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"STUDIES IN EIRD MIGRATION." 



Mr. Eagle Clarke's long-looked for work* is now before us, 

 and as we should expect from the pen of so able an authority, 

 we find these two volumes crowded with interesting and 

 reliable information. These " Studies," as the author is 

 careful to point out, do not comprise the " last word " in the 

 fascinating and intricate problems of bird migration, but 

 deal solely with the author's own experiences, helped by the 

 records accumulated when he was on the British Association 

 Committee for the Study of Bird Migration, and consequently 

 this work touches only on migrations which affect the British 

 Isles. On this score we find the work all the more pleasing, 

 as here we have a book which is the result of years of obser- 

 vation in many remote and eminently suitable " migration 

 stations," written from first hand knowledge and free from 

 the mass of wild speculations and theories which so frequently 

 characterize the products of an armchair worker. 



The first two chapters, the only two at all in the way of a 

 compilation, are devoted to ancient and modern views, and 

 are more in the nature of an introduction for beginners to 

 the studies which follow, than an exhaustive catalogue. In 

 the second chapter the author briefly capitulates the theories 

 of the how, why, and wherefore of migration, though he does 

 not add to our previous knowledge as to why birds migrate ; 

 and he holds to the supposition that birds find their way by 

 " orientation," which however unsatisfactory to our minds, 

 appears to be the only explanation tenable, at all events at 

 present, since it seems quite clear from the American experi- 

 ments with the Noddy and Sooty Terns, that birds can find 

 their destination without external help. 



In the following chapter we find the various migrants 

 classified into groups, such as summer visitors, partial migrants, 

 etc., and examples are given under each heading, the author 

 indicating what is now becoming more widely realized, that 

 not only are there few really sedentary species, but that even 

 in our area we have a resident and migratory race of the same 

 species. In a full list of casual visitors an indication is given 

 as to the normal home of each and we here note a few small 

 mistakes, e.g. the home of the Large-billed Reed-Bvmting 

 which occurred in England, is south-west Europe and not 

 Asia. There then follows an appendix giving all species in 

 the various classes of migration, with a rough outline of their 



* Studies in Bird Migration, by William Eagle Clarke. Vol. T., pp. xvi 

 + 323 (2 Plates, a map and 6 charts); Vol. II., pp. viii + 346 (16 

 Plates). London : Gurney and Jackson, 1912. 1 8s. net. 



