Reviews and Book Notices. 371 
The Geology of the Country near Lymington and Portsmouth. By 
H. J. Osborne White, F.G.S., 1915, 78 pages, 1s. 6d. The Geological 
Survey has issued this Memoir in explanation of Sheets 330 and 331. The 
area has furnished classic names to British Geology, such as Barton, 
Bracklesham, Brockenhurst and Hordle (or Hordwell), but in con- 
sequence perhaps of the surpassing claims of the neighbouring Isle of Wight 
had not been made the subject of any seperate memoir, except that some 
well-sections had been published in the Memoirs dealing with the water 
supply of Hampshire and Sussex. Mr. Osborne White, who had, recently 
completed a Memoir on the adjacent Sheet 316, was fortunately able once 
more to give his services. In the present volume he has not only 
summarised what was already known of the local Geology, but has con- 
tributed many valuable observations made by himself. 
British Birds, written and illustrated by A. Thorburn, F.Z.S. With 
eighty plates in colour, showing over four hundred species. In four 
volumes. £6 6s. net. Longman, Green & Co., 1915, Vol. I., large 4to, 
143 pages and 20 plates. In recent years naturalists have taken a par- 
ticularly great interest in bird life, and enormous numbers of volumes 
of varying merit have been placed on the market. Some have been of 
altogether exceptional worth. But, for life-like coloured representations 
of the various species we have seen no publication to compare with the 
present work. Each species has a page, usually filled, devoted to a 
description of its habits and characteristics, distribution, nesting, etc. It 
is in the illustrations however, where the value of the work lies. The 
artist-author has taken scrupulous care in portraying the colours and 
attitude, and even to some extent the typical surroundings of the various 
species, and as a number of allied forms occur on each plate a comparison 
is readily made. For instance on plate 10 are representations of the 
Long-tailed, Marsh, Great, Bearded, Coal, Crested and Blue Titmouse. 
With the aid of this plate the identification of the various species is a very 
simple matter. And the drawings do not suffer from being over-coloured, 
which is a usual fault in books of this sort. Among so many excellent 
plates it is perhaps difficult to choose, but for artistic merit we think that 
plate 20, on which are representations of the Magpie, Raven and Jackdaw, 
would be difficult to beat. We must say, however, that the plates, being 
tinted, right to the trimmed edge, seem to lack ‘finish.’ One feels almost 
inclined to cut each plate out and paste it on a larger mount! Perhaps 
this is done in the large paper edition; if so, it must be perfect. But, 
its price is £12 12s., more than the cost of 40 years’ subscription to The 
Naturalist! We should like to congratulate Mr. Thornburn and his pub- 
lishers on the excellence of the work, and we can only hope that the 
present unfortunate times will not unduly interfere with its sale. 
Life Histories of African Game Animals. By Theodore Roosevelt and 
Edmund Heller. London: J. Murray, 1915, 2 vols., 798 pp., 42s. net. 
In these magnificent volumes the ex-president of the United States, 
together with his companion Mr. Edmund Heller, describe in great detail 
and in a very fascinating manner the life histories (and death) of many 
African game mammals which they encountered during their well-known 
journey in the Dark Continent. In their opinion the life histories of these 
game mammals offer an almost virgin field for investigation and study, 
and certainly the authors have taken great pains to record the various 
observations they made. Probably a better idea of the enormous field 
covered by these volumes can be obtained from the following headings of 
the chapters :—The Country and Its History; Derivation of the Fauna, 
Geographically and Paleontologically; The Flora of East and Middle 
Africa and its Relation to the Fauna; Concealing and Revealing Colora- 
tion and their Relation to Natural Selection; Game Preserves; Lion; 
Leopard and Cheetah; Spotted Hyena, Striped Hyena and Hunting 
Dog; Pigs; Hippopotamus; Reticulated and Common Giraffes; Roan, 
1915 Noy. 1. 
