Recentli/ published Ornithological Works. 179 



furnish much food for thought ; while the pugnacity and 

 display of the males are considered in connexion with their 

 ways in the breeding-season. Mr. Py craft devotes a good 

 deal of space to the question of reproduction and care of the 

 young, and impresses upon us the fact that the study of 

 Eirds is one of living organisms, moulded by their inherent 

 constitution and by the struggle for existence ; while his 

 whole book shews how far evolution has succeeded in attaining 

 the objects for which it was intended. His knowledge of 

 Osteology and Pterylography has greatly assisted him 

 throughout, and he has taken much trouble to collect the 

 large mass of facts which he now produces for our edification. 

 Embryology is not treated in great detail, as it constitutes 

 a separate subject iu itself, but the young bird in general, its 

 coloration, its changes of plumage up to the adult stage, and 

 so forth, are discussed at considerable length. The author 

 is inclined to minimize the effect of sexual selection and to 

 rely on natural selection as the chief agent iu the production 

 of a robust progeny, while he does not consider that acquired 

 characters are transmissible. Apart from the special interest 

 of the evolutionary development of the bird-world, there is. 

 much worthy of note in the liual chapters, which among 

 other subjects deal with artificial selection, the effects of 

 isolation, structural and functional adaptations ; while the 

 last chapter of all is devoted to an account of convergent 

 evolution, as in the case of the Owls and the Nightjars. 



Mr. Pycraft states his own views freely throughout, and in 

 most places we cordially agree with him, but in some cases> 

 such as his theory of a direct noith and south migration, we 

 are hardly disposed to follow him on present information. 



In conclusion, we must not omit to mention Sir Ray 

 Lankester's masterly preface, which not only sums up 

 admirably the main points of the book, but serves to call 

 attention to those that arc to be considered of the greatest 

 importance. 



This ' History of Birds ^ is one of the volumes of a series 

 on ' Animal Lifc,^ produced under the editorship of Mr. 

 Pycraft, and we have no doubt that the whole of them will 



