Reviews and Book Notices. 145 



Ancectangium compactum Schwasg. 



The only locality given in our flora for this is Whernside. 

 On a visit to the upper part of Rawtheydale (Uldale) in Feb- 

 ruary 1909, I saw it in quantity and in very fine ' fruit.' 



Bartramia pomiformis Hedw. var, crispa B. and S. 



In the last-named locality I found this moss, which is new 

 to West Yorkshire. In growth and shape of leaf it is very 

 near to B. Halleriana Hedw., which also grows in the district. 

 The two can be better distinguished by habit and colour whilst 

 fresh, than from dried specimens and single leaves. 



I am indebted to Mr. W. Ingham, B.A., and the above- 

 mentioned gentlemen for assistance in the verification of these 

 mosses. 



Behind the Veil in Birdland, by Oliver Q. Pike, F.Z.S. London : 

 The Religious Tract Society. 106 pp., 10/6 net. 



In this large and handsome volume Mr. Pike has selected and repro- 

 duced twenty-four froni his thousands of photographs, and of these, four 

 are of mammals, as they are considered to be in ' Birdland.' The two 

 dozen plates are evidently enlargements from photographs, and pre- 

 sumably are all taken direct from life. Accompanying each plate is some 

 descriptive letterpress ; but unfortunatelj'^; as with some other bird- 

 photographers, the author dwells far too much upon the hardships and 

 risks and trials of photographing birds : the number of hair-breadth 

 escapes being really appalling. In fact, some of these almost get the flavour 

 of the stories of another kind of naturalist, viz., the one who ' goes a 

 angling ' — A gannet nearly knocked him into the sea ; it took him two 

 days to get a photograph of a Great-crested Grebe ; another two days was 

 occupied in photographing two sparrows, etc. All this is, of course, 

 probably true ; but we have seen hundreds of quite as interesting photo- 

 graphs of quite as difficult ' sitters,' which were taken in reasonable time 

 and without any risk to life or limb. The volume is marvellously cheap 

 at half-a-guinea, and we congratulate the author on finding a title that has 

 not been used before — a daily increasing difficulty ! 



British Butterflies and other Insects. Edited by Edward 

 Thomas. London ; Hodder & Stoughton. 127 pp., 6/- 



' There is a difference between a grub and a butterfly ; yet your butter- 

 fly was a grub.' Such is the Shakespearian entomological observation 

 quoted in this volume. And we might add — ' There is a difference between 

 " British Country Life" and "British Butterflies and other Insects," yet 

 the latter was once part of the former.' And whilst there is nothing to 

 indicate that such is the case, the new book is simply the entomological 

 articles reprinted from Messrs. Hodder and Stoughton's two charming 

 volumes on ' British Country Life ' already noticed in these columns. In 

 this present attractive and cheap form, however, our readers will doubtless 

 be giad to have these ' Insect ' articles by themselves, and we think the 

 publishers have acted wiselv in presenting them in their present form, 

 particularly if it repays them for their enterprise in producing such really 

 admirable books so clieaply. There are articles by A. Collett, G. A. B. 

 Dewar, Richard South, A. W. Rees, and F. P. Smith, all being written in 

 a style redolent of the fields and woods and heaths. The coloured plates 

 from photographs are also v/ell in keeping with the book, and consiflerably 

 add to its attractiveness. 



1909 April I. 



K 



