422 



NA TURE 



[October 7, 1909 



that of the kiwi. With regard to the question whether 

 the Maoris ever saw the moa, it is stated on p. 8i that 



" it appears that the Maoris have only been in 

 their present location for about ten generations, or 

 some 250 or 300 years, and the moa could hardly 

 have lived within that period, and it is held as prob- 

 able that their extinction was several centuries earlier 

 than this." 



Definite evidence of the contemporaneity of the 

 Maori and the moa was adduced some eighteen years 

 ago, during the exploration of the Sumner Cave, near 

 Christchurch. The mouth of this rock-shelter had 

 been closed by a landslide before the arrival of the 

 Europeans in the South Island, the result, probably, of 

 an earthquake, while a meal was in progress. The 

 occupants succeeded in escaping, but round the fire- 

 place about which they had been sitting were found 

 moa bones and portions of the eggs, with the shell- 

 membrane intact, on which they had been feasting. On 

 the floor near by lay a boat-bailer and other objects 

 with the carving truly characteristic of the Maori 

 •xipon them. 



Of the three specimens of the now extinct Dromaciis 

 -ater discovered, and brought to Europe by the French 

 -expedition under Baudin, all have now been located, 

 ^s stated in the work before us— two in Paris (a 

 skeleton and mounted specimen), and one (a skeleton) 

 in Florence. A fourth specimen, it might have been 

 mentioned, is now in the Lord Derby Museum, Liver- 

 pool, and was exhibited at the International Ornitho- 

 logical Congress in London by the Hon. Walter 

 Rothschild on behalf of the director of that institu- 

 tion. As to the black swan of .Australia, it seems 

 extremely probable that it was indigenous to New 

 Zealand as well as to the island-continent. The bones 

 of a species, described under the name of Chenopis 

 sumnerensis, hardly differing from those of Chenopis 

 atrata, were found among the debris of the disturbed 

 meal referred to above in the Sumner Cave, as well as 

 in an ancient kitchen-midden in the Chatham islands. 



A very full index completes this very excellent, 

 succinct, and trustworthy account of the " Birds of 

 the World," and we hope it will, despite is bulkiness 

 ■and weight, meet in the United States, and in 

 England also, with the appreciation it fully deserves. 



(2) The second volume in the list given above is of 

 a very different character, and the reason for its pub- 

 lication in this country is not very apparent. 



The book is a translation of portions of the valuable 

 work prepared by the director of the Royal Hungarian 

 Ornithological Bureau to enable landowners, farmers, 

 fruit-growers, and gardeners in that country to dis- 

 criminate their avian friends and foes, together with 

 a somewhat well-worn account, padded with poetical 

 quotations, by Mr. J. A. Owen, of a selection of our 

 most common English birds, including always the 

 statement whether the species is harmful or useful 

 in England, which seems to be apparently the only 

 excuse for Herr Herman's book (in part) appearing 

 in an English garb. The English co-author believes 

 that amongst the innumerable books on bird-life which 

 have been published of late years " there has 

 been a lack which this little volume may supply." 

 NO. 2084, VOL. 81] 



From a careful reading of the work we can really 

 discover very little not to be found in nearly every 

 book on British birds. It includes also a few species, 

 common in Hungary, which rarely visit England, or 

 are only winter visitors which can trouble the English 

 agriculturist but little. It lacks, moreover, the details 

 " arranged on a regular scientific basis " and " the 

 investigations with regard to the food of birds carried 

 on by a fully qualified entomologist " upon which 

 Herr Herman has proved the various species of 

 Hungary to be useful or harmful, and which would 

 have impressed the corresponding classes of readers 

 in England as those for whom the volume was pre- 

 pared in Hungary. A more thorough work on the 

 economic value of birds in the English language is to 

 be found in the Bulletins of the U.S. Department of 

 Agriculture, which contain the life-history and the 

 detailed results of the examination of hundreds of 

 individuals of each species, including nearly as many 

 English ones as are given in the volume under review. 

 " Birds Useful and Harmful " may, nevertheless, 

 assist in spreading the knowledge of those birds, per- 

 sistently persecuted, that deserve protection. F. 



.4 GROUP OF "FLORAS." 



(1) .4 Tourist's Flora of the West of Ireland. By 

 R. L. Praeger. Pp. xii + 243; with 5 coloured 

 maps, 27 plates, and 17 figures. (Dublin : Hodges, 

 Figgis and Co., Ltd., 1909.) Price 34. 6d. net. 



(2) Illustrated Guide to the Trees and Flowers of Eng- 

 land and Wales. By H. G. Jameson. Pp. .\i-l-136. 

 (London : Simpkin, Marshall and Co., Ltd., 1909.) 

 Price 2s. 6d. net. 



(3) Flora Koreana. Pars Prima. By T. Makai. 

 (Journal of the College of Science, Imperial Univer- 

 sity of Tokyo, Japan, vol. xxvi., article i., 1909.) 



(4) The Botany of Worcestershire. An Account of the 

 Flowering Plants, Ferns, Mosses, Hepatics, Lichens, 

 Fungi, and Fresh-water Algae, which grow or have 

 grown spontaneously in the County of Worcester. 

 By J. Amphlett and Carleton Rea. Pp. .xxxiii + 654. 

 (Birmingham: Cornish Bros., Ltd., 1909.) Price 

 255. net. 



(i)l\/TR. R. L. PRAEGER'S book is a solid con- 

 •1- ' A tribution to the subject of phytogeography, 

 and is increased in value by the many beau- 

 tiful, mostly full-page, photographs of striking 

 species of plants, some of which appear for 

 the first time, as here illustrated. Coloured 

 and uncofoured maps of th§ districts described or 

 of the distribution of species add to the usefulness of 

 the book, which is well indexed and singularly free 

 from typographical errors. The introduction contains 

 a short account of the physical features of the west 

 of Ireland, of its, mainly edaphic, plant formations, 

 and of the more remarkable features of its flora. The 

 topographical section which follows contains valuable 

 information on the character of the flora of the 

 numerous regions selected for description. This sec- 

 tion will appeal to the touring botanist, more especially 

 as the information given is not purely botanical. The 

 author might have expanded this section, with advan- 



