i6i 



some six or seven species, from drawings by Mr. 

 A. F. Lydon. These do not strike us as being in Mr. 

 Lydon's best manner, and the old-fashioned style of 

 colour-printing in which they are reproduced leaves 

 much to be desired. But, after all, what can be 

 expected for half-a-crown ? The work is really a 

 marvel of cheapness. 



The following extract will give a- better idea of 

 the book than pages of criticism : 



"A pretty local name which has been given to the vSpotted 

 *' Flycatcher {^Miiscicapa grisola) is While Robin, which testifies 

 " to the confiding character of this species. There is scarcely 

 "another bird that lias less fear of man. Miller Wallplat is 

 ^' another old name for it. Coming to us early in May, it 

 " builds its nest in creepers upon our walls, about cottage 

 " porches, and it even has been known to place it on the hinge 

 " of a door through which there was constant passing to and 

 " fro. And often it is built upon a beam in some outbuilding; 

 " and so another nickname bestowed on it is ' Beam-bird.' 



" The Spotted Flycatcher nests in our London parks and 

 " larger gardens ; but I watch it with most pleasure from a 

 " balcony above a mass of Virginian creeper, whose tiny 

 *' flowerets attract the insects by thousands. Just below me 

 " is the nest, built of moss and lichens, lined with wool, and 

 " hair, and feathers. On it the little hen sits closely on her 

 ** five eggs, pale green, spotted with reddish brown ; and to 

 " her the male bird brings assiduously her insect food. They 

 *' rarely fly farther than about two hundred yards from their 

 ♦' nesting place. On a round bed in front of the balcony is a 

 " large boulder of conical shape. On its snmmit my Fly- 

 " catcher has his con^i?i\\t coign de vantage : from it he darts 

 '• out on the passing flies and moths, seizing them when on the 

 '• the wing, and carrying them promptly to the nest within the 

 " creeper. Not only tiny insects and moths go there, but 

 ♦' also the bodies, denuded of their' wings, of many a white 

 " cabbage butterfly, which would otherwise have deposited her 

 " small white eggs on the leaves of the cauliflowers in the 

 " kitchen garden close at hand. These eggs would become 

 " green grubs, which injure the plants and make them unfit 

 " for food. The quick eyes of the bird and his clever flight 

 •' put an end to the mischief so far as many a cauliflower is 

 " concerned. Flies, beetles, and aphides in hosts are devoured, 



