+50 



NATURE 



[June i, 191 i 



lllE NATURALIST'S PICTURE GALLERY.' 



MR. KEARTON'S bird pictures are so well known 

 that it is unnecessary to say much about his 

 latest work, beyond indicating its scope and object, 

 except that the pictures are larger than usual, and, if 

 possible, more beautifully reproduced. This work has 



Fig. 1. — Nest of the Dotterel in a slight natural hollow. From " Ke.arton's Nature Pictures.' 



been prepared at the request of friends who have ex- 

 pressed a wish for Kearton pictures from nature on a 

 larger scale of reproduction, and in order to give the 

 man or woman, boy or girl, who knows but little of 

 the countryside a bright and stimulating glimpse of 

 the wild creatures duelling therein. But it will not 

 be to these alone 

 that this sumptu- 

 ous volume will 

 appeal. Those who 

 know our birds 

 and beasts best 

 will probably ap- 

 preciate it more 

 than anyone else, 

 for to them these 

 beautiful pictures 

 of their old friends 

 will be an unfail- 

 ing joy and delight. 

 Upwards of fifty 

 birds and beasts 

 and reptiles are 

 portrayed, and to 

 each is devoted a 

 pleiisant descriptive 

 article. First and 

 foremost this is a 

 picture book 

 (wherein b i r d s, 



b.easts, and reptiles jostle together without 

 system, as they jostle in nature's own domain), 

 as- its title implies; but the text, although of secondary 



1 " Kearton'"! Jfeture Pictnres," beautifully reproduced in Photo^r.ivure, 

 Colour, and Black and White from photograph-; by Richard and Cherry 

 Kearton. With descriptive teSct by Rich.iTd Kearton. Vol. i., pp. viH+96. 

 (London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne : Cassell and Co., Ltd., loio. 

 Price i5jr. net. 



importance, is as accurate, informatory, and int''r*'«f- 

 ing as care and experience can make it. F:> 

 wild birds and beasts find a place here side L 

 with the very rarest birds that visit our islai 

 breed. Mist-wreathed mountains and quiet 1 

 rows, the restless sea and peaceful meadow, th' 

 woods and the tow«»ring sea cliffs, have all been ^ 



to find tlu-:>> 

 pictures. Alto- 

 j^ e t h e r t h • 

 author is fully 

 justified in his 

 belief that the 

 work will fornj 

 the finest gal- 

 lery of sun 

 tures of 

 birds and b'- 

 t .1 k e n ; ' 

 their ti 

 1 r r o u n 

 •r pubi 

 in this or 

 other country. 

 .Vmid so much 

 ^cellence w e 

 cannot help 

 directing" parti- 

 cular attention 

 to the beauty 

 and interest of 

 the plates show- 

 in g young 

 thrushes, the 

 peewit, trout, 

 oyster - catcher, 

 tree pipit finding 

 a young cuckoo, 

 and the great 

 black-backed gull. A finer picture of a grand- 

 looking bird in its native haunts than this last we 

 never saw. Mr. Kearton has secured some excellent 

 and characteristic photographs of that little-known 

 reptile, the natterjack toad. This, we imagine, was 

 no easy task. For we remember tr^-ing to help a 



pic- 

 wild 



any 



Fi&. a.— Oyster Catcher. From " Kearton 's Nature Pictures.' 



NO. 2170, VOL. 86] 



famous photographer to secure some picture of the 

 natterjack on a hot morning among the sand-dune* 

 on the coast of Holland, and how often our efforts 

 were frustrated by the extreme activity of the toads, 

 one of the points in which it differs from the more 

 familiar squat toad of our gardens. By permission of 

 the publishers we reproduce two of the illustrations. 



