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1Review5. 



The Birds of the British Islands. By Chas. Stonham, C.3I.G., 

 F.R.C.S., F.Z.S., 7vith ILlustrations by L. M. Bledlcmd. 

 Parts II. and III. Roy. Quarto, 'jjS each. Grant Richards. 

 When we spoke of the plates in Part I. as being 

 an astonishing revelation of what a black and white 

 prodnction coidd be in the way of fidelity of portraiture, 

 we were certainly unprepared to find that even they 

 could be surpassed in the way which is now disclosed 

 by those in these two further Parts. It is indeed 

 difficult to find words sufficiently expressive of our 

 admiration of these wonderful presentments without 

 laying ourselves open to a charge of extravagance, and 

 it is even more difficult to find one figure in the range 

 covered in these two parts — from the Whitethroat to 

 the Tree Creeper — which can be singled out as better 

 than its fellows. Still if we should venture to express 

 any preference, this might be accorded to those of the 

 Water Ousel, the Wren, the Gold-crest and the White- 

 throat, the latter of which is represented in the act of 

 singing, with life and loveliness in every line. And 

 special praise might also be given to the plates devoted 

 to such subjects as the foot of the Nuthatch and the 

 tail of the Creeper, characterized as they are, and as 

 indeed all the figures are, by a minute accuracy com- 

 bined with an exquisite gracefulness not always seen 

 in this class of work. 



The text is equally accurate in detail, and the 

 Author shows himself to be as scientific in the domains 

 of Ornithology as he is known to be in others. A 

 true lover of birds, he not only knows their literature 

 but also knows themselves. 



