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The British Warblers — A History, with Problems of their 

 Lives. By H. Eliot Howard, F.Z.S., M.B.O.U. Parts 

 I. and II. Coloured and photogravure plates. (R. H. 

 Porter.) 21s. net per part. 



This work promises to be of quite unusual interest and 

 importance on account of the original observations on the 

 habits of many of the birds of which it treats. On this account, 

 and also for the plates depicting various seldom-seen attitudes, 

 it is to be highly commended. The plates — some in colour 

 and some in photogravure— represent the best work we have 

 yet seen from Mr. Gronvold. Those showing various attitudes 

 assumed during courtship are especially hfehke, and these 

 have been drawn from Mr. Howard's originals. 



Part I. is concerned with the Sedge- Warbler and the 

 Grasshopper- Warbler, and Part II. with the Chiffchaff and 

 the Yellow-browed Warbler. The observations on the habits 

 of the first three mentioned species should be read by everyone 

 interested in bionomical questions. To enable him to make 

 such detailed studies as are here set forth on the daily life of 

 these secretive little birds Mr. Howard must be endowed with 

 a patience beyond most men, and it is evident that he must 

 also be a persistently early riser. There are, too, several 

 thoughtful passages on evolutionary subjects — such as sexual 

 selection, and the plasticity of instinct — which deserve careful 

 perusal. 



We may here draw attention to a few of the points brought 

 out by Mr. How^ard's observations. In the three species 

 mentioned, the males appear to arrive at the breeding place 

 a week or ten days before the females. The area in which 

 the nesting operations are to take place is apparently chosen 

 by the male, and he spends much of his time in guarding 

 this area from all other males of his species. It has often 

 been noted that the same nesting site has been used for 

 many years by a pair of the same species. We beheve that 

 this is much more generally the case than is supposed, and in 

 such instances it may be concluded that if either of the pair 

 dies during the winter the survivor brings a new mate to the 

 nesting site the next spring. If only the males choose the 

 nesting territory then it is puzzling how it occurs that the 

 same place is occupied for many years in succession, unless, 

 indeed, the heir returning to the locality of his birth finds his 



