^q2 



A'A TURE 



[October i ; 



'S95 



untiijuaicci rigurcs 01 tiiL- loniiLT tciiiHiii, 1im \» 111:11 they 

 are placed beside Mr. Keulemans' beautiful plates, the 

 contrast is too striking not to call forth unfavourable 

 remark. The birds from the hand of that artist seem 

 transported fresh from the heaths and the hills ; the others 

 look like worn museum specimens. A special feature in Mr. 

 Ogilvie-G rant's hand-book, is the full account given of the 

 various phases of the moult in the grouse, partridge and 

 blackcock, and of the curious change of plumage that takes 

 place in these birds without moulting. We are indeed in- 

 debted, as observed above, to him more, we believe, than 

 to any other, for the elucidation of these interesting, and to 

 a great extent inexplicable, variations. The account he 

 gives of the plumage-changes in the blackcock i Lynirus 

 Ulrix) have ne\er till now been so fully described. We 

 understand that the description of both male and female 

 •of ever>- species has been carefully made from the actual 

 skins, and checked with the specimens, in proof. This is 

 sufficient to establish the accuracy and value of Mr. 

 Ogilvie-Cirant's work. The only doubtful statement we 

 have detected is on p. 189, where the author has stated, 

 following the authority of Sir Walter Huller, that the X.ew 

 Zealand quail, now extinct in that colony, still exists on 

 the Kennadec Islands. We are inclined to believe that 

 its discover)' on the latter island was a mistake, and that 

 this interesting bird is -now absolutely exterminated. 



"The Land-birds and Game-birds of New England" 

 is a new edition of tTiis local fauna published some nine- 

 teen years ago. Its autTior is the late Mr. Henry D. 

 .\Iinot, who. as we learn from a biographical notice which 

 prefaces the book, had from early childhood showed a 

 great fondness for nature, and who, devoting himself to 

 the study of birds, had completed the manuscript of this 

 volume of over 400 closely-printed pages in his seven- 

 teenth year. This new edition issues from the press 

 tmder the care of the distinguished ornithologist, Mr. W. 

 Brewster, who says that the book was well received on 

 its appearance, sold rapidly, and soon became out of 

 print. Mr. Minot adopted the profession of a railroad 

 engineer, and for fifteen years lived in the hope of add- 

 ing to, and correcting his published observations. His 

 ■duties, however, prevented him from accomplishing this 

 task, and his career terminated in i8go by his being 

 killed in a railway coflision. Written by a youth of 

 seventeen, as the editor observes, " with, as I am assured, 

 almost no outside help of either a literary or scientific 

 kind, it is a remarkable and interesting book, for most of 

 the [bird] biographies relate to his own experiences or 

 impressions."' The book is certainly worth republishing. 

 Till- original text has been left almost untouched, and a 

 few notes found in Mr. .Minot's annotated copy are in- 

 serted at the foot of the pages. .As could not but happen 

 in one so young, there are not a few errors, both of fact 

 and deduction; but the "editorial touches" of Mr. 

 Urcwstcr have safeguarded the reader against being 

 misled, and given to the book much of the value it now 

 possesses. .Mr. Minot was a keen observer, and the 

 worth of his work, apart from what it possesses as a local 

 f.Tinn. and from Mr. Urcwster's annotations, lies in his 

 ibils of ihc New England birds, 

 will lind in it much accurate and 

 material, recorded in a pleasant and easy 



;>"• 1355. VOL. 52] 



style. In speaking of the k\\.\a\\ ti/.//;/.> : ni^uuaiuis . 

 he racily describes the unsuccessful pursuit of a covey by 

 a young "gunner," and concludes : " Now the lad returns 

 home, and explains his ill-luck by an extraordinary theory, 

 read of in books, and verified by his own experience, 

 that our Quail have a wonderful power of retaining their 

 scent. The only sound argument to prove this statenieni 

 is that our game-birds, when \ ery young, by a thoughtful 

 provision of nature, emit little or no scent." In later 

 years the author added this note. "... When game- 

 birds drop suddenly to the ground and remain motionless, 

 the dog does not perceive them. Quail most frequently 

 alight in this way, but as soon as they begin to move, the 

 effluvium escapes and is disseminated." Mr. Brewster 

 adds his " editorial touch " to the following eftcct : " The 

 question cannot be settled in this sunmiary manner, for 

 the writer overlooks the important fact that the habit of 

 retaining scent is not common to all the quail of any one 

 locality or region. On the contrary, it is peculiar to 

 i certain individual or bevies who invariably practise it 

 when pursued by sportsmen, ^'et these individuals do 

 not drop more suddenly, nor remain more motionless, 

 than the less fortunate birds which the dogs easily find 

 and point." Thus author and editor. 



The illustr.ttions consist of woodcuts in outline, but 

 though "drawn from nature," are of no practical use, 

 and might have been omitted with advant.age. The book 

 is well printed, and has, as frontispiece, a portrait " pre- 

 pared and engraved by Mr. .A. K. jaccaci as a personal 

 tribute" to the talented but unfortunate author. 



In "Wild England of To-Day," by Mr. Cornish, we 

 have a collection of essays repulilishcd from different 

 journals, but chiefly from the Spt\/tt/o>; describing the life 

 in various "wild," secluded or thinly populated districts 

 of the country " ranging from the southern cliffs to the 

 Yorkshire fen." .Although we find such subjects dis- 

 cussed as "salmon-netting at Christchurch," "trout- 

 breeding," and "the deer in Richmond Park," the 

 majority of the papers are devoted to bird-subjects, and 

 thus come lawfully within the scope of this article. The 

 whole of tlie sketches, while quite popularly written, arc 

 scientifically accurate, without being or pretending to be 

 permanent contributions to science. Charmingly indited, 

 they remind one of the style and flavour of the late 

 Richard Jefteries' psalms in praise of nature. The book 

 is adorned by a number of full-page illustrations of ex- 

 ceptional excellence, from photographs and from drawings 

 speci.tlly made for il, of which the " I'ecwii's Nest," by 

 J. W. (lakes, .\.R..-\., deserves special mention as an 

 exquisite little picture. 



The latest .-iddition to tlie attractively Ijnund " I'ur 

 and Feather " scries, whose volumes form such pleasant 

 journeying companions, is "The Pheasant." The Rev. 

 H. .A. .Macpherson treats, as he does in several of its prede- 

 cessors, of the natural history of the bird. He discusses 

 concisely its acclimatisation from the earliest times, its 1 

 geographical distribution and its nesting habits, while 

 under the heading of " Krcaks and Oddities ' he describes 

 its plumage-changes and its cross-breeding. His section 

 concludes with two chatty chapters on " Old World 

 Fowling" and " I'oaching in the Nineteenth Century. 



