434 



NA TURE 



[Skptemiier io, 1896 



true love of natural histoiy is necessary to accom- 

 plish such a result as they have achieved." Much 

 as we admire the one, and feel in fellowship with 

 the other, we cannot help saying that the results 

 are omitholbgically unsatisfactory, and expressing what 

 we have long realised, that photographs direct from 

 nature are not the best means of representing birds' 

 nests and eggs. So little of the surroundings can, as 

 a rule, be got into a half-plate, that it is difficult, if the nest 

 and eggs are to be visible at all, to form any true idea of 

 the situation or of the materials of the nest ; nor, except 

 under very favourable circumstances, can a standard of 

 size be introduced to correct, as is so often needed, the 

 retinal impression. Unless also the photograph be taken 

 perpendicularly above the nest, which is unsatisfactory, 

 the eggs cannot be seen in the nest unless they are elevated 

 or, what is equally to be deprecated, the nest be tilted, as 

 in the song-thrush's on page 299. If, again, we compare 

 the nests of the gadwall and the pheasant, the character, 

 form and uniform surface of the eggs are so similar, that 

 both nest and eggs might belong to either bird ; and a 

 ■" Skylark's nest on the crown of a furrow," conveys the 

 impression of being situated on the face of a rocky wall. 

 There seems to be greater scope for the "photographic 

 naturalist " in dealing with nestlings. The young " Grey- 

 Jag geese " and the " Golden eagle's eyrie, with young," 

 are both delightful. 



Notwithstanding these defects in some of the illustra- 

 itions, inseparable from the process employed, or due to 

 the awkward places whence the views were photographed, 

 this volume, which is attractively produced, will doubtless 

 have a wide circulation among young British orni- 

 thologists. 



Mr. Charles Dixon, who appears under the auspices of 

 a different publisher than heretofore, claims audience with 

 a new book, " British Sea Birds," in which we are pleased 

 to find fact more plentiful than fancy. It has been our 

 far from pleasant duty oftener than once to criticise 

 adversely the theories and speculations he has advanced. 

 On the present occasion, however, we feel considerable 

 gratification in being able to recommend his chatty 

 articles on the birds to be found along our coasts. There 

 is nothing new or striking in the volume ; but it will prove 

 an agreeable and instructive companion to many of those 

 who, during their sea-side holidays, take an interest 

 in the birds they meet with, and desire to know some- 

 thing about them. Besides describing our strictly marine 

 birds, Mr. Dixon contributes a chapter on land birds that 

 are constantly to be found frequenting the shore or the 

 cliffs. The volume is very prettily got-up and illustrated 

 by eight excellent full-page plates by C. Whymper. 



The third and penultimate volume of Dr. Sharpe's 

 '■' Handbook to the Birds of Cireat Britain," in Allen's 

 Naturalist's Library, concludes his account of the ducks 

 [Ami/idtr), and describes the herons, storks and ibises 

 {Ariicifoniies), the cranes {Cri/iforiiics), and the bustards 

 and plovers {Charadriiformes), in all ninety-two species. 

 The present volume maintains the high standard of 

 •excellence of its predecessors ; but the illustrations, 

 though perhaps as good as can be expected for the ex- 

 ceedingly low price at which each volume is published, 

 are not above criticism. 



NO. 1402, VOL. 54] 



BRITISH MOSSES. 

 The Stiidcnfs Handbook of British Mosses. By H. N. 

 Dixon, M.A., F.L.S. ; with Illustrations and Keys to 

 the Species by H. G. Jameson, M.A., Author of the 

 " Illustrated Guide to British Mosses." Pp. xlvi -H 520 ; 

 60 plates. (Eastbourne : Sumfield, 1896.) 



THIS book appears to us a very useful one. The 

 author observes that Wilson and Berkeley are out 

 of date, that Hobkirk's synopsis is too compressed to be 

 of great service to the less practised collector, and that 

 Braithwaite's great work is expensive and at present in- 

 complete. There is, therefore, room for a new work on 

 the subject, and the present volume appears to be a very 

 praiseworthy attempt to fill the vacant space. 



The work consists of a brief introduction ; a glossary ; 

 a key to the genera ; a description of the orders, genera, 

 and species; an index, including synonyms ; and 60 pages 

 of plates. The key to the genera is intended to help a 

 student to discover the genus of his specimen, and is 

 based on practical considerations and not on system. 

 The student should, perhaps, be warned not to sup- 

 pose that there is more than an accidental connection 

 between the genera which get thrown together by this 

 process. The first group to which the student is referred 

 is headed " A. Leaves distichous, inserted in two rows 

 on the stem," and under this we find the genera Schisto- 

 stega belonging to the order Schistostegace;e, Swartzia 

 belonging to the Dicranacea;, and Fissidens belonging to 

 the FissidentaceK. For the purpose of aiding the student 

 in his hunt, this method of dealing with prominent 

 features of the plant is very convenient. In the body of 

 the book the name of the genus under consideration is 

 printed at the top of the right-hand page, and in the text 

 the genera are numbered throughout ; if the number 

 were also printed at the top of the page — thus, "12 

 Swartzia," or "xii. Swartzia" — it would make the process 

 of turning to the genera from the key to the genera much 

 easier and quicker. 



Another suggestion which we venture to make to the 

 authors for the second edition relates to the index. If 

 one wants to see the plate illustrating, for instance, 

 Hypttum adunciin, one must either look through the 

 plates till it is found, or one must go to the index ; 

 from that to p. 458 of the treatise, from which there is 

 a reference to Tab. hi. O. If the index gave the 

 following entry, '■'■ Hypmiin aduncun, Hedw., 458, Ivi. O," 

 the reader would be saved this trouble, and the index 

 would serve both for plates and text. 



In dealing with the genera, our author gives us not only 

 a description of the genus, but a table dichotomously 

 arranged as a guide to the several species ; and in his 

 descriptions, both of genera and species, he has adopted 

 the very useful practice of printing in italics the salient 

 and most distinctive characters. 



Mr. Jameson, whose useful illustrated guide to British 

 mosses we reviewed in March 1894, has aided Mr. Dixon 

 in the preparation of this work. He has re-written the 

 keys to the genera and to the species, and the plates to 

 the present work are based on those of Mr. Jameson, but 

 have been re-drawn, and in many cases improved and 

 added to. 



