Recently published Ornithological IVorks. 1 U 



described the bird, its customs, and its habitat in some 

 54 pages. There is a coloured frontispiece and a full 

 bibliography. 



9. Gathe's ' Heligoland.' (English translation.) 



[Heligoland as an Ornithological Observatory : the Result of Fifty 

 Years' Experience. By Heinrich Gjitke. Translated by Rudolf Rosen- 

 stock, M.A. Oxon. Royal 8vo. Edinburgh, 1895 : David Douglas.] 



Most ornithological books of the present day fall under 

 one of two heads. In the first class, seemingly, the writer 

 conceives it to be his mission to write a book, and judges 

 that one bearing upon birds will best serve his turn : these 

 are the books written in the author^s or publisher's interests, 

 and their name is legion. The second class is a. very much 

 smaller one, written by men (not usually young) who are 

 willing slaves to our pet science, at which they have been 

 working lovingly for years, and whose hope and object it is 

 to add a modest stone to the edifice of knowledge. And 

 when we meet with one of the last, we feel under a 

 personal obligation to the author, Herr Gatke's book 

 belongs to the second category. 



The author of this volume is decidedly at his best when 

 giving us the fruits of his own experience, rather than 

 when theorizing; but there is enough of real information 

 to make this a book of reference. The best chapters are: — 

 i. A concise resume of the phases of Migration in Heligo- 

 land, ii. " The Direction of the Migration Flight,'^ wherein, 

 as those who have studied the subject would expect, he suggests 

 that most species have theii' own line of flight, more or less. 

 Herr Gatke in this chapter, and all through the book, 

 hardly seems to take into consideration the cyclonic nature of 

 most winds, but appears to treat them all as blowing in a direct 

 line : a theory not supported by a study of weather charts, 

 which show the same wind striking different places, from 

 different points, at the same time. Chap. v. ('' Meteoro- 

 logy of Migration ") is excellent throughout and full of 

 information. Chap. viii. (" What guides Birds during their 

 Migration ") is more theoretical and less helpful. But, 



