September 2c, 1906] 



NA TURE 



51' 



|)I,uiktoii and on the ground-fauna at various depths 

 down to about 900 fathoms. Much material was also 

 (ilil.iincd for him by Japanese deep-sea fishermen with 

 " Oabo " lines. 



In summer the w;uin Kuro Siwo waters cover the 

 -.urface of Sagami Hav. bu( in winter the north-west 

 winds bring down the ccild cunrnl In overlie it, so 

 that the self-regislering thermometers reveal a layer 

 of warm water between two cold layers. In this 

 warm layer the fauna of the Kuro Siwo is found, 

 wliile the surface layer has a very different and largely 

 vegetable plankton. .As has been said, there is great 

 mortality among both these sets of organisms, with 

 the result that the ground-fauna at all depths, from 

 tide-marks downwards, is extraordinarily rich. The 

 broken nature of the sea-bottom, providing a greatly 

 increased surface and variety of habitat, no doubt 

 contributes to the same result. -Another peculiarity 

 of the fauna of Sagami Bay is the appearance in very 

 moderate depths, of sometimes as little as fifty 

 f.ilhonis, of forms which have usually been found 

 considerably lower, at 500 fathoms to 1500 fathoms. 

 Doflein accounts for this partly by the suitably low 

 bottom temperature, but more by the stillness of the 

 water. Many of the so-called deep-sea forms are, he 

 says, more properly still-water forms, specially adapted 

 10 absence of motion rather than to the other peculiar 

 conditions of the deep sea, and their vertical range 

 would probably be found to be considerably greater 

 were the same attention to ba paid to the exploration 

 of intermediate depths that has been given to the 

 investigation of the shore-belt and the deep s;a. This 

 --urmise appears extremely plausible. 



Bad weather and accidents to his apparatus brought 

 the investigations once more to a standstill, and Dr. 

 Doflein left Japan. On his way home he stayed in 

 Ceylon, and he gives an interesting account of his 

 researches on fungus-growing termites there. Some 

 remarks on the spinning ant CEcophylla bring the 

 book to a close. We have read it with great pleasure. 

 The scientific portions are in places very suggestive, 

 the chapters on the ways and customs of various 

 countries, and especially of Japan, are bright and 

 attractive, and the numerous illustrations are often 

 really beautiful. L. .\. B. 



BIKD BOOKS FOR BEGINNERS. 

 .1 Handbook of British Inland Birds. By Anthony 



Collett. With coloured and outline plates of eggs 



by Eric Parker. Pp. xixH-289. (London: Mac- 



millan and Co., Ltd., 1906.) Price bs. 

 .1 Pocket-book of Briti.^h Birds. By E. F. M. Elms. 



Pp. viii-l-150. (London: Wtst, Newman and Co., 



1906.) Price 2s. 6d. 



T F in these days the way is not made smooth for 

 i the young ornithologist it is not for lack of books 

 written in his interest. Mr. Collett thinks that there 

 should be a useful place for a book in which the space 

 gained by omitting the sea and shore birds is devoted 

 to a closer account of the inland species, and the chief 

 NO. 1925, VOL. 74I 



intention of his handbook is to supply as plain -and 

 simple a means as possible for the identification of 

 those birds, and their nests and eggs, which are to be 

 met with in the inland districts of this counlrv, and 

 are therefore more likely to cross the path of the 

 greater number of persons interested in bird life. 

 Knowing his birds thoroughly well, the author has 

 written most charming and interesting accounts of 

 them, and his long experience of them in the field 

 has enabled him to introduce into his sketches much 

 of the individual character and temperament of each 

 species— those little peculiarities a knowledge of which 

 is only to be gained by long acquaintance, and by 

 which the old hand knows his birds at a glance or 

 by a note heard in the distance. When the object is 

 to teach the beginner in the study this intimate know- 

 ledge is very necessary, and all birdmen (who will 

 read the book for the pleasure it will give them) wilt 

 recognise and appreciate the happy touches of de- 

 scription which arise from it. 



.\s the book will, we think, be in some demand, 

 we offer a few suggestions in view of another edition. 

 To give the salient features of the general appearance 

 of a bird as seen at a little distance should not be 

 difficult, but the descriptions here, in manv cases, 

 seem to be hardly sufficient. The fieldfare, for 

 instance, is merely differentiated from the missel 

 thrush (in plumage) as having a more distinct grey 

 patch on the lower part of the back ; whereas its 

 greyish head, rich brown mantle, and the blue-grey 

 of the patch on its lower back (from which the bird 

 is sometimes called the " pigeon " felt) might have 

 been pointed out as sufficiently apparent to serve as. 

 identification marks. The short wings of the sparrow- 

 hawk might have been alluded to, as well as the 

 want in the cirl bunting of the bright chestnut rump 

 so conspicuous in the yellow hammer; the distinctly 

 colder tints easily seen in life of the marsh compared 

 with those of the reed warbler, and the streaked under 

 parts of the adult Montagu's harrier are merely further 

 instances of the kind of recognition marks we wish 

 to indicate. 



.\s the book is intended for readers whose know- 

 ledge of ornithology is of an elementary character, 

 something more about the plumage of the chaffinch 

 than the statement that the hen bird is a good 

 deal duller than the cock is desirable, and the want 

 of it is all the more felt, because the following 

 species, the brambling, is said rather closelv to re- 

 semble the chaffinch, and is described in comparison 

 with it. The whitethroat is described as if it were 

 uniformly coloured on the upper parts, whereas the 

 greyish head contrasts with its rufous-brown back ; 

 and as we are dealing with birds seen at a little 

 distance, it would have given a better idea of the cock 

 stonechat to say that he had a black head than thai 

 he had a conspicuous black patch on the throat and 

 face. We should not have said that the pied fly- 

 catcher had the appearance of being of slender build. 

 nor can we detect that the eggs of the whinchat are 

 usually a good deal greener and deeper in tint than 

 ordinary hedge-sparrows' eggs. The author thinks 



