﻿Recently 
  published 
  Ornithological 
  Works. 
  139 
  

  

  Lakeland, 
  as 
  our 
  author 
  appropriately 
  terms 
  the 
  area 
  of 
  

   which 
  he 
  writes, 
  is 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  attractive 
  portions 
  of 
  

   England, 
  and 
  very 
  varied 
  in 
  its 
  character, 
  containing 
  not 
  

   only 
  the 
  whole 
  of 
  the 
  " 
  Lakes,^^ 
  as 
  they 
  are 
  commonly 
  called, 
  

   and 
  the 
  splendid 
  mountain 
  district 
  in 
  which 
  they 
  lie, 
  but 
  

   also 
  a 
  long 
  line 
  of 
  sea-coast 
  broken 
  by 
  many 
  estuaries, 
  of 
  

   which 
  " 
  the 
  sands, 
  creeks, 
  and 
  marshes, 
  feeding 
  and 
  sheltering 
  

   innumerable 
  flocks 
  of 
  Avaterfowl, 
  are 
  happy 
  hunting-grounds 
  

   alike 
  for 
  the 
  sportsman 
  and 
  the 
  naturalist/' 
  Under 
  these 
  

   circumstances 
  it 
  was 
  to 
  be 
  expected 
  that 
  Lakeland 
  would 
  

   furnish 
  a 
  goodly 
  list 
  of 
  birds, 
  and 
  we 
  find 
  262 
  species 
  

   recorded 
  as 
  occurring 
  within 
  its 
  limits. 
  Of 
  these 
  we 
  may 
  

   perhaps 
  pick 
  out 
  the 
  Pied 
  Flycatcher 
  {Muscicapa 
  atricapilla) 
  

   and 
  the 
  Dotterel 
  {Eudromias 
  morinellus) 
  as 
  two 
  of 
  the 
  

   most 
  characteristic 
  birds 
  of 
  the 
  Lakeland 
  Avifauna, 
  whilst 
  

   the 
  Isabelline 
  Wheatear 
  [Saxicola 
  isabellina) 
  , 
  to 
  which 
  a 
  plate 
  

   is 
  devoted, 
  is 
  its 
  greatest 
  rarity 
  *. 
  

  

  Our 
  readers, 
  however, 
  must 
  not 
  confine 
  their 
  attention 
  to 
  

   the 
  Birds 
  of 
  this 
  work. 
  They 
  will 
  find 
  the 
  whole 
  volume 
  of 
  

   interest, 
  especially 
  the 
  introductory 
  chapters 
  on 
  the 
  Natural- 
  

   ists 
  of 
  Lakeland, 
  the 
  extinct 
  mammals, 
  and 
  the 
  various 
  

   modes 
  of 
  bird-fowling. 
  Moreover, 
  like 
  all 
  Mr. 
  Douglas's 
  

   books, 
  it 
  is 
  well 
  printed 
  and 
  nicely 
  illustrated, 
  and 
  con- 
  

   cludes 
  with 
  an 
  excellent 
  map. 
  

  

  31. 
  Merriam 
  on 
  Geographical 
  Distribution 
  in 
  North 
  

   America. 
  

  

  [The 
  Geographic 
  Distribution 
  of 
  Life 
  in 
  North 
  America, 
  with 
  special 
  

   reference 
  to 
  the 
  Mammalia. 
  By 
  C. 
  Hart 
  Merriam, 
  M.D. 
  Proc. 
  Biol. 
  

   Soc. 
  Washington, 
  vii. 
  pp. 
  1-64, 
  1892.] 
  

  

  Dr. 
  Merriam's 
  Presidential 
  Address 
  to 
  the 
  Biological 
  

   Society 
  of 
  Washington 
  relates 
  principally 
  to 
  the 
  Mammals 
  

   of 
  North 
  America, 
  on 
  which 
  subject 
  he 
  is 
  a 
  well-known 
  

   expert. 
  But 
  the 
  author 
  also 
  refers 
  to 
  birds, 
  and 
  his 
  essay 
  

   deserves 
  the 
  careful 
  attention 
  of 
  every 
  naturalist. 
  Its 
  main 
  

   object 
  is 
  to 
  vindicate 
  his 
  position 
  [cf. 
  Ibis, 
  1891, 
  p. 
  134) 
  that 
  

   we 
  have 
  hitherto 
  been 
  altogether 
  wrong 
  in 
  our 
  views 
  as 
  to 
  

  

  * 
  (/. 
  Ibis, 
  ] 
  883, 
  p. 
  149. 
  

  

  