lie vines



13



Mr. Hamlyn is to be congratulated on having imported a very nice

collection, which, by the way, he is offering at quite moderate prices.


13. Seth-Smith.


Late Breeding of Partridge. —A partridge was shot at Long

Melford, Suffolk, by Mr. Chas. Bow on November 1, a 1919 bird with

a perfectly shelled egg in it ready for laying! This beats a record of

hen Partridge on eggs, September 9, in same district some years ago.

—Allen Silver.


The Egg of the Hooded Crane.— A Hooded Crane, alas ! a widow,

laid two eggs on May 3 and G, and attempted to incubate. The egg

is large for the size of the bird, and is handsomely marked with pale

yellowish-brown and leaden-grey on a pale buff ground. I have not

seen any record that this Crane has laid in captivity before. —W. H.

St. Quintin.



REVIEWS


Homing with the Birds. By Gene Stratton Porter. Illustrated.


London : John Murray. 10s. 6 d. net.


Any book from the pen of Mrs. Gene Stratton Porter will appeal

to Nature-lovers as only her writings can. Homing with the Birds

abounds in interesting details of bird-life in the Limberlost, recorded

by one who from her childhood was gifted with a rare sympathy with

all wild things. But from a photographic point of view this book is

distinctly disappointing. Most of the birds depicted in the full-page

illustrations are either out of focus or are obscured by worrying

surroundings. In nearly all there is a lack of gradation in the

plumage.


Obviously many of the subjects were photographed in bright

sunlight, hence the lack of soft detail in the results. In many cases

the sitter has been much too near the camera, in consequence of which

the surroundings are exaggerated and overpower the bird. This is

particularly noticeable in the male Indigo Finch (p. 74).


There is a mystery surrounding the portrait of a Cardinal singing

(p. 214). Except for the black chin, the plumage of this scarlet bird

has come out pure white ! The same ghostly result has been obtained



