REVEW5 



llw Birds of Britain, their histrilxitioii and Habits. By 

 A. H. Evans, M.A., F.Z..S., M.B.O.U. (Cambridge 

 University Press). Tllustrated. 4s. net. 



This little work, as we are told in the Preface,, is ])riinarily 

 intended for schools. To criticize it fioni the schoolmaster's 

 point of view would be beyond us as we do not know the 

 lequirements, but if a boy is to learn ornithology as he would 

 history the ])lan of the book is no doubt correct, on the 

 uthei' hand, if the object is to attract the boy to the study 

 of birds, or to enable him to identify what he has seen, we 

 fear this book is too condensed for either ]3urpose. For 

 Mr. Evans has j)ut into the small compass of some 260 pages 

 in a narrative form an account of all those birds which breed, 

 or have bred in the British Isles as well as those migrants 

 which are regular in their appearance, wliile the occasional 

 visitors are relegated to a list at the end. In this list, by 

 the way. we notice the Continental Song-Thrush, the Green- 

 land Wheatear and the Continental Robin, which being 

 regular migrants should certainly have appeared in the body 

 of the work, while Anser erythropus should be the Lesser 

 White-fronted instead of Pink-footed Goose. It would be 

 unfair to scrutinize such a work with a severely critical eye, 

 but there arc some mis-statements of fact which should be 

 mentioned. The Willow-Tit according to Mr. Evans is the 

 Ijlack-capped Tit which breeds in the border counties of 

 p]ngland, but we laiow of very few records of its occurrence 

 in these counties, while the Marsh-Tit is well known to occur 

 in Northumberland. Further he states that Irish birds 

 require examination, but except for some which have been 

 liberated in one locality neither the Marsh- nor Willow-Tit 

 is to be found in Ireland. The Blue Tit is said to be absent 

 from Spain, and the Great Spotted Woodpecker from North 

 Africa ! That the Black-headed Gull '' always breeds inland 

 in Britain " is a curious mis-statement, when probably the 

 largest colony in Great Britain is at Ravenglass by the sea. 

 As Mr. Evans claims to have included the results of the most 

 recent observations it should be mentioned that in the matter 

 of subspecies he is smgularly inconsistent. He seems to be in 

 two minds about the question all the Avay through. For m- 

 stance the Marsh-Tit is named Parus palustris dresseri, but 

 the Scottish Crested Tit P cristatus, and the Blue-Tit P. 

 ccerukus though both are said to differ from Continental 



