304 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW 



of the lower animals; it is probably because of this that we 

 have so many interesting books today which discuss the wisdom 

 and the clever craftmanship of our little brothers of the fields. 

 This book on animal ingenuity is an excellent example. It 

 begins with a discussion of the ways of the social bees and wasps 

 and then of the solitary bees and wasps and of ants and white 

 ants. Nests and eggs of birds, their plumage and courtship 

 are illustrated and discussed. There are chapters on mimicry, 

 queer friendships, migration, animal engineers, sappers and 

 miners, seasonal changes, reptiles, frogs and toads, crabs and 

 lobsters, spiders, shellbearers, corals, worms, and parasites and 

 predators. The following account of the Omithorynchus will 

 give a fair idea of the author's clear method of presenting his 

 facts: "Such a miner is the duckbill of Australia, most anom- 

 alous of animals from that land of animal anomalies. The 

 duckbill is possessed of a bill like a duck, its name tells us as 

 much, and feet strangely J resembling that bird's; moreover 

 it lays eggs; yet withal it is a mammal. As might be guessed 

 from an inspection of its strongly webbed feet, the duckbill is 

 an expert swimmer and as such makes its biurows in the banks 

 of some favored stream.. To every duckbill burrow there are 

 two entrances, one above and one below the water level. . The 

 former is always situated beneath a clump of vegetation, so that 

 detection is well nigh impossible. From below the water the 

 tunnel ascends at a fairly sharp angle, but it winds hither and 

 thither through the soil of the river bank and in all is many feet 

 in length. It terminates in a broad oval chamber, which is 

 well stocked with dried grasses. The young duckbills remain 

 in their underground nursery till they are more than half grown, 

 and it is lucky for them that their parents will tend them so 

 long, for they are helpless Httle creatures." 



The full page illustrations are from drawings and are graphic 

 and in many instances dramatic. The author has brought 

 together in this volume many interesting accounts of a large 

 number of animals, and it will give enjoyment to many readers. 



