•92 Reviews and Book Notices. 



following them, as might be expected, goes on feeding.'* I 

 have seen similar self-reliance markedly exhibited in the case 

 of Shags and Rooks, and Starlings fall under the same category. 

 In short, the above has been my general experience. 



The surmise, therefore, that a certain number of the Kitti- 

 wakes flew up, because they saw something to alarm them, 

 and that the rest followed, as it were, upon trust, would not 

 satisfy me, upon general principles, even if I had not definite 

 reasons for rejecting ' it ; it is, in fact, out of harmony with 

 too many of the facts of the case. As for the theory that the 

 whole flock of some eight}' odd were under the government 

 of a leader who, in some way communicated a wish, for which 

 all motive of urgency or importance seems wanting, to the 

 whole of them, at almost the same instant of time, this also 

 appears to me untenable. It is, at least, beset with difficulties. 

 I saw no evidence of it here, nor have I in other and still more 

 striking cases of the same kind. We therefore seem to stand 

 in presence of a very puzzling phenomenon, that, namely, of 

 occasional collective actions in birds, through what is appar- 

 ently a collective impulse, not arising out of any sudden, 

 simultaneous sense-perception, of a kind known to us. I 

 shall later have occasion to refer to some striking testimony 

 in corroboration of my own observations to this effect. 



The Practical Principles of Plain Photo-Micrography, by George West 

 (University College, Dundee), 145 pp. 4s. 6d. net. This treatise, with 

 its large type, paper cover, and wealth of marginal references, reminds 

 one of a ' Blue Book ' ; though to a naturalist it is much more interesting 

 and certainly more useful. The author has obviously had considerable 

 practical acquaintance with his subject, and he explains the alpha and 

 omega of photo-micrography, with illustrations of his apparatus, and 

 reproductions from photographs of the results of his work. There is a 

 quaint ' dialogue ' between Old Surefoot and Young Castlebuilder, on the 

 making of a photo-micrograph, which contains many useful hints. 

 Naturalists interested in photo-micrography will find the book of service. 



A Naturalist in Borneo, by the late R. W. C. Shelford. London, T. 

 Fisher l T nwin, pp. 331, 15s. net. All naturalists will be grateful to Prof. 

 E. B. Poulton for the care with which he has edited and prepared the 

 incompleted MSS. of Mr. Shelford, who died at a comparatively young 

 age (he was born in 1872). In 1895 he was the demonstrator in Biology 

 at the Yorkshire College, Leeds, and two years later he went to Borneo 

 as curator of the Sarawak Museum. His seven years' stay in Borneo 

 enabled him to write a series of fascinating chapters on the natural history 

 of that country, chapters which are so full of accurate observation and 

 scientific deduction, that it is a pleasure to read them. Few branches 

 of natural history were there neglected, and his notes on mammals, 

 birds, reptiles and insects, all of which are well illustrated, show Shelford s 

 many-sided character. His anthropological notes towards the end of 

 the volume are distinctly valuable. ' A Naturalist in Borneo ' is one of 

 the most interesting books we have read for some time. 



*' Bird Watching, ' pp. 207-8. 



Naturalist, 



