REVIEWS. 229 



the Common and the Purple Heron. The letterpress is a 

 simply-written narrative of the author's experiences under- 

 gone while procuring the photographs from which the plates 

 are reproduced. Such experiences are always of great interest 

 to that growing community of bird-photographers, and cannot 

 fail also to interest those who have had no experience of this 

 fascinating, but often disappointing, pursuit. The habits of 

 the several species are fairly fully dealt with, and there are 

 one or two observations which strike us as novel and are not 

 without importance ; we would particularly refer to the habit, 

 which seems to be a very usual one, of the young Storks 

 standing and even progressing about the nest, supported 

 only upon their tibio-metatarsal joints, the tarsi and feet 

 being held up off the nest with the toes dangling. The 

 attitude of rest amongst the Storks, on the whole length of 

 the tarsi, is, of course, well known, but the above observation 

 appears to be new. The method by which the young Spoon- 

 bills are fed, viz., by taking regurgitated food from the base 

 of the parent's bill is fully described, and the contrast with 

 the method pursued by the Storks and Purple Heron, which 

 scatter the disgorged food about the nest and leave the young 

 to pick it up, is well brought out. The supplying of food is 

 apjiarently also undertaken solely by one bird (? the male) 

 in^'the case of the Spoonbill, whereas both sexes feed the young 

 in the case of the Stork, while both share in the duties of 

 incubation in the case of the Common Heron. Reference 

 must also be made to the interesting description of the climbing 

 powers of the Purple Heron. 



The plates, which are exceedingly Avell reproduced, do the 

 author great credit both for his patience and perseverance 

 under trying circumstances and his technical skill as a photo- 

 grapher. Personally we would have preferred them mounted 

 on a rather darker and warmer shade of brown, but this is 

 perhaps only a personal opinion. The photographs of the 

 Spoonbills and Purple Herons are undoubtedly the best of 

 the series, and while those of the Storks are good, they no 

 doubt lose a little as bird-portraits from (the necessary) 

 distance at which the exposures were made ; incidentally 

 all of these exhibit very clearly the superior results that are 

 obtainable when each picture can be focused separately by 

 working at close quarters in a " hide " in contrast with 

 those of the Common Heron, which perforce had to be taken 

 with a fixed focus and the exposure made from a distance. 



N.F.T. 



