September 9, 1922] 



NATURE 



339 



Our Bookshelf. 



(1) Hampshire. By T. Varley. (Cambridge County 

 Geographies.) Pp. xi + 212. (Cambridge: At the 

 University Press, 1922.) $s. 6d. net. 



(2) Minister. Pp. xii + 176. (3) Ulster. Pp. xii + 

 186. (The Provinces of Ireland.) Edited by George 

 Fletcher. (Cambridge : At the University Press, 

 1 92 1.) 6s. 6d. net each. 



(4) A History of the County of Bedford. (The Victoria 

 History of the Counties of England.) Part 1, Geology 

 and Paleontology. Pp. 36. (London : Constable 

 and Co. Issued in parts, 1920.) 3s. 6d. net. 

 (1) Mr. Varley's volume is one of the excellent series 

 of the Cambridge County Geographies. The general 

 plan of the series is followed, successive chapters being 

 devoted to different aspects of the county, relief, geology, 

 hydrography, natural history, climate, people, place- 

 names, occupations, history, architecture, and so forth, 

 concluding with a gazetteer of towns and villages. 

 There are a number of illustrations and coloured oro- 

 graphical and geological maps. The maps include the 

 Isle of Wight, which otherwise is outside the scope of 

 the book, but unfortunately they stop short at the 

 county boundaries. This seems to be a needless curtail- 

 ment of their usefulness. The volume is an excellent 

 handbook to the county and is full of information, but 

 it certainly would be improved by an index. Two 

 criticisms may be offered, which apply rather to the 

 scheme of the series than to this useful volume in 

 particular. The treatment of England by counties can 

 never be completely satisfactory, as it inevitably cuts 

 across geographical regions. Thus the omission of 

 eastern Wiltshire cuts out part of the Avon valley, 

 while the inclusion of the northern slope of the Hamp- 

 shire downs includes a fragment of country that would 

 be better treated with Berkshire. The other criticism 

 refers to the use of the term geography, as applicable 

 to the book. Since the series claims to be geographical, 

 there should be more correlation of various distributions 

 than is actually the case in the pages ; causal effects are 

 not sufficiently emphasised. This is particularly the 

 case with regard to the distribution of population and 

 the sites of towns. 



(2) and (3) These volumes are on much the same plan, 

 but they do not claim to be geographies, although in 

 some respects the two volumes are more geographical 

 than the English one. The coloured maps are not 

 strictly confined to the area under consideration, and 

 the regions treated being large, if not always naturally 

 defined, lend themselves to more satisfactory treat- 

 ment. There is no gazetteer of towns and villages, but 

 a full index to each volume. The books should find a 

 wide acceptance in giving a trustworthy and impartial 

 account of Ireland. 



(4) The well-known Victoria History is now published 

 in parts, each of which may be purchased separately. 

 It is thus possible to obtain a full but concise memoir 

 on the geology, botany, zoology, occupations, etc., of 

 each of the counties, furnished with coloured maps by 

 Bartholomew. The separate parts for some thirty 

 counties are now on sale. Many readers whose interests 

 do not embrace all aspects of county lore will be 

 grateful to the publishers for this means of making 

 accessible the scholarly articles of the Victoria History. 



NO. 2758, VOL. I IO] 



A Synopsis of the Accipitres (Diurnal Birds of Prey). 

 Part 1 (Vultur to Accipiter). Part 2 (Erythrotrior- 

 chis to Lophoaetus). Part 3 (Herpetotheres to 

 Pernis). By H. Kirke Swann. Second edition, 

 revised and corrected throughout. Pp. 1-63, 65-122, 

 123-178. (London : Wheldon and Wesley, Ltd.) 

 6s. each part. 



The work issued in 1920 as " A Synoptical List of 

 the Accipitres " has now reappeared in an enlarged 

 and revised form under the above title. The new 

 edition affords original descriptions of a number of 

 new sub-species ; includes others which have appeared 

 elsewhere ; gives the type-specfes of each genus ; the 

 type localities of each species ; and, alas, further 

 changes in nomenclature. The Synopsis will be most 

 appreciated by those who have some knowledge on 

 the subject, for the extreme brevity of its descriptions 

 of the ordinal, generic, specific, and sub-specific char- 

 acters will not be of much help to the general student. 

 The diagnostic characters of the species are restricted 

 to adult plumages, and leave untouched the immature 

 stages, which are the most difficult of all. The treat- 

 ment of the geographical range of the various forms is 

 also very brief. 



A monograph of the Accipitres is an admitted de- 

 sideratum, and as Mr. Kirke Swann has evidently de- 

 voted much attention to their study, perhaps he will 

 supply the want. Such a treatise dealing with the 

 plumages, distribution and life-histories would be 

 much appreciated, especially as the birds of this order 

 are among the most attractive and interesting of the 

 class Aves. 



Life-histories of North American Gulls and Terns. Order 

 Longipennes. By Arthur Cleveland Bent. Bulletin 

 No. 113. (Smithsonian Institution, United States 

 National Museum.) 



This is the second instalment of an important work on 

 the life-histories of North American birds — the first of 

 which, dealing with the order Pygopodes, has already 

 been noticed in Nature. 



In this volume Mr. Bent, who possesses an intimate 

 personal knowledge of the birds of the order Longi- 

 pennes, gained during extensive travels as well as in 

 the laboratory, has been fortunate in securing the 

 co-operation of a number of field-naturalists ; and 

 their combined experiences, supplemented by im- 

 portant published matter, has resulted in a remark- 

 able series of life-histories of the fifty species of 

 gulls and terns which are members of the Nearctic 

 avifauna. 



Under the description of each of the birds there are 

 sections devoted to habits, nesting, eggs, young, 

 plumages, food, behaviour, and distribution. All of 

 these are treated in an interesting manner, and 

 are made further attractive by a series of beautiful 

 coloured plates, 38 in number, depicting the eggs of 

 each species ; while a second series of 77 plates, from 

 photographs, illustrate breeding colonies, sitting-birds. 

 nests, chicks in down, half-feathered young, and 

 haunts. The work, apart from the absence of coloured 

 figures of the adult birds themselves, is wonderfully 

 complete, and is a valuable contribution to orni- 

 thological literature. 



