SOME NEW BOOKS. 



Idle Days in Patagonia. By W. H. Hudson. Svo. Pp. viii. and 256. Illustrated. 

 London : Chapman & Hall, 1S93. Price 14s. 



If every sojourner in remote regions of the world occupied his " idle 

 days" as profitably as has Mr. Hudson, our information regarding 

 the animal life and its inanimate surroundings of the whole globe 

 would be far less incomplete than it unfortunately is at present. We 

 are, indeed, glad to welcome another volume by this author, written 

 in the same charming and lucid style as his " Naturalist in 

 La Plata," and embellished by illustrations executed in 

 the same beautiful style. The present work is, however, far less 

 exclusively devoted to the Natural History of the country it describes 



^*i|*r^'. 



Crested Tinamou (Calodromas.) 



than was its predecessor, but for a vivid description of the mode of 

 life in Patagonia, and the nature of the country, it can scarcely be 

 surpassed. As with " La Plata," most of the chapters in the work 

 before us have already seen the light in the form of articles in 

 magazines and other serials, and this reproduction has given the 

 author the opportunity of revising and amplifying his descriptions and 

 maturing his opinions. 



Confining our attention to those parts of the book devoted 

 to the Natural History of Patagonia, we note that the author gives 

 us excellent illustrations, accompanied with observations on their 



