62 



REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 



The Young Ornithologist, by W. Percival Westell. Methuen & Co. 



xiv.+3o8 pp., 5/-. 



This is an excellent series of bird photographs by various photographers, 

 made into book form by Mr. Westell's usual talk about the birds ; which, 

 under various titles, we have seen over and over again. In the present 

 work, however, he professes to classify the birds according to their environ- 

 ment, though it is evident some have been put under the heads of country 

 lane, meadows, woodland, and ' spacious air,' by the ' heads or tails ' 

 principle. The first is the most interesting and most u.seful chapter ; and 

 it is by someone else ; for another helper Mr. Westell condescendingly 

 predicts a ' brilliant future.' Many Yorkshire photographs appear 

 amongst the illustrations ; the photographers of some of which are 

 thanked, and some are not. 



The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne, by Gilbert White. 



London : MacMillan & Co. 476 pp., 10/6 net. 



It is not necessary to recommend this classic to readers of ' The Natura- 

 list.' ' White's Selborne ' is the one book that every naturalist worthy 

 of the name has read. Probably a hundred different editions have appeared 

 during the past century. But we can safely say we have not seen one so 

 well produced at so reasonable a cost as this one by MacMillan. It is not 

 spoilt by too much ' editing.' It is printed in large type on good paper, 

 and neatly bound. It is greatly increased in value by 24 plates of Selborne, 

 etc., in colours, by George Edward Collins, R.B.A. W^e know of no better 

 present for a young naturalist. 



The Home Life of the Osprey. Photographed and described by C. G. 

 Abbott. London : Witherby & Co. 54 pp., and 32 plates, 6/- net. 



This is the third of the Bird Lo\er's ' Home Life ' series, and, if any- 

 thing, is better than its predecessors. Tlie letterpress is an entertaining 

 account of the habits of the Osprey (which, by the way, still nests within 

 the city limits of New York), and of the photographer's experiences in 

 ' snapping ' it. The part of the volume which will appeal alike to natura- 

 list and photographer is that wherein some 42 reproductions of remarkable 

 photographs of the birds and their nesting sites are mounted on suitably 

 tinted paper. Were it not for tlie fact that ' photography cannot lie ' 

 we .should hardly have belie\'ed that a human being could possiblv have 

 been .so near this wary bird. 



The Kingdom of Man, by (Sir) E. Ray Lankester, D.Sc, LL.D., etc. 



London : Watts & Co. 191 pp., 2/6 net. 



This volume was originally issued by Messrs. Constable, in 1907, and 

 was noticed in the pages of ' The Naturalist ' at the time. It contains 

 Dr. Lankester 's Oxford Romanes Lecture 1905, on ' Nature's Insurgent 

 Son ' ; his British Association Address, 1906, and an article on ' Sleeping 

 Sickness,' reprinted from the Quarterly Review. Our readers will probably 

 be glad to hear of the volume in its present cheaper form. Though bearing 

 the date 191 1, there is no indication of the author's knighthood, and he is 

 still described as ' Director of the Natural History Departments of the 

 British Museum,' a position he vacated some years ago. 



Science from an Easy Chair, by Sir Ray Lankester. :\Icthuen & Co. 

 423 pp., 6/- net. 



This volume contains a series of popular articles, originally contributed 

 to the Daily Telegraph, and now reprinted in handy form, with illustra- 

 tions. The subjects dealt with are unusually varied, and include the 

 most ancient men, cave-men's skulls, dragons, oysters, sleep, university 

 training, Darwin's discoveries, camels, cholera, ee.ls, stars, tadpoles, spar- 

 rows, green-fly, opium, clothes moths, etc. As a frontispiece is a beauti- 

 fully coloured plate shewing the ' yellow ' or immature eel, and the ' silver ' 

 or mature eel. 



Naturalist, 



