NA TURE 



lOI 



THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1900. 



THREE BOOKS ON BIRDS. 



The Birds of Ireland ; an Account of the Distribution, 

 Migration and Habits of Birds as Observed in 

 Ireland, with all Additions to the Irish List. By 

 R. J. Ussher and R. Warren. Pp. xxxii + 419. 

 Illustrated. (London : Gurney and Jackson, 1900.) 



The Story of the Birds. By C. Dixon. Pp. xiv + 304. 

 (London : George Allen, 1900.) 



Among the Birds. By Florence Anna Fulcher. Pp. iii 

 + 253. (London : S.P.C.K, 1900.) 



IN a few months half a century will have elapsed since 

 the publication of the third and concluding volume 

 of Thompson's " Birds of Ireland," and, with the excep- 

 tion of a smaller volume written on more popular lines, 

 and the valuable " List of Irish Birds" (two editions of 

 which have appeared), by the late Mr. A. G. More, of 

 Dublin, no other complete treatise on the same subject 

 has hitherto been issued. With the great advances in 

 our information on this special subject, and the improve- 

 ments in our method of treating natural history in 

 general, to say nothing of the changes which have 

 occurred in the Irish avifauna itself during that long 

 interval, it will be evident that there is abundant room 

 for an authentic and standard work of the nature of the 

 one before us. And no one could have been found better 

 fitted to undertake this important and laborious task 

 than Mr. R. J. Ussher, who has written the bulk of the 

 present volume, and who has devoted the greater part of 

 his life to the study of the history and habits of his 

 well-beloved Irish birds. As regards the contributions 

 of Mr. R. Warren, whose name appears on the title-page 

 as joint-author, we are told in the preface that the portions 

 of the work actually from his own pen are restricted to 

 the accounts of half-a-dozen species. Mr. Ussher is, 

 however, careful to acknowledge his indebtedness to his 

 friend and coadjutor for a number of observations on the 

 habits and distribution of birds. And he likewise de- 

 clares his obligations to the late Mr. More, and also to 

 Mr. R. M. Barrington, who has contributed much infor- 

 mation with regard to bird-migration, drawn from the 

 observations taken at the lighthouse stations. 



Mr. Ussher appears, indeed, to have carried out his 

 task in a thoroughly satisfactory and conscientious 

 manner ; and has succeeded not only in producing an 

 accurate and trustworthy treatise on Irish birds, but 

 likewise a readabh; and interesting book. With the 

 many illustrated works extant at the present day on 

 British birds, it would have been merely a useless expense 

 to have repeated figures of the species found in Ireland ; 

 and a wise discretion has, we venture to think, been exer- 

 cised in limiting the illustrations (which can scarcely be 

 surpassed for excellence) to photographs of the nests of 

 birds and of the breeding haunts of some of the maritime 

 species. An exquisite coloured plate of six distinct 

 colour-phases of Irish peregrine falcon eggs forms an 

 appropriate frontispiece. 



A feature of the work is the special attention bestowed 

 on the local distribution of birds within the area treated 

 of ; this being elaborated in a series of tables which 

 NO. 1622, VOL. 63] 



alone serve to indicate the enormous amount of labour 

 bestowed by Mr. Ussher on his subject. In formulating 

 these tables, he owns himself greatly indebted to cor- 

 respondents from all parts of the country, who have filled 

 up schedules sent to them for the purpose of recording 

 their observations. So far as our recollection serves us, 

 similar tables have not been issued with any work on the 

 birds of Britain generally ; and, in view of the present 

 trend of natural history studies, the importance of those 

 drawn by Mr. Ussher can scarcely be over-estimated. 



In regard to classification and nomenclature, Mr. 

 Ussher follows Mr. Saunders, in his " Manual of British 

 Birds," and since, in our opinion, uniformity is of more 

 importance than anything else in classification, we think 

 he has been well advised in so doing. With the excep- 

 tion of the red grouse, he apparently regards no species 

 of bird as peculiar to the British Islands ; neither are 

 any local Irish races admitted. In regard to the British 

 marsh-tit, which Dr. Sharpe considers entitled to rank as 

 a species apart from the continental form, under the name 

 of Parus dresseri, Mr. Ussher admits no such dis- 

 tinction. Curiously enough, however, the subspecific 

 title Panes palustris dresseri occurs in the index, but on 

 turning to the page (31) quoted, only the name P. palustris 

 is to be found. It may also be noted that on p. 230 the 

 author refers to the generally lighter colour of Irish red 

 grouse as compared with their relatives in Great Britain ; 

 and if this be a constant point of distinction, it would 

 justify, in the opinion of many naturalists, the separation 

 of the former as a local race. 



It may be noticed that in the preceding paragraph we 

 have employed the word " apparently " in regard to the 

 absence of peculiar British species and races. We have 

 done so because we have not been at the pains to look 

 at the heading under which each particular bird is 

 described, and there is no table of contents to the book 

 in which it could be seen at a glance whether or no the 

 above statement is absolutely correct. The omission of 

 such a table is, we think, a decided disadvantage to the 

 book. Its presence would likewise have told us the 

 number of species of birds regarded by Mr. Ussher as 

 entitled to be called Irish ; but, as he does not number 

 his species, this also can only be ascertained by going 

 through the book page by page. 



Not that this question of the number of species is one 

 of much importance one way or the other, for, as the 

 author tells us, it is always difficult to draw lines in cases 

 of this nature. On the whole, however, we think that a 

 wise discretion has been exercised in this particul&r 

 instance, the species whose claims to admission rest on 

 the slenderest foundations being treated by themselves. 

 Apart from its fossilised bones, the only historic evidence 

 in modern times for regarding the great auk as an Irish 

 bird is furnished by the example captured near Water- 

 ford Harbour in 1834 ; and consequently the account of 

 this species might with advantage have been consider- 

 ably curtailed, as almost more than enough has been 

 written about it in other works. 



Occupying the most western position of the islands of 

 the British group, and enjoying a singularly equable and 

 mild climate, Ireland naturally cannot lay claim to the 

 possession of nearly so many species of birds as are 

 found within the limits of Great Britain. This deficiency 



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