39^ 



NA TURE 



[Febkuaky 3, 1910 



technical than a scientific character, are also dealt 

 with. The special socialistic organisation of the 

 undertaking — in common with that of the Zeiss firm 

 — is sliortly described. 



The book is printed in a clear antique type and well 

 illustrated with woodcuts of the style of the early 

 days of printing, among which the excellent portrait 

 of Schott himself calls for special mention. 



THE MILLAIS GAME-BIRDS. 

 The Natural History of British Game Birds. By 



J. G. Millais. Pp. xi + 142; illustrated. (London: 



Longmans, Green and Co., 1909.) Price 8/. 8s. net. 

 ■* I '*HE elaborate style in which Mr. Millais produces 

 -»- his more ambitious works renders it necessary 

 that each should be restricted to a comparatively small 

 group, as otherwise the price would be prohibitive to 

 •ordinary purses. In the present magnificent volume, 

 which forms a companion to the " Natural History of 

 Ihe British Surface-feeding Ducks," the author has 

 had a splendid opportunity for his artistic 

 talents, as few birds offer finer subjects for illustration 

 than do the members of the grouse and pheasant 

 tribes. Not content with his own powers as an artist, 

 Mr. Millais has secured the cooperation of Mr. 

 Archibald Thorburn, and the cbmbined efforts of these 

 two great bird-painters have resulted in the production 

 •of a series of coloured and other pictures which it 

 ■vvould be practically impossible to surpass, or even to 

 -equal, in effect, beauty of colouring, and general 

 truthfulness to nature. 



Too often artistic efforts of this kind are more or 

 less completely marred in the process of reproduction, 

 but in this instance Mr. Millais, as he tells us in his 

 preface, has been fortunate enough to discover a 

 method of reproduction which, in his opinion, far 

 surpasses the best chromo-lithography or three-colour 

 process. This opinion, so far as our experience 

 permits, we are disposed to endorse; and we have 

 certainly seen nothing to equal, let alone surpass, the 

 frontispiece of black grouse, or the plate of red grouse 

 in the red spring phase of plumage. In the coloured 

 plates the birds are for the most part depicted in more 

 or less quiescent poses ; but in several of the mono- 

 chrome plates we have in many instances abundance 

 of action. Among these pictures of active bird-life, 

 •special attention may be directed to the two depicting, 

 respectively, the courtship of the grouse and the 

 playing-ground of the ptarmigan. 



Possibly, nay probably, the expert would detect errors 

 in some of the plates in regard to the number of 

 primary quills in the wings ; but such details would 

 certainly not be noticed by the ordinary observer, and 

 probably not by the majority of sportsmen ; and if 

 there be errors in this respect, as we believe there are, 

 they in no wise detract from the general effect of the 

 exquisite pictures. Although the price may appear 

 high, it can scarcely be regarded as excessive for such 

 a magnificent volume, especially when the cost of pro- 

 duction and the fact that the issue is limited to 

 550 copies are borne in mind. 

 NO. 2IOI, VOL. 82] 



Probably it was the author's intention to convey to 

 his readers all the available information in connection 

 with his subject; but two or three points are notice- 

 able where he has failed in this respect. We cannot, 

 for instance, find any mention of the fact that grouse 

 shed their claws during the main moult ; neither does 

 there appear to be any reference to the statements 

 current in .Scandinavia as to blackcock burrowing in 

 the snow during winter. More serious is the absence 

 of any mention of the various plumage-changes in the 

 red-legged partridge ; and in the case of nearly all the 

 species, much more might have been written about 

 the plumage of the chicks. In connection with 

 partridges, the designations of "common partridge" 

 lor the grey species and "common red-legged 

 partridge" for the French bird are by no means 

 satisfactory; grey partridge and red-legged part- 

 ridge would have been preferable and sufficient. 



With the very natural tendency common to all 

 writers of monographs to make the most of their 

 subject, Mr. Millais uses the term British game-birds 

 in a very wide sense, although it must be confessed 

 that in this particular instance it is certainly a difficult 

 matter to know where to draw the line. The red- 

 legged partridge, for instance, is known to have been 

 first introduced into our islands only in the second half 

 of the eighteenth century, and yet it certainly cannot 

 be omitted from any work on British birds. The 

 typical pheasant likewise appears to be an introduced 

 bird, although there is evidence that it had become 

 completely naturalised by the time of the Norman 

 conquest, and there can be no question as to its right 

 to be now included in the British fauna. The introduc- 

 tion of the ring-necked pheasant in the early part of 

 the nineteenth century likewise renders it difficult to 

 exclude that species or race from the British list. 

 When, however, we find such birds as Hagenbeck's 

 pheasant, the Mongolian pheasant, the Prince of 

 Wales's pheasant, the Japanese pheasant, and Reeves's 

 pheasant figuring as British birds, we are on much 

 more debatable ground ; and if these are entitled to 

 any mention they should not, in our opinion, have 

 hetn accorded separate headings. 



The author, it may be mentioned, is a strong advocate 

 for regarding closely allied geographical forms in the 

 light of local races rather than distinct species, and 

 consequently classes all the birds mentioned above, 

 with the exception of Reeves's pheasant, as local 

 forms of Phasianus colchicus. No doubt there is very 

 much to be urged in favour of this view, although 

 when such a markedly distinct bird as the Japanese 

 P. ■versicolor is classed as a phase of colchicus it seems 

 a little difficult to know where to stop. 



As we have had to mention on previous occasions, 

 whenever Mr. Millais steps out of his proper province 

 he invariably makes mistakes. Instances of this are 

 afforded on p. 77 of the volume before us, where we 

 find Pikerni for Pikermi and Oimingen for Oiningen. 



With the above exceptions, we have nothing but 

 unstinted commendation to bestow on Mr. Millais's 

 latest work. 



R. L. 



