738 Recently published Ornithological Works. 



for the Birds occupy much of the first volume, aud a section 

 on the Wild-fowl of the Dee is included in the second. The 

 authors have rightly extended the political boundary of the 

 county so as to take in Liverpool Bay — chiefly for the sake 

 of the "marine fish-fauna" — and "many square miles oh' 

 marshes" in Flintshire, which naturally belong to the country 

 watered by the well-known Cheshire river. A commencement 

 is made with a description of the physical features of the 

 district, the changes that have taken place inland and on 

 the shores, and the gradual increase of the towns and their 

 population ; and with this are incorporated many interesting 

 notices of the species of birds that of old inhabited the 

 Mosses characteristic of the area, the marshes and lakes now 

 drained or still existing, aud the brine "flashes 5 ' still in 

 process of formation. 



Next follows an account of the scanty literature of the 

 past, and a section on the preservation of Game, whence we 

 pass on to the Mammals. But we are only concerned here 

 with the portion of the work referring to Bh*ds, to which is 

 prefixed a separate or special Introduction. In this we learn 

 that the following species have been added to the county 

 list since Messrs. Coward and Oldham published their ' Birds 

 of Cheshire ' in the year 1 ( J00 : — the Ciri Bunting, the M< aly 

 Redpoll, the Woodchat-Shrike, the Shore-Lar<, the Shag, 

 the American Blue-winged Teal, the Kentish Plover, Schlegel's 

 Petrel, and Baillon's Crake. 



An excellent account is given of the 231 species of Birds 

 whirh have been satisfactorily proved to have occurred in 

 Cheshire during the present or the last century, though 

 the habits are discussed at unusual length for a local 

 fauna, and this part of the book might perhaps have been 

 shortened with advantage. About 112 of the>e birds breed or 

 have bred recently within the chosen boundaries, even when we 

 omit such as the Marsh- and Hen-Harriers, the Bittern, the 

 Oystercatcher, and the Terns, with regard to which no definite 

 records have been preserved. We may call special attention 

 in this connexion to the example of Querquedula discors, 

 shot on the Dee estuary some fifty years ago, aud to the 



