38 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



always made them out taller than they actually were ; I went by the rule, 

 ' Twice round an Elephant's fore foot, when standing with it on the ground, 

 is the height of the animal at the shoulder.' Stout, deep-bodied, short- 

 legged, broad-backed Elephants are the -ones to choose; lanky, long-legged, 

 narrow animals are of much less value." 



These extracts are not the best which might have been selected 

 to give an idea of the author's style. He is seen at his best when 

 graphically describing in detail the result of an enjoyable day's 

 sport, with all its varied incidents of danger, disappointment, or 

 success. He gives valuable hints throughout to sportsmen who 

 may be keen enough to follow his example, but who lack experience 

 and a knowledge of the country ; while the interspersal of some 

 good anecdotes here and there make this book a most readable 

 one. 



Catalogue of the Birds of Suffolk : with an Introduction and 

 Remarks on their Distribiition. By Churchill Babington, 

 D.D., F.L.S., &c., Eector of Cockaeld, Suffolk. 8vo, pp. 281, 

 with a Map and seven Photographs. London : Van Voorst. 

 1886. 



This Catalogue is reprinted from the ' Proceedings of the 

 Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and Natural History,' and was 

 issued to the members in 1884 as far as the end of the Land 

 Birds (p. 110), the remainder being issued in 1886. It forms a 

 welcome addition to the already long list of county avifaunas, 

 and should find a place in every ornithologist's library. 



It is of course much easier to criticise a work of this kind 

 than to write it, but we candidly think that Dr. Babington has 

 not hit upon the best mode of presenting his facts. His division 

 of the county into eight Districts formed by the combination of 

 two or more Hundreds, with purely artificial boundaries, and 

 the employment throughout the volume of different type to 

 indicate this division and subdivision, tends rather to perplex 

 the reader than to enlighten him. One has constantly to turn 

 back to the Introduction to ascertain what districts are intended 

 by the numbers which are given under the head of each species, 

 and from the Introduction one must go to the last chapter in the 

 book " on the distribution of the birds of Suffolk " to discover 

 the natural and physical condition of these districts, whether 



