I9I7'] Letters, Extracts, and Notes. 121 



Swedish Ornithology. 



Sir, — The Swedish novelist and bird-enthusiast, Mr. Bengt 

 Berg, has recently published some books on ornithology 

 which, though written in Swedish and tlierefore not within 

 the easy reach of the English public, still are worthy of 

 being noticed in ' The Ibis.' 



These books, which bear the titles ' Takern ' * and ' Stora 

 Karlso ' are, however, some of the most splendid books 

 which have lately been published in Swedish relating to the 

 ornithology of the country. 



At the Swedish Province of Ostergothland a small lake 

 named Takern constitutes a famous resort for different kinds 

 of water-birds. Mr. Berg's publication gives an ample and 

 exliaustive account of the bird-life of this interesting lake 

 during the spring, and his accounts, which are written in a 

 way easily understood by non-professionals, are accompanied 

 by numbers of most beautiful pho^^ographs of birds in their 

 wild state. The greatest number of the photographs are 

 devoted to the birds, but several others show the vege- 

 tation and the natural conditions around the lake. In my 

 opinion the most beautiful pictures are those illustrating 

 the different manner and behaviour of our Common Swan 

 (Cygnus olor) when flying. 



The nidification and behaviour of the Marsh-Harrier 

 (Circus (ei'uginosus) are also subjects for several excellent 

 pictures. 



In the other book, ' Stora Karlso/ Mr. Berg also gives a 

 detailed account of the bird-life on this interesting island, 

 which constitutes the only known breeding-place of the 

 Common Gruillemot (Uria troille) in the Baltic. The photo- 

 graphs in this volume are quite as good as those of ' Takern,' 

 and in the text the reader will get several highly interesting 

 biological observations about the difierent kinds of birds 

 breeding on the island. 



As a matter of fact both the volumes ought to be found 

 on the book-shelf of every ornithologist, and the author is 



* For a uotice vide ' Ibis,' 1916, p. 646. 



