32 



jVA TURE 



[May 9. 1 90 1 



who, by training and experience, is most familiar with the 

 neighbouring West Indian seas and all that pertains 

 to fisheries work upon them. Perusal of Dr. Duerden's 

 paper is convincing as to the urgency of this matter, and 

 we consider that the Government and those in charge 

 of the Agricultural Department of the West Indies would 

 be well advised did they provide, properly equipped, a 

 laboratory of which he should be put in charge. To do 

 so would be but to give the Department equal chances 

 with others under Imperial control, to which it is closely 

 akin. 



Concerning the economic zoology of the West Indian 

 seas then, everything tends to show that at the present 

 time circumstances so combine that it may be said all is 

 ripe for the initiation of a new departure, under which 

 systematic work and organisation, guided by the light of 

 science, may be profitably brought to bear. The local 

 Press are advocating this course, and the special publica- 

 tion of Dr. Duerden's paper is the expression on the part 

 of those best competent to judge of its desirability. 

 Given this, and the scientific knowledge of the move- 

 ments and life-histories of the denizens of the seas which 

 would thus be obtainable, the hatcheries, curing-houses, 

 wharves and trading-fleet would follow in due course ; 

 and it is certain that a moderate amount of assistance 

 bestowed in the direction we have indicated might be 

 the means of placing the depressed colonies in an im- 

 proved position, and of thereby lessening their constantly- 

 recurring charge upon the mother country. 



THE LATE MR. SEEBOHM'S TRAVELS IN 



ARCTIC EUROPE AND ASIA> 

 'T'HE two well-known volumes, respectively entitled 

 •^ " Siberia in Europe " and " .Siberia in Asia," m 

 which Mr. Seebohm described his bird-nesting expedi 

 tions to the Petchora (1875) and Venesei (1S77) valle>s, 

 having long been out of print, the author determined to 

 combine (and to some extent condense) the two narra- 

 tives, and to issue them in single volume form. The 

 greater portion of this task had been accomplished 

 when it was unhappily brought to an abrupt close by the 

 untimely death of the talented author. Its completion 

 was thus of necessity left to another hand. Although 

 the editor has not thought fit to make his identity known 

 to the public, he may be congratulated on the tact and 

 skill with which he has carried out his share of the work 



In one respect, and one respect only, are we disposed 

 to find fault with the editor ; and this in regard to the 

 title chosen for the volume. In this respect, indeed, both 

 author and editor are singularly unfortunate. "Siberia 

 in Europe," the title of the first volume of the original 

 work, is a geographical absurdity, and " Birds of Siberia" 

 is but little, if at all, better. For, in the first place, at 

 least half of the tract of country through which the author 

 travelled has not the faintest shadow of a claim to be 

 termed " Siberia,'' and, secondly, birds form by no means 

 the sole topic on which the author discourses. " Egg- 

 hunting in high latitudes," or some such title, would, we 

 think, have been a far preferable designation. 



Since Mr. .Seebohm's account of his journey along the 

 Yenesei was reviewed at considerable length in these 

 columns when the original work was published, a very 

 brief notice will suffice on the present occasion. 

 T'le author's main object was to obtain nests, eggs 

 nd young of birds whose breeding habits were pre- 

 ^fiously almost or entirely unknown ; and his success in 

 discovering the breeding places of the grey plover, little 

 stint and other kinds of his favourite " Charadriid;e " 

 are now matters of history. Migration was also a 

 favourite subject of study and speculation on the part of 



1 " The Birds of Siberia ; a Record of .1 Naturalist's Visit to the Valleys 

 of the Petchora and Venesei." By Henry Seebohm. Pp. xix -I- 512. 

 Illustrated. (London: Murray, 1901). Price12j.net. 



NO. 1645, VOL. 64] 



Mr. Seebohm ; and although we may be unable to assent to 

 all his views and opinions with regard to this phenomenon, 

 his account (p. 203) of the rush of migrating birds on 

 Heligoland must remain fresh and interesting for all time. 



" From the darkness in the east,'' he writes, "clouds of 

 birds were continually emerging in an uninterrupted 

 stream ; a few swerved from their course, fluttered for a 

 moment as if dazzled by the light, and then gradually 

 vanished with the rest in the western gloom. . . I should 

 be afraid to hazard a guess as to the hundreds of thou- 

 sands that must have passed in a couple of hours .... 

 The scene from the balcony of the lighthouse was equally 

 interesting ; in every direction birds were flying like a 

 swarm of bees, and every few seconds one flew against 

 the glass." 



.And Mr. .Seebohm is equally happy when describing 

 the habits of the birds and their young on the tundra, 

 which formed the main object of his expeditions. The 

 most striking illustrations in the book are undoubtedly 

 those of the nest and young of the grey plover and little . 

 stint, but as these appeared in N.^turt: on a former 

 occasion they are not repeated here, and we prefer to 



give, as an example of Mr. Whyniper's illustrations, the 

 exquisite cut of willow-grouse which stands at the head 

 of chapter xii. 



But, as we have already indicated, Mr. Seebohm by no 

 means confined his attention to birds, and his notes on 

 the Samoyedes of the Petchora should form interesting 

 reading to all students of anthropology, while his obser- 

 vations on reindeer can scarcely fail to attract all those 

 who make a special study of the deer tribe. The sports- 

 man, too, will find much interesting matter in many of 

 Mr. Seebohm's pages. 



Our opinion of the manner in which the editor has 

 carried out his task has been already expressed ; but we 

 think he would have been wiser had he cut out the penul- 

 timate paragraph of the last chapter, which contains 

 certain very unnecessary reflections on the mode of zoo- 

 logical work in vogue in this country. 



As an interesting and well-written account of two 

 adventurous journeys through little-known mosquito- 

 haunted regions, the work should attract a large circle of 

 readers. R. L. 



