454 Recently published Ornithological Works. 



experiences of the four species of the Grouse family fouud in 

 our islands. The letterpress is excellent, and some of the 

 descriptions of the habits of the birds and the places in which 

 they arc found can hardly be surpassed for graphic power. 

 Of the many beautiful illustrations we prefer the sepia-like 

 autotypes and the woodcuts, because they display to advantage 

 Mr. Millais's rare capacity as a draughtsman ; the coloured 

 plates (especially those printed in Germany) are less pleasing, 

 owing to their crudity and hardness of outline. They are, 

 however, of considerable interest, for among them are to be 

 found some valuable figures of hybrids, of hens assuming the 

 plumage of the male, and of a unique example of an adult 

 Blackcock in the dress of the Greyhen. In attributing the 

 scarcity of Ptarmigan (as compared with Grouse) to the Fox 

 and the Golden Eagle (p. 64), Mr. Millais may be right as 

 regards Perthshire, but elsewhere other reasons must be 

 sought to account for their numerical inferiority and even 

 decrease. Upon this point we can hardly do better than 

 give some extracts from a letter written by that excellent 

 observer, INIr. Henry Evans, of Jura : — 



" From all I can learn, the decrease of Ptarmigan in Jura 

 fo/Ioived the extermination of Eagles there, and the evidence 

 is strong. There were formerly many Eagles — over fifty 

 being destroyed in six years, both Golden and Erne ; and as 

 this was about forty years ago. Ptarmigan have had plenty of 

 time to breed up again if the Eagles caused the scarcity. 

 Thirty years ago Jura held far more Ptarmigan than now, 

 Avhen only a very few are left ; so it is abundantly evident 

 that Eagles did not cause the decrease. There are no foxes 

 in Jura. Eagles frequent Ptarmigan-ground no doubt, but 

 chieriy because it is high ; they like hares and rabbits much 

 better than they do birds, and I do not think they take 

 many birds if hares and rabbits are about." 



Now in Jura, of all places, it might have been expected 

 that Eagles would be forced by necessity to prey upon Ptar- 

 migan, for in that island neither mountain-hares nor rabbits 

 are found : true, there are Grouse. We trust that Mr. 

 Millais will investigate this point more closely; and inas- 



