512 



NA TURE 



[April 2 1908 



,anioni? ihe summer migrants) roach in Yorlcsliire the 

 northern limit of their annup' distribution during the 

 breeding season. If we ado to these and other well- 

 Uiiown 'midland and southern species the very local 

 pied flycatcher, which is common in many localities, 

 and such moorland and fell birds as the merlin, twite, 

 dipper, grey wagtail, grouse, golden plover, dunlin, 

 and curlew.'various wild ducks, and the numerous rock 

 birds which resort to the sea cliffs in the nesting 

 season, we get a breeding avifauna which is probably 

 unequalled by that of any block of adjacent English 

 counties equal to Yorkshire in size, although it is 

 surpassed by that of North Wales, with a much smaller 

 area. Yorkshire is, however, singularly deficient in 

 terns. 



Among the manv rare and accidental visitors may 

 be mentioned the Siberian meadow bunting (the only 



trations, which make the account given quite clear to 

 those who have never been present at this harvest of 

 the cliffs. Notwithstanding the fact that about 80,000 

 eggs is the average yearly " take," it is stated that 

 there is no diminution in the numbers of the birds. 

 But the e^^ collecting is carried out with some care, 

 some portions of the cliffs being " fallowed " occa- 

 sionally ; and, moreover, there are dangerous parts of 

 the cliffs which are never climbed, and in these places 

 the birds hatch out their first eggs without inter- 

 ference. 



In the carefullv prepared articles on each species, 

 the history in the county of the declining or 

 recently extinct birds is fully given, every bit of avail- 

 able evidence and information having been most 

 praiseworthily preserved. Especial attention may be 

 directed to the excellent articles on the raven, 

 the rarer birds of prey, and the great bustard. A 

 point is made of the earliest allusion to each species 

 as a Yorkshire bird. In this connection we notice 

 that the author has included as an early reference 

 to the black grouse a letter from Fr. Jessop to 

 John Ray, written in 1668, saying he had stuffed 

 the skins of a moor cock and moor hen. \Ve may 

 point out that at that time these names were used 

 to designate the cock and hen of the red grouse. 

 For although the word grouse is now applied 

 almost exclusively to the red grouse, it probably 

 originallv belonged to the black grouse or black 

 game, our " grouse " being commonly spoken of 

 until comparatively recent times as moorgame. 

 That the latter was the bird referred to by Jessop 

 is quite clear from another letter addressed by him 

 to W'illoughby [yxie Derham's " Philosophical 

 Letters," p. 367). The work is lavishly illustrated, 

 and many of the illustrations are most interesting, 

 or give pleasing scenes of bird-life. But the 

 greater part are photographs of nests and eggs, 

 and as satisfactory or unsatisfactory as such illus- 

 trations must be. jMany, indeed most, photo- 

 graphic representations of the nests and eggs of 

 small birds are " faked "—the nests tilted forward 

 or unnaturally exposed in order that the contents 

 may be seen, and the eggs must be arranged in 

 order that all of them may come into view. You 

 cannot see the eggs in a reed-warbler's nest by 

 looking at it sideways, nor can you see the whole 

 five eggs in any small nest without looking 

 directly down upon it. Tits' nests are not naturally 

 exposed to the gaze. Pictures of nesting scenes 

 and sites are far more valuable. 



The photographing of birds' nests has been 

 rather overdone. A large proportion of such 

 pictures are worth little, and many of them do 

 not really represent what would be seen by the 

 observer; and it is to be regretted that in their 

 desire to get prints of the nests of different species 

 wn European example), the cuneate-tailed gull— the disciples of this new sport have made_ many a 



From '*The Birds 



better known as the wedge-tailed or Ross's gull — and 

 Bulwer's petrel, which were both until recently unique 

 as British specimens, the desert wheatear, rufous 

 turtle dove, McQueen's bustard, &c. Like other dis- 

 tricts, Yorkshire has lost several breeding specie: 



pair of birds desert their eggs, and by keeping away 

 their parents have caused young birds to suffer from 

 prolonged exposure to cold', from which they so often 

 do not recover. No nest of a really rare bird, at all 

 events, should be subjected to risks of this kind. 

 e.s. the kite, the harriers, bittern, bustard,' grev The same species can always, if it is really desirable, 

 geese, avocet, ruff, godwit, and black tern. Probably ' be photographed where it is comparatively common, 

 the article which will claim the most general atten- But there are many good and useful P'^ures m these 

 tion. and to which manv ornithologists will turn first, volumes. The dipper's nest on a branch, the sparrow- 

 is that on the guillemot and the famous " loomerv " hawk's, showing the tufts of down; the falcon s eyrie, 

 on the Flamborough cliffs. .A most interesting and and the crow's nest showmg the tree, may be men- 

 valuable account of this bird and its breeding habits, ticned; whijie sites such as Cautley Crag, lhe^'*|3j^° 

 and the extraordinary variation in the colour and 

 markings of its eggs, will be found here; as also 

 of the practice of climbing for eggs carried out on the 

 Yorkshire cliffs, accompanied bv some excellent illus- 



771 



in Swinstv Reservoir, the Humber mudflats at Spurn, 

 Hornsea 'Mere, and the many views of cliff scenery, 

 as well as the snow scene with red grouse sittmg 

 on the roof of a moorland cottage in Teesdale, illus- 



NO. 200 s, VOL. 



