213 



exhibits were a fine Madagascar Weaver, Pectoral and 

 Long - tailed Grassfinches, and a Rufous - necked 

 Weaver. 



The management was excellent, and the hall one 

 of the finest and most suitable for its purpose, being 

 well lighted, warmed, and free from draught. The 

 Show was opened by the Lord Mayor - elect, Sir 

 William Treloar, and was a complete success, the 

 profits going to the Cripples' Christmas Hamper 

 Fund. The exhibitors of foreign birds are to be con- 

 gratulated on the excellence of their exhibits, not an 

 ill-conditioned bird being found in this section. 



IRevicw. 



The Crystal Age. By IV. H. Hudson, author of The Naturalist 

 of La Plata,'' etc. 6j-, 27id edition. T. Fisher Unzvin. 

 A charming romance, first published as long ago 



as 1887. A book most certainly for the few, rather 



than the many, for it is impossible to merely *' pick 



up " this fascinating dream of a future. 



The brief extract from "The Faerie Queene " on 

 the title page suffices to whet one's appetite 

 immediately, and we rise from the perusal of " A 

 Crystal Age " as from a feast of Spenser, refreshed — 

 in every sense of the word — and thankful such books 

 are to be found. Here and there are exquisite touches 

 of fancy and fine flights of imagination ; the simple 

 life, the freedom and fearlessness of all bird and other 

 animal life, written in the pure and interesting style 

 we expect from Mr. Hudson, makes the possession of 

 such a book a very desirable one. 



The splendid isolation of its womankind and the 



