86 Book Notice. 



Nothing could be more conspicuous than this to the trained 

 eye, accustomed as it is to the remarkable activity on foot 

 and on wing of Limicoline shore-birds. 



Well do I remember the extraordinary ' tameness ' of a 

 Bar-tailed Godwit, the first that I had met. When a lad of 

 nineteen, I was walking along the damp grass-grown edge of 

 the slob-lands of the North Bull, early in the month of Septem- 

 ber, when, suddenly, a rather big-looking bird, with long legs 

 and beak, popped up from a drain, and ran in front of me. 

 From its demeanour it looked more like a domestic fowl running 

 from the farmer, than a wild shore-bird. Suspecting it to be 

 wounded, I gave chase, and only to avoid actual capture did 

 it take wing, again alighting a few yards further off. 



Being at that time anxious to collect as many species as 

 possible from Dublin Bay, and unacquainted with the fact that 

 the bird was plentiful in autumn and winter and obtainable 

 at another time without difficulty, I entreated a passing gunner 

 to procure it for me. 



Looking back, this act seems unsportsmanlike ; however, 

 I preserved my specimen, which, as far as plumage is concerned, 

 could not have been more perfect, displaying an unusually 

 rich buff shading on the under parts. 



On skinning the bird, I found how emaciated it had become 

 from its journey, further evidence that its ' tameness ' was due 

 to fatigue. Since then I have frequently come across ' tame- 

 ness ' in many species, notably in the Curlew-Sandpiper, the 

 Knot, the Wimbrel, the Golden and the Grey Plover, in every 

 instance due to the circumstance above described. 



My Life : A Record of Events and Opinions, by Alfred Russel 

 Wallace. New edition. London : Chapman & Hall. 408 pp., price 6/-. 

 Not since ' Huxley's Life and Letters' appeared have we been so interested 

 in reading the life-story of a naturalist, as we have been in the present 

 volume. It has the further advantage of being an autobiography, and 

 consequently we get first-hand, Dr. Russel Wallace's own narrative of 

 his glorious career. In the present edition, some of the items not directly 

 relating to the author have been omitted, and consequently it is a much 

 more handy form than the first edition. In many respects Hulxey's 

 life was similar to that of Wallace. Both have had their hardships and 

 trials ; and Dr. Wallace's account of his early days, and of his financial 

 speculations, are full of useful lessons. To the naturalist, however, his 

 descriptions of his four years in the Amazon Valley, his visit to the Malay 

 Archipelego, etc. will perhaps appeal the most ; though to some, his 

 racy descriptions of Lyell, Darwin, Huxley, Spencer and others will be 

 of extreme interest. But there is not a page in the volume which has not 

 some useful or interesting piece of information. It is plentifully 



illustrated by photographs, sketches, etc., and is well produced. 



