Janlarv. I'Ui. 



KNOWLEDGE. 



29 



from an educational point of view, and that tlie facts them- 

 selves, even if retained in the memory, are not likely to 

 be of much value to the general reader. The book, however, 

 would probably be of service for the answering of examination 

 questions of a certain type. 



The illustrations taken from photographs are fairly 

 successful, the one of Lake .Ad.i being perhaps the best ; but 

 surely a good map would have been a more useful frontispiece 

 than a specimen of Maori carvini; ! \I n H 



Textbook of Gcotimphy.—By (',. C. Fry, M.Sc. 2nd 



1-klition. 4(icS pages. 96 I'igmes. 5-in.X7-in. 



(University Tutorial Press. I'rice 4 O.l 



In the second edition of this useful textbook a large number 



of maps and diagrams have been added. The statistical 



information is brought up-to"-date, and an appendix containing 



numerous examination questions is supplied. These certainly 



.idd to the utility of this compact and comprehensive textbook. 



Whilst the illustrations are in general good and clear some of 



the coloured maps are not very successful, notably Figure 76. 



The book is intended for matriculation students, and is 



extremely well written and arranged. - ,,. ^- 



GEOLOGV. 



The Changeful Earth.— By G. A. J. Coi.i.. \1.R.I..\., 

 F^.G.S. 223 pages. 51 F"igures. 4j-in. X7in. 

 (Macmillan & Co. Price 1/6 net.) 

 This fascinating little book is one of a series of " Readable 

 Books in Natural Knowledge," which is intended to stimulate 

 interest in scientific studies, and '" to present natural 

 phenomena and laws broadly and attractively." That the 

 book under review- fulfils this object goes almost without 

 saying. Prof. Cole has written in his most attractive style 

 the romantic story of geology as it is recorded in the lives and 

 labours of its great pioneers. The history of the changeful 

 earth is told in a series of chapters which describe the 

 achievements of the pioneers in each branch of the science. 

 The reader is gently led up to the present position of geology 

 by a consideration of the development of the fundamental 

 conceptions of the science in the minds of its earlier exponents. 

 In the capable hands of the author this method of presentation 

 is most successful, and we have read few books which are so 

 likely as this to produce a lasting and fruitful enthusiasm for 

 geology. The book is written in a simple and charming style, 

 and makes its appeal as literature quite as nuich as by its 

 interesting subject matter. As an introduction to geology for 

 nature-students it will be found invaluable. ^ ,,, ^ 



ORNITHOLOGY. 



Tlw Home-life of the Osprey. — Photographed and described. 

 Hv Ci.iNroN G. .Abbott, H.A. 54 pages. J2 pl.Ues. 

 lOi-in. X7J-hi. 

 (Witherby & Co. Price 6 - net.) 

 The observations and photographs contained in this wuik 

 were made in the Eastern States of .America, and Mr. Abbott, 

 knowing that the Osprey is all but extinct in Britain, and that 

 any nests existing in recent years were in solitary and remote 

 places in the Scottish Highlands, remarks on the surprise with 

 which he saw his first American Osprey "s nest. "It was," he 

 writes, ■■ at a popular seaside resort in New Jersey, and 

 perched on a tree over a lake full of row-boats and noisy 

 holiday-makers" (page 7). The bird probably still nests, or 

 attempts to do so, within the bounds of the city of New York. 

 and on Gardiner's Island about three miles from Long Island 

 (where the species has been protected for many years), it is 

 estimated that some two hundred nests are in existence. Mr. 

 .Abbott has put his opportunities on this island and elsewhere 

 to excellent use, and has given us a series of valuable personal 

 observations on the fishing, breeding and other habits of the 

 Osprey. and on the rearing and conduct of young birds in the 

 nest. He gives an instructive narrative of a continuous 

 twenty-fi\e hours watch with his camera close to a nest with 

 young, the object being to ascertain some definite data as to 



how often young Osprey s are fed. During this watch food 

 was only brought to the nest three times, and Mr. .Abbott 

 thinks that the young are not fed more than twice, or at the 

 most, three times a day ; this infrequency surprises him, and 

 he asks for further information. 



The numerous photographs by Mr. .Abbott and Mr. H. H. 

 Cleaves accompanying the work are very fine indeed, and it is 

 not too much to say that by themselves they tell the story of 

 the bird. Some particulars are given of the photographic 

 methods adopted in securing these pictures and the enthusi- 

 astic pleasure which Mr. .Abbott expresses in this work is well 

 justified. |_, i^ \y 



Report on the I iiiiiii}>rntioits of Sidniiier k'esulenls in 

 the Spring of I'IKI. .Also Notes on the .Migratory Move- 

 ments during the Autumn of 1909. — By the CoMMlTTKE 

 ApI'OINTKD by THli BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS' ClUB. 



314 pages. 21 maps. SJ-in.X 5:i-in. 

 (Witherby & Co. Price 6/- net.) 

 This is the sixth annual consecutive Report of the valuable 

 and important work being done by the Migration Committee 

 of the B.O.C., and they explain that the lines followed are 

 similar to those of previous Reports. A great amount of 

 information is given, but no remarkable phenomena or 

 abnormal movements seem to have occurred during the period 

 reported on. and the records are almost entirely similar to 

 those of previous Reports and, of their kind, well known to 

 observers and students. The accumulation of facts on a 

 uniform system over a series of years is of essential importance 

 in such researches, but it may reach a point at which it ceases 

 to be information. For instance, it seems superfluous, and in no 

 way an addition to our knowledge, to give in detail the ordinary 

 dates of the arrivals of common summer bird-visitants, and 

 these might be taken for granted, and only departures from the 

 normal chronicled. Both the Editor and the Committee 

 remark on the voluminous character of the Report and their 

 endeavours to condense it. The attainment of this end would 

 be assisted by their publishing only observations and returns 

 of material importance throwing fresh light on the subject or 

 containing new records. The space thus made available 

 might be utilized in extending the field of the enquiry and 

 amplifying its usefulness. A real advance might be attempted 

 in co-opting and co-ordinating observations made by others, a 

 task which the influence and learning of the B.O.C. make 

 more likely of attainment by them than otherwise. The 

 limited character of the Report as now compiled is shown in 

 one direction by the records given of a few of the scheduled 

 birds from the Clyde district (thus extending the work beyond 

 England and Wales), while records of other birds in that 

 district are ignored, as well as the whole of the information 

 published elsewhere for other parts of Scotland. 



The immigrants reported on in detail in the volume are 

 thirty-three in number, and twenty-one of them are also 

 separately mapped, a graphic and useful assistance. The 

 " unscheduled birds" (pages 160-181) and those dealt with in 

 the " Notes on the Migratory Movements dining tlie autumn 

 of 1909" (pages 200-260) are somewhat hidden, by not being 

 named in the table of contents (there is no index), but there 

 are some excellent short accounts of bird-movements under 

 these headings. The reports on the Starling (pages 167 and 2331 

 and the Crossbill (page 231) may be .specially mentioned. 

 Under the last-named the apposite remark is made that " if 

 the true cause of these sporadic irruptions of certain species 

 were known we might have a clue to the beginnings of the 

 migratory instinct." Might this conjecture not be extended to 

 include the sporadic movements of any species r j j j^ y^, 



TIDES. 



Tlie Titles and Kindred Phenomena of the Solar System. 



— Bv Sir G. H. Darwin. K.C.B.. F.R.S. Third edition, 



1911. 437 pages. 46 illustrations. 8-in. X5-in. 



(John Murray. Price 7/6 net.) 



Successive editions of a book afford some test of the 



general need or approval for the work; it proves that the 



