February 



900] 



NATURE 



THREE NEW BIRD BOOKS} 



'X'HE issue of these three works, which have no con- 

 -^ nection with one another, save as regards the 

 approximate time of their birth, serves to indicate the 

 increasing popularity of ornithology, and a consequent 

 demand for histories of the avifauna of each and every 

 country. As regards Great Britain, systematic treatises 

 on its bird-fauna are, as we all know, to be counted by 

 the dozen ; and the chief business of the ornithologist of 

 the future should accordingly be concentrated on the 

 habits and distribution of the birds inhabiting this area. 

 In America, on the other hand, much doubtless remains 

 to be done in the working out of the details of local 

 faunas ; and there is accordingly in all probability ample 

 room for the second and third volumes on our list. 

 .\lthough these are primarily intended to popularise the 

 subject, they both possess a certain amount of import- 

 ance to the systematic naturalist as being, apparently, 

 accurate lists of local faunas. Not that by this state- 

 ment we intend in any way to disparage the value of the 

 work standing first on the list ; we ourselves being at the 

 present day inclined to assign a higher value to treatises 

 dealing with the habits and environ- 

 ment of animals than to those devoted 

 to their taxonomy. 



The brothers Kearton appear to 

 have set themselves the task of photO; 

 graphing and describing the nest and 

 eggs of every species of bird known 

 to breed in the British Islands ; and 

 although their labours are still un- 

 finished, the issue of the present 

 volume brings them not very far from 

 their goal. To those who have not 

 made the attempt (and, so far as we 

 are aware, the Messrs. Kearton 

 stand alone in this respect) it may be 

 difficult to realise the amount ot 

 labour in the task which the author 

 and his brother have set themselves. 

 But when we are told in the preface 

 that the mere railway and steamboat 

 travelling hitherto undertaken totals 

 up to something like ten thousand 

 miles, while many valuable hours and 

 days have been spent in unsuccessful 

 tramps across bog and fell, it becomes 

 evident that the task is no sinecure, 

 either from the point of view of time 

 or expense. Only strong enthusiasm 

 could, indeed, have enabled the 

 author and his brother to have perse- 

 vered thus far, and it may be hoped that circumstances 

 will permit them to complete their arduous labours. 



The volume in which the nests of the commoner British 

 birds were figured was published in 1895 '■> '"^"^ as the 

 present issue contains figures of the nidification of no 

 less than fifty-seven additional species, it is evident that 

 neither author nor artist have been idle since that date. 

 Exquisite as are the illustrations in the first volume, those 

 in the present issue are in many cases even more success- 

 ful, and bear self-apparent testimony to the care spent on 

 tliem by the artist. As an example, we reproduce the 

 ligure of Fulmar Petrels nesting. Neither is the letterpress 

 less attractive. Naturally, the brothers met with many 

 adventures during their wanderings, and we may particu- 



'Our Rarer Briti.sh Breeding Birds; their Nests, Eggs, and Summer 

 . ints." By R. Kearton. Illustrated from photograplis by C. Kearton. 



Nvi + MQ. (Lxjndon : C.-issell and Co., Ltd.. 1899 ) 



The Birds of Rhode Island" By R. H Howe, jun., and E. Sturte- 

 it. Pp. III. Illustrated. Privately printed. 189c. 



The Birds of Eastern North America— Water Birds." Part I. Key 

 ! lie Families and Species. By C. B. Cory. Pp. ix -f- 142. Illustrated. 

 (I liicago : Field Columbian Museum, 1899.) 



larly direct attention to the account on p. 109 of the 

 manner in which the great Skua attacked one of them 

 as he approached its nest. Very curious, too, is the 

 habit these birds have of building an additional nest 

 in the neighbourhood of the one in use, to which the 

 eggs or young may be conveyed when the former ts 

 flooded or otherwise damaged. The author by no means 

 confines himself to the description of the nests and eggs, 

 but gives an interesting account of the kind of country 

 in which they are found, a view of the scenery distinctive 

 of the habitat of particular species being frequently given. 



As already said, the text, from a natural history point 

 of view, is thoroughly satisfactory ; but it must be con- 

 fessed that it is not altogether free from literary blemishes. 

 Take, for e.xample, a sentence in reference to the .Siskir* 

 (p. 104), which runs as follows: — "The nest has been 

 found sparingly in various parts of England from time 

 to tiine, but in Scotland it breeds regularly in many of 

 the great pine forests so well suited to its habits." 



The foregoing mention of the great Skua reminds us 

 that Mr. Kearton has much to say regarding the efficiency^ 

 or otherwise of the regulations in force for the protection 

 of the rarer birds and their eggs, his remarks on this- 



NO. 1579. VOL. 6l"| 



Fulmar Petrels Nesting (from Kearton's " Rarer British Breeding Birds'). 



subject being well worthy the best attention of County 

 Councils and landowners interested in bird protection. 

 While not one of those who urge that on no account 

 should a comparatively rare species ever be shot, as 

 witness his observations in reference to the Peregrine 

 Falcon, he considers that the present wild bird protec- 

 tion laws are almost a dead letter. After stating that 

 eggs of species specially protected by law are openly 

 hunted for by people of all ages and conditions, he adds : 

 " I have no hestitation in saying that the only real good 

 done in the United Kingdom in the way of bird preser- 

 vation has been accomplished by private efforts." He 

 then goes on to say that, as a matter of fact, the en- 

 forcement of the law as it stands frequently ends in the 

 destruction of the bird it strives to protect by calling 

 attention to the places where it occurs. His remedy is to 

 restrict protective laws to the dozen species or so for which 

 they are most urgently needed, and to afford effective 

 protection to such selected species during the whole of 

 the breeding season by means of reliable watchers. 



Commending these important suggestions to those 



