BIOLOGY 

 LIBRARY 



THE ATHENJEUM 



N 3595, SEPT. 19, '96 

 SCIENCE 



The Ornithology of the Straits of Gibraltar. 



By Lieut. - Col. L. Howard L. Irby. 



Second Edition. (Porter.) 

 UNDER the above title, rather more than 

 twenty years ago, Col. Irby produced a 

 modest little octavo volume which at once 

 secured a high position in ornithological 

 literature. It treated of the natural history 

 of the north - western portion of Morocco, 

 from Tangier southwards to a little beyond 

 Larache, and for about twelve miles inland, 

 beyond which excursions were in those days 

 difficult, not to say dangerous ; while on the 

 Spanish side the area embraced was far 

 wider, comprising the country between 

 Cadiz, Gibraltar, Malaga, Granada, Cordova, 

 Seville, and down the Guadalquivir to the 

 great marshy delta of that river. Birds, 

 their habits and nidification, with the dates 

 of arrival and departure in the case of 

 migrants the results of several years' 

 experience formed the principal feature; 

 but there was a great deal of valuable 

 information about mammals, reptiles, and 

 other subjects in the work, and it became a 

 handbook for the naturalist traveller in the 

 South as much as the book of reference for 

 the student at home. Almost coincidently 

 with its publication Col. Irby retired from 

 the 74th Highlanders, but he by no means 

 forgot the fascinating country with which 

 his name will always be identified, and he 

 subsequently devoted considerable portions 

 of the next twenty years to revisiting his 

 former haunts as well as exploring new 

 districts. In doing this he consorted with, 

 and availed himself of the experience of, 

 many kindred spirits, such as Major Wil- 

 loughby Yerner (one of the most daring of 



