NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 359 



feet have completely changed in the process. It is therefore of 

 importance that they should be accurately noted before the bird 

 has been skinned. This Mr. Booth has been careful to do. 



As regards the value of the letterpress we cannot speak too 

 highly. Especially interesting are his notes on the nesting 

 habits of our rarer birds, particularly those which, like the 

 Osprey, Kite, and Hen Harrier, have almost ceased to breed in the 

 British Islands, or those which, like the Brambling, have been 

 found to do so on very rare occasions. It must be admitted 

 that Mr. Booth has enjoyed remarkable facilities for exploring 

 out-of-the-way places in search of the nests of what may 

 be termed out-of-the-way birds. He has, in fact, gone 

 straight to the haunts wherein they were most likely to be 

 discovered, and in nine cases out of ten he has succeeded in 

 finding them. 



Now and again he has been doomed to disappointment, as, 

 for instance, in the case of the Snow Bunting. In July, 1876, 

 he tells us, he made an attempt to reach the ground on the 

 summit of the high hills in the east of Inverness where the Snow 

 Bunting is supposed to breed; a dreadful storm of wind and 

 rain, however, put a stop to his advance, and rendered it an 

 impossibihty to reach the haunts of these birds. He thus 

 graphically describes the situation :— 



"Having settled to search Beu Muich Dhu for Snow Buntings, we 

 decided on making an early start, and leaving the lodge at midnight, we 

 drove to a bothy oo the east side of the forest. Here four keepers and 

 foresters were awaiting our arrival, and an immediate start was made for 

 the high ground. The morning proved dull and gloomy, and we were well 

 up the Braemar Pass before it became fairly light. The weather then got 

 worse, and the wind increased, the mist and clouds rolled lower down the 

 hills, while the rain drifted in blinding showers, rendering it impossible 

 for us to advance. For two hours we sheltered among some large slabs of 

 rock near the highest part of the Pass in hopes that the storm might 

 moderate. At length, however, we came to the conclusion that it was useless 

 to attempt to reach the high ground; added to which the position we now 

 found ourselves in could scarcely be termed pleasant. The terrific gusts 

 as they roared round the crags above us now and then dislodged stones and 

 pieces of rock that came rolling down the side of the hill. Some of these 

 dashed past us at no great distance just after we had quitted our shelter, 

 and I must confess I felt greatly relieved when we emerged from the Pass ; 

 the unearthly howling and screeching of the wind among the jagged and 



