NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 415 
A History of British Birds. By the late Witt1am YarrReE.L, 
V.-P.L.S., F.Z.S. Fourth edition. Revised by ALFRED 
Newton, M.A., F.R.S., Professor of Zoology and Compara- 
tive Anatomy in the University of Cambridge. Part XIII. 
June, 1880. Van Voorst, Paternoster Row. 
Since our last notice of this work it is satisfactory to be able 
to announce the appearance of another part (Part xiii.), and, 
although a longer interval has elapsed between the publication of 
this and the preceding numbers than could be wished for, we 
must be thankful for small mercies, and hope, now that the editor 
has disposed of the troublesome order Passeres, more rapid 
progress will be made towards the completion of the work. 
In the number before us the species dealt with are the Pie, 
Jay, Nutcracker, Swallow, Martin, Sand Martin, Purple Martin, 
concluding the Passeres, and the Swift, Alpine Swift, Night- 
jar, and a portion of the Cuckoo, as a first instalment of the 
Picarie. 
A noticeable feature in the present part is the very complete 
account given of the Nutcracker, as compared with the somewhat 
meagre information supplied in the third edition of the work, 
more particularly as regards the nidification of this bird, the 
older accounts of which, as Professor Newton remarks, “have 
proved to be mere suppositions, and very wide of the mark.” 
The reliable information which we now possess concerning 
the breeding of the Nutcracker has been collected from the 
observations of different naturalists, made for the most part 
long subsequently to the publication, in 1856, of the third edition 
of this work. Indeed, since that date so much fresh material 
has come to hand, not only as regards the nidification but also 
the geographical distribution of this species, that Professor 
Newton may be said to have written an entirely new and original 
account of it. 
No less interesting and valuable is the chapter upon the 
Cuckoo (or, as he prefers to write it, ‘‘Cuckow’’), which, how- 
ever, remains incomplete until the appearance of the next part. 
Referring to the average date of the arrival of this bird 
in England, which he considers to be ‘‘about the middle of 
April,” he says :—“ Its arrival has frequently been reported jn 
March, or earlier still, but such records must be treated with 
