QUILLS AND FEATHERS. 237 



by the author. Every individual of the families Falconidce 

 and Strigidce would make a perfect picture of itself, so 

 beautifully and correctly are they executed. " Few of the 

 others come up to these, and we are sorry to add that the 

 talented author has entirely failed in the delineation of 

 the Sylviadcp. and Fringillidce." The figures of the falcon 

 and owl families have certainly never been equalled even 

 by Gould and Audubon. 



This, with one or two omissions, brings us down to some 

 more modern writers ; the J. Gr. Atkinson (dear to school- 

 boys) whose " British Birds, Eggs and Nests " have been 

 the key to lots of delightful half holidays amongst English 

 lads, and whose little classics bring back happy hours when 

 the " boys of an older growth " chance upon them amongst 

 their heavier volumes. J. E. Harting's " Handbook of 

 British Birds " shows the distribution of the resident and 

 migratory birds in the British Islands, with an index to the 

 records of the rarer species. " The Ornithology of Shake- 

 speare," critically examined, explained, and illustrated, is a 

 useful work not attempted before ; while in " Our Summer 

 Migrants," we have an account of the migratory birds 

 which pass the summer in the British Islands, illustrated 

 from designs by Thomas Bewick. For those who reside in 

 the country and have the time and inclination to observe the 

 habits of birds, this is a most entertaining volume. The 

 habits have been noted and much information generally 

 given about our summer migratory birds. 



Without our Rev. F. O. Morris, of Nunburnholm, we 

 should be lost indeed ! His " History of British Birds/' in 

 six volumes, with 365 finely coloured plates (6 65.), and 

 published only some fifteen years ago, could hardly be better. 

 In the smaller editions since issued, the letterpress is repro- 

 duced in its completeness, but the plates have been cut down 

 to a woeful extent owing to the exigencies of binding, com- 

 pletely spoiling their artistic appearance, though not their 

 usefulness, of course, for purposes of identification. To the 



