heard two sing together, the one in D, the 

 other in D sharp, which made a very disagreeable duet. He afterwards heard 

 one in D sharp : and about Wolmer Forest, some in C. Gungl, in his " Cuckoo 

 Galop," gives the note of the cuckoo as B natural and G sharp. Dr. Arne, in his 

 music to the cuckoo's song in " Love's Labour's Lost," gives it as C natural 

 and G.' 



We give our cordial approval to Mr. Harting's delightful book. 



America Bevisited : from the Bay of JS^eiv York to the Gidf of Mexico* 

 and from Lake Michigan to the Pacific. By George Augustus 

 Sala, author of ' A Journey due North,' ' Paris Herself Again,' 

 'America in the Midst of War,' &c. Illustrated by nearly 400 

 engravings. Fourth edition. London : Vizetelly & Co. 1883. 



Mr. Sala is such a hterary veteran, and his writings are so widely 

 known, that any discussion of their character and merits would be 

 entirely a work of supererogation. All, therefore, that the reviewer 

 would be expected to do would be to call attention in the case of a 

 new book of his to the particular direction in which his fertile and 

 facile pen had been engaged, for it would be strange indeed if any 

 production of his were found other than interesting and amusing. 



In the bulky and profusely illustrated volume before us we find, as 

 we had fully expected, a vast store of interest and amusement. The 

 illustrations, indeed, are so copious that they furnish a narrative, so 

 to speak, by themselves ; and the mere lover of pictures would find 

 enough to interest and instruct him without the lively and elucidating 

 text of the clever litterateur. From amusing sketches of the outward 

 journey, we pass to the wonders of New York. From thence to Balti- 

 more, Philadelphia and Eichmond, Augusta, Atlanta, New Orleans, 

 Omaha, El Dorado, China Town, Salt Lake City, and Chicago, we are 

 glidingly transported, through chapters of delightful gossip, narrative, 

 incident, and description. To attempt an adequate review of a book 

 like this within a moderate compass would be to attempt an impossi- 



