Recently published Ornithological Works. 273 



This is a handsome, well-printed work, with a striking title- 

 page from a sketch by Mr. J. G. Millais, and several other 

 excellent illustrations. A map is appended, based upon the 

 comparatively new jilan of showing the faunal areas of the 

 district as marked out by such natural boundaries as water- 

 sheds, rather than by the old-fashioned political limits — a 

 scheme which will^ we think, commend itself favourably to 

 most naturalists. This book is intended to be the first of a 

 series, and we believe that the issue of a similar work on the 

 Hebrides is close at hand. The records of distribution and 

 migration are based upon observations, made for the last 

 twenty years, over the greater part of the district included ; 

 and it would be difficult to find authors who were better 

 qualified for the task of obtaining accurate information, espe- 

 cially as regards Sutherlandshire. Of Caithness their know- 

 ledge is less extensive, and they have therefore deemed it 

 advisable to separate, under each species, the details refer- 

 ring to that district ; while they further divide the results of 

 their own experiences from the statements derived from the 

 journal of the late Mr. Osborne and other sources. 



In the field the authors are more at home than in the 

 study. A large portion of the notes relating to the birds was 

 published in 1884- as an Appendix to the 2nd edition of the 

 late Charles St. John's ' Tour in Sutherland ' ; in which form 

 it had the advantage of being compact, and referring only to 

 the birds of Sutherland. Now, the eye is confused by the 

 insertion of all tlie species in the British List, printed in the 

 same type, and numbered right through, so that if anyone 

 wishes to see, at a glance, the number of species in Suther- 

 land and Caithness, he will find 380 as the last numeral ! 

 The reason for this is, presumably, to show the reader the 

 species which have been obtained in other parts of the British 

 Islands ; but even so, it is unnecessary to give him the totally 

 erroneous information that the Black-earef/ Chat has been 

 obtained in the United Kingdom. The fact that Mr. W. E. 

 Clarke made this mistake in his ' Vertebrate Fauna of York- 

 shire,' in 1881, was no excuse for copying it in 1887. We 

 should like to know the names of the English ornithologists, 



