m/TW5 



British Birds. Written and illustrated by A. Thorbum, 

 F.Z.S., with 80 plates in colour. 13 x 10| inches. 

 4 Vols. £6 6s. net. (Longmans.) Vol. I. 1915. 



To issue the first volume of so large a work as this just now 

 would seem a bold policy, but Mr. Thorburn's paintings 

 are deservedly popular and there is much to admire in the 

 beautiful plates in this volume. The plan of the work is 

 to illustrate on the same j^late, without undue crowding, 

 as many species as possible of the same family and drawn to 

 the same scale. Mr. Thorburn has managed this by employ- 

 ing a tinted background over the whole plate, on which 

 he has placed the dififerent species, each with a little setting 

 of its own more or less appropriate to its natural habitat. 

 By this plan a large numtjer of species are illustrated in a 

 comparatively small space and a comparison of closely-allied 

 species can easily be made. On the other hand, as the 

 book does not pretend to be of scientific imjoortance, it must 

 be judged chiefly from an artistic standpoint, and this plan, 

 together with the absence of any margin (which should be 

 regarded as a frame) give the plates the appearance of pages 

 cut from a sketch-book. The sketches are nevertheless 

 beautifully finished, and on the whole they are accurate 

 and well reproduced. 



Mr. Thorburn illustrates all the rare " stragglers," even 

 the Siberian Thrush, which we do not consider to have a 

 rightful claim to inclusion in the British list, and his figures 

 are always drawn from adult birds in their most striking 

 plumage. In some cases this is misleading, as for instance 

 in the Yellow-breasted Bunting, where an adult male in 

 summer is illustrated — a plumage in which the bird has never 

 occurred in the British Isles. Mr. Thorburn has fought 

 shy of subspecies and he includes neither of the Willow-Tits ! 

 It seems a pity to have missed this opportunity of illustrating 

 those subspecies, at all events, which have well-marked colour 

 difi^erences, especially as the artist has been able to show 

 very successfully the difference in the tone of coloration of 

 the Reed- and Marsh-Warblers. 



A page or so of letterpress is given for each species, but as 

 Mr. Thorburn states, this is mostly a compilation, and his 

 original intention was to produce a sketch-book of British 

 birds. In this he has succeeded admirably, and every page 

 of his sketch-book is well worth the closest scrutiny. — H.F.W. 



