688 
NATURE 
[FEBRUARY 19, I914 
THREE BOOKS ABOUT BIRDS. 
(1) Gis prefatorial note of Mr. Lowe’s book, 
apparently emanating from the pub- 
lishers, tells us that this-is the first of two 
volumes, of which the object is to help those who 
wish to know something about the birds they see 
at the seaside. It does not claim to be a scien- 
tific work in the strict sense; but the author, Mr. 
Lowe, is a man of science and a traveller far 
and wide, and knows how to appeal equally to the 
specialist and the general reader. Though heavy 
in the hand and somewhat trying to the eyes, the 
book is undoubtedly a beautiful one, and will be 
most welcome to all who wish to learn something 
about birds of the shore. _ Happily, the photo- 
graphs with which it abounds are all good, and 
far more useful and striking than those of most 
inland birds, of which we have long been getting 
he should learn this fact soundly, and be able to 
| let his mind work on the hydrographical map 
opposite page 2. ; 
On p. 22 we have two fragments of letterpress 
dealing with the general distribution of the gulls 
and their kind, interrupted by a picture of black- 
| headed gulls coming to rest, and opposite it is 
one (occupying the whole page) of a herring-gull 
in a state of ‘‘ suspicion.” Turning over the page 
we find two whole pages occupied with photos, 
and Mr. Lowe’s last unfinished sentence on p. 22 
is only re-discovered, like one of his own ringed 
birds, on p. 26. Surely it would have been better, 
less distracting for old eyes as well as young 
| minds, to print this chapter so that it might 
run consecutively, uninterrupted by illustrations 
which do not belong to it. Later in the book it 
| becomes a positive relief to be able to read a page 
or two of letterpress almost free from photos; 
Fic. 1,—Gannet—commencement of flight. 
rather weary. Both the birds of the sea and their 
haunts suit photography wonderfully well, and 
some of these pictures, notably the frontispiece, 
a flying gannet, are quite superb. There are, of 
course, too many of them, and the distinction 
between a picture-book and a book of natural 
history is not consistently maintained; for in- 
stance, in the excellent introductory chapter, 
where Mr. Lowe emphasises the fact that all our 
sea birds, the auks, petrels, and the kittiwake 
excepted, rarely wander far from the shore, the 
eye of the youthful reader will be distracted from 
the letterpress to photographs which have no 
direct bearing on the question. Yet it is most 
important, as a foundation of his knowledge, that 
1 (x) ““Our*eCommon Sea-birds.” By Percy R. Lowe. 
(London : Country Life, Ltd., n.d.) Price 15s. net. 
(2) “‘ Bird Life Throughout the Year.” By Dr. J. H.Salter. Pp. 256+ 
plates. (London: Headley Brothers, n.d.) Price 7s. 6d. net. 
(3) * Wild Life on the Wing.” By M. D, Haviland. Pp. iv+244+plstes. 
(London: A. and C. Black, 1913.) Pcice 55. net. 
NO. 2312, VOL. 92] 
Pp. xvi+3r10. 
From *‘ Our Common Sea-birds,' 
this is so in the very interesting description of 
the skuas, birds which do not allow even the most 
ardent photographer to deal with them very 
freely. Perhaps in the second volume it may be 
found possible to keep more consistently to the 
principle that illustrations should illustrate. 
But we gladly allow that a great number of 
the photographs may be found scientifically valu- 
able as well as artistically beautiful; for example, 
there is much matter here for the student of the 
flight of birds, especially of the gannet. And those 
who simply turn over the book to look at the 
pictures will learn much of “the life and conversa- 
tion” of some thirty species, which they never 
could have realised (or as we say now, visualised) 
before the days of bird-photography. Lastly, as 
| photography has brought all the writers—for 
there are others beside Mr. Lowe—into immedi- 
ate contact with the birds they have studied for 
a 
