THE ZooLoGist—J UNE, 1876. 4971 
smoke, as may be most profitable or least troublesome to the architect, to 
whom the name of Arthur Morin is unknown, or simply employed as 
expressive of contempt. Committees and estimates, again, are insuperable 
obstacles to economy and “ comfort.” 
Ornithology of the Straits of Gibraltar. By Lieut.-Colonel L. Howard L. 
Irby, F.L.S. London: R. H. Porter, Tenterden Street. 1875. 
Demy 8yo, 280 pp. letterpress. 
Colonel Irby, before attaining that title, was a correspondent of the 
‘ Zoologist,’ and the volumes for 1851, 1852, 1853 and 1854 were enriched 
by many of his contributions. I remember being extremely pleased with 
his “ Habits of the Green Sandpiper,” and his “ List of Birds observed in 
the Crimea in 1851.” It is a most sincere pleasure to see him again in 
print, and evincing the same interest in Natural History which he exhibited 
a quarter of a century ago, and to know that his eye has not grown dim nor 
his natural power of observation in any respect abated. 
The scene of Colonel Irby’s recent observations has long been classical 
ground to me, and a translation of a paper on migrants observed crossing 
the Straits was one of my earliest ventures in Ornithology. It was not 
without regret that I suffered the loss of Colonel Irby’s instructive con- 
tributions for so long a period, or that I saw them in connection with 
technical matter in a journal where they are less calculated to diffuse 
general instruction ; still I fear that many prefer the restriction of this kind 
of information to the extremely select circle of readers who have no doubt 
enjoyed it more thoroughly from the elimination of more popular Natural 
History. Be this as it may, Colonel Irby’s papers, wherever published, are 
always instructive and always acceptable. 
The volume is accompanied by excellent maps of both the European and 
African sides cf the Straits—maps that enable us to mark the locality 
where each species has been seen. I observe Colonel Irby notices the very 
general, indeed the almost universal, occurrence of migration among birds. 
He observes, ‘“‘ Few, indeed bardly any, birds do not migrate or shift their 
ground to some extent. I can name very few indeed which do not appear 
to move, viz., griffon vulture, imperial eagle, eagle owl, blue thrush, and all 
the woodpeckers, tree creeper, blackheaded warbler, Dartford warbler, crested 
lark, chough, raven, magpie, redlegged and Barbary partridges, and Anda- 
lusian quail. Generally speaking it seems to me that in the vernal migration 
the males are the first to arrive, as with the wheatears, nightingales, night 
herons, bee-eaters; but this is a thing which requires confirmation. Some 
species, as the Neophron, pass in pairs.”—P. 13. 
Nothing is more commendable or more observable than the caution with 
which Colonel Irby receives information from other sources. Every fact 
he records has been tested by all the means within his reach before he 
