I02 



NATURE 



[November 2<^, 1900 



in species is, however, in some degree compensated by 

 the great numerical abundance of certain of these in 

 individuals, many of the coast fclififs, with their adjacent 

 islands, being frequented during the breeding season by 

 vast flocks of gannets, gulls, auks, puffins, guillemots, 

 petrels, &c. 



In regard to the eggs of guillemots, it may be men- 

 tioned that Mr. Ussher makes two interesting observa- 

 tions. In the first place, he says that the beautiful 

 varieties of colouring, which are so characteristic of the 

 eggs of this species, " must help each bird to distinguish 

 her egg from others lying near, until they all become 

 stained and soiled." In another passage he observes 

 that the eggs "get completely covered in filth as incuba- 

 tion proceeds, and I have seen many cemented thereby 

 to the rock. This may account for the exaggerated 

 statement that the bird has the power of gluing them to 

 the rock to prevent them from falling off." 



In connection with the uniform climate of Ireland, to 

 which reference has already been made, it may be 

 observed that climatic conditions can scarcely explain 

 all the features in the distribution of birds ; this being 

 remarkably exemplified by the circumstances that while 

 the red-breasted merganser has an extensive breeding 

 range in Ireland, yet that elsewhere in the British Islands 

 its breeding is restricted to Scotland. 



In regard to " station," Ireland, as most of our readers 

 are doubtless well aware, possesses a variety which 

 renders it peculiarly adapted to an abundant develop- 

 ment of bird life. These variations are excellently well 

 displayed in a map, in which the uncultivated areas are 

 tinted brown. Prima facie, it might have been thought 

 that all the moors and bogs of Ireland were equally well 

 suited to maintain a large bird population. But this, 

 according to Mr. Ussher, is by no means the case, most 

 of the western moors being comparatively destitute of life. 

 The reason for this we should like to see explained. 



Many birds now rare in England are comparatively 

 common in Ireland, among them being the raven and 

 the chough. Of the former Mr. Ussher writes that "in 

 the west it still breeds undisturbed on the Arran Islands, 

 High Island, and the Twelve Pins of Connemara, while 

 the cliffs of Mayo and of Achil Island are among its 

 chief strongholds." We presume there is no danger to 

 the bird in the mention of these localities, as otherwise 

 the author would not have done so, since he states, on 

 page 374, that the disclosure of the nesting haunts of the 

 red-throated diver led to its extermination as a breeding 

 Irish species. 



While Ireland has lost certain members of its original 

 fauna, such as the great auk, the crane and the caper- 

 caillie, it has gained others by apparently natural causes. 

 Among these latter are the missel-thrush and the 

 magpie, both of which have now thoroughly well estab- 

 lished themselves. Sportsmen will be pleased to learn 

 that woodcock are yearly becoming more numerous 

 during the summer in Irish coverts. And although it 

 was feared some years ago that the quail was about to 

 forsake the country for ever, its reappearance in some 

 numbers during 1892-93 affords hope that it may some 

 day be reestablished. All efforts to introduce the black- 

 cock and the ptarmigan have, however, resulted in signal 

 failure, and Mr. Ussher refuses to admit certain evidence 

 NO. 1622, VOL. 63I 



derived from cavern bones as to their former existence in 

 the island. 



In conclusion, we cannot but repeat our sense of the 

 high value and importance of Mr. Ussher's work, which 

 must long remain the standard authority on the subject 

 of which it treats. Errors and misprints are few and far 

 between, and most of them have been detected and cor- 

 rected by the author. The book is thoroughly well turned 

 out, and should have a place on the bookshelves, not only 

 of every British ornithologist, but of every sportsman 

 who visits Ireland. 



Of a very different character from the above is the book 

 standing second on our list, which appeals only to the 

 amateur ornithologist. Mr. Dixon and his publishers 

 seem, indeed, to be under the impression that the British 

 public has an unlimited appetite for popular bird-books, 

 and to supply this an endless stream of works is poured 

 from this author's pen. In the present volume Mr. 

 Dixon takes a new departure, and tries to interest his 

 readers in the anatomy and general structure of birds, as 

 well as in their geographical distribution, both past and 

 present. 



Although a compilation, in which the author confesses 

 himself much indebted to Prof Newton's " Dictionary of 

 Birds," the account of the palaeontology and osteology is, 

 on the whole, satisfactory. Perhaps, however, the state- 

 ment on page 3, that reptiles are more nearly related to 

 birds than to any other animals, might advantageously be 

 modified in view of recent investigations into the struc- 

 ture of the anomodonts ; and it is not true that all 

 dinosaurs are gigantic. Exception may also be taken to 

 the statement on page 13, that the tropical types of birds 

 whose remains occur in the European tertiaries are 

 necessarily of southern origin, the available evidence, 

 for what it is worth, pointing to a precisely opposite con- 

 clusion. Neither do we think the idea mooted on 

 page 105, " that some scheme of latitudinal division will 

 yet be proved to be the correct one " for the division of 

 the globe into zoo-geographical distribution is at all 

 likely to find acceptation among those best qualified to 

 deal with this subject. 



In the osteological section, no indication is given that 

 the so-called tibia of the bird (p. 35) includes a portion of 

 the tarsus, or that the remaining part of that element is 

 fused with the compound bone incorrectly called meta- 

 tarsus. 



After treating of their palaeontology, structure, and dis- 

 tribution, Mr. Dixon takes into consideration their 

 general habits and physiology, including flight, social 

 instincts, food, mimicry and protective coloration, nuptial 

 display, song, and nidification. All these subjects are 

 treated in a manner calculated to attract the interest of 

 the general reader. But there are some ugly sentences ; 

 as, for instance, the following on p. 29 : — 



" The first cervical vertebra is termed the atlas, be- 

 cause it bears the head, and which is articulated with it 

 by a single occipital condyle." 



And the work is not free from misprints, as witness 

 (p. 115) Merganettine xnsiedid oi Merganettinae. Never- 

 theless, the book, as a whole, is a creditable production ; 

 and it has the great merit of drawing attention to the fact 

 that the scope of ornithology is not confined to the 

 c lours and other e.xternal characters of birds. 



