1896. SOME NEW BOOKS. 205 



number of votaries. Many of the books on birds which emerge from 

 the popular press appear to be somewhat superfluous. That objection 

 cannot fairly be applied to the work at present under notice. For 

 Mr. Frohawk supplies something that has hitherto been unprocurable — 

 a series of beautifully designed plates of British birds, printed from 

 copper plates, and published at a price which brings them well within 

 the reach of the schoolboy and the artisan, neither of whom have 

 much cash to spare for buying birdie books. The first part of this 

 admirable publication furnishes twelve life-size figures, representing 

 the missel thrush, song thrush, redwing, fieldfare, White's thrush, 

 blackbird, ring ouzel, wheatear, whinchat, stonechat, redstart, and 

 black redstart. The birds are depicted in their natural haunts, and 

 the impressions are singularly soft. They form a curious comment 

 on the faulty woodcuts of Yarrell, which have been reproduced in 

 Mr. Howard Saunders' " Manual of British Birds." Mr. Frohawk is 

 one of the most talented of English zoological artists, and the 

 engravers have reproduced his drawings with delicacy and good taste. 

 The plates in black and white are to be accompanied by coloured 

 plates of the eggs of the species included in the work. The first of 

 these plates appears in Part I. The colours are far superior to those 

 of any other cheap series, and many varieties of eggs are shown on 

 the same plate. 



The text is w^ell printed, and deals exhaustively with the life- 

 history of the species which have most claim to be included in the 

 British list. Whether Mr. A. G. Butler was the best ornithologist to 

 undertake such an important order as the Passcrcs, must be a matter 

 of opinion. But we have no fault to find v/ith the way in which he 

 has carried out his part so far ; only it seems a pity that he gives no 

 description of the rarer waifs and strays, such as the desert wheatear. 

 If you tell a man that the desert wheatear has strayed to the shores 

 of Britain, he at once wants to know what the bird looks like. But 

 he will receive no help from Tvlr. A. G. Butler — not even a reference 

 to Bree's " Birds of Europe," or any other work in which a figure is 

 given. The reason for this withholding of details regarding the very 

 rarest British birds is not apparent. So far as room is concerned, it 

 would have been an easy matter to gain the necessary space by 

 pruning some of Mr. Butler's rather lengthy paragraphs. The 

 neophyte would have then been able to turn to his copy of this work 

 with the certainty that he would find a description of the rare birds 

 Avhich whet his curiosity. Probably, he already knows what a 

 common wheatear looks like, and would gladly have exchanged the 

 plate of that species for one of the bird which is strange to him. But 

 no doubt Mr. Butler has his own reasons for the course which he has 

 adopted. It is satisfactory to know that the staff engaged upon the 

 text of this work includes such competent authorities as Dr. H. O. 

 Forbes, of Liverpool; Mr. W. B. Tegetmeier, F.Z.S., who treats of 

 the game birds ; Mr. O. V. Aphn, the Rev. M. A. Mathew, Rev. 

 H. H. Slater, and one or two others. Mr. Frohawk's previous work 

 is a sufficient guarantee that the very high standard of excellence 

 Avhich he has shown in the plates of the first part will be fully main- 

 tained throughout the entire work. 



To turn to the United States, we are glad to find that the ornith- 

 ologists there continue to prosecute their useful enquiries into the food 

 of their native birds. On the present occasion Mr. S. D. Judd reports 

 upon the food of the catbird [Galeoscopics carclinensis), the brown thrasher 

 {Harporhyncus rufus), the mocking bird {Mitiius polygloitos), and the 

 house wren [Troglodytes acdon). Figures are given of the species 



