CHARLES DIXON'S WORKS {umthnieJ). 



THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS. 



An Attempt to Reduce Avian Season-Flight to Law. 



Crown 8vo, 6s. 



The Times says : — " Mr. Charles Dixon, than uhom, perhaps, no more scientific ornithologist 

 exists, formulates a theory to account for a phenomenon which has hitherto refused to yield 

 up its secret. He first dismisses rather contemptuously the view of those naturalists who 

 ascribe migration to instinct. For ' instinct ' he would substitute ' habit.' The superiority of 

 Mr. Dixon's theory really resides in this, that he offers a rational explanation of the origin of 

 this 'instinct' or 'hereditary impulse.' .... The plausible theory which Mr. Dixon 

 propounds is illustrated with abiuidance of ornithological learning, and a multitude of examples 

 which, he tells us, might have been indefinitely increased. Apart from his speculations, Mr. 

 Dixon's book is a most interesting monograph upon the facts and phenomena of bird migration, 

 and we can hardly doubt that, whether his theories win acceptance or not, the volume in which 

 he sets them forth will become part of the necessary equipment for future explorers in this 

 department of ornithology." 



Ur. Andrew Wilson says : — " Among recently published scientific books, there are two which 

 I think worth recommending to the notice of my readers. The first of these works is one on 

 'The Migration of Birds,' by C. Dixon. It deals in an exhaustive manner with migration at 

 large, and cannot fail to interest all who, in any fashion, make ornithology a study." 



THE BIRDS OF OUR RAMBLES: 



A Companion for the Country. 



With Illustrations by A. T. Elwes. Crown 8vo, 75. 6d. 



The Globe says: — "In 'The Birds of our Rambles' we have yet another of Mr. Charles 



Dixon's popular descriptions of natural objects His object is less to be severely 



scientific than to be pleasantly graphic, his method being to direct the observer's attention to 

 whatever, in the birds mentioned, is most likely to appeal to him — the notes, the general 

 appearance, or any peculiarity of habit. 'I'he result is a book which though practically encyclo- 

 paedic in comprehensiveness and detail, is nevertheless eminently readable. Some excellent 

 illustrations help to assist the text." 



IDLE HOURS WITH NATURE. 



W^ith Frontispiece. Crown 8vo, 6s. 



Black and White says : — "The title of Mr. Charles Dixon's 'Idle Hours with Nature ' is 

 a somewhat exasperating misnomer. So far from bemg idle, he is one of the busiest observers 



of nature since White of Selborne wrote, or the modern White, Richard Jefferies 



George Eliot used to say that anglers could not catch fish because they would not study the 

 subjectivity oi fishes. Mr. Dixon studies the subjectivity of the wild birds and beasts in a 

 way that has never been done before, and his book is profoundly interesting in consequence. 

 He enters into the minds and moods of the creatures of the air, large and small, and reasons 

 from his observations. He tells us what the Spotted Fly-Catcher must see and feel and desire 

 as it flits on its long migration from the Sahara to its home in our English apple orchards ; 

 and he analyzes the character of cormorants, petrels, and eagles as carefully and conclusively 

 as a novelist does his heroes and his villains. Mr. Dixon contends that his studies have an 

 ethical value beyond their scientific one. There can be no doubt about it — they take us out 

 of ourselves," 



ANNALS OF BIRD LIFE: 



A Year-Book of British Ornithology. 



With Illustrations by C. Whymi'ER. Crown Svo, 7.;. 6d. 



The Speaker says: — "Delightful book .... In this volume five or six chapters are 

 devoted, in turn, to spring, summer, autumn, and winter ; and everywhere, without thrusting 

 upon us the dry details of science or the jargon of the schools, a minute and pleasing descrip- 

 tion is given of the way of birds, their migration, and the gipsy kind of life they lead." 



The Leeds Mercury says ; — " Full of restful charm of rural life written with considerable 

 ability and a real enthusiasm for the subject. The work is the outcome of twenty years' close 

 study and observation of wild life in woods and fields, and beginning with spring, it takes the 

 reader right through the year, and shows him at each season the various movements and 

 habits of the birds. . . . The book is a fresh, artless, and minute description of Nature at first 

 hand." 



CHAPMAN & HALL, Li.mitep, LONDON. 



