258 BRITISH BIRDS. 



Road and other thoroughfares ; the nestuig of the Sedge- 

 Warbler {A. phragmitis) in Duhvich Park in 1901 ; the fact 

 that the Reed- Warbler (A. streperus) nested regularly up till 

 1894 in Battersea Park, and the occurrence of the White 

 Wagtail {M. alba), Raven (C. corax), Nutcracker (A^. caryo- 

 catactes), and Quail (C communis), besides several unexpected 

 species amongst the ducks and Maders. The omission of all 

 scientific names is, we think, a mistake, as it tends to 

 uncertainty ; in this connection we presume that the author 

 intends " Anthus cervinu'?" by his "Red-breasted Pipit" 

 on p. 34. If this is the case, Ave must say that Ave regard this 

 record Avith suspicion. Several mistakes have been made 

 in the identification of Anthus cervinus, and March 25th is 

 probably far too early for this species to occur in England, 

 Avhile at the same time it is about the time that the bright- 

 coloured migratory MeadoAv-Pipits do occur. 



The subject of migration is (or has been) usually seriously 

 neglected in the majority of local faunas, so that the prominent 

 place giv^en to it in the present volume calls for special 

 mention and commendation. No one Avould jiresumably 

 choose a suburban garden as a place for observing these 

 phenomena, yet it must be admitted that many a better place 

 might be chosen and made less use of by anyone less gifted 

 AA'ith poAvers of observation than the author. The amount 

 of information he has gathered together is surprising, and his 

 records of the autumn-movements of such species as the 

 Sky-Lark, Chaffinch, Starling, Rook, Brambling and Tree- 

 Sparrow compare very favourably Avith those of the best of 

 the east-coast observers, and are particularly valuable as 

 shoAA'ing that tlie east to Avest movements of tliese species 

 are continued in a straight line across the country after 

 reaching the east coast. The last five pages of the book 

 are devoted to a summarization of the author's migration- 

 records and certain deductions that he draAvs from them ; 

 they are too long to quote here, but they are so important 

 that they cannot be neglected by anyone interested in the 

 study of this important subject. Tiie chart at the end of 

 the book gives the direction and force of the Avind and the 

 relative amounts of visible migration on every day in tAventy- 

 five successive Octobers from 1885 to 1909. This very 

 usefully supplements the data in the rest of the book, and 

 shoAA^s the solid facts on Avhich the author bases his deductions. 



In sj)ite of its small size and the fact that its title might 

 lead one to expect merely triAdal observations, Mr. PoAver's 

 book is really one of solid Avorth. N.F.T. 



