230



Review.



nest, feeding tliem on a special paste, to which are added insects of all

kinds. Mile. Reyen speaks very highly as to the great value of spiders for

all kinds of insectivorous birds, a fact which has been pointed out several

times by Dr. A. G. Butler. A large number of Swallows that Mile. Reyeu has

reared and let fly, have returned, and for several summers have nested in

the same place.


The Rev. Hubert D. Astley writes, from the Italian Riviera : “ Have

any Partridge Bronzewings (Geophaps scripta) arrived in England ? I have

obtained a pair in Genoa, and hear that there were two or three pairs

besides, and that they went on in the ship. At present mine are very shy

and squat very closely on the ground.”


Geophaps scripta has been kept and bred at the London Zoo, years ago,

but is very rarely imported nowadays.



Miss M. D. Sharp, of Ringwood, Hants, makes the following kind

offer to our members:—“Having had my aviary thatched with Heather,

and a quantity left, I shall be pleased to send some to any members of the

Avicultural Society who may be glad of it for their Doves’, and other nests.


When writing for it will they please enclose stamps for postage. It

■weighs very lightl}’, so that for even 3d. a nice size bundle could be sent.”



REVIEW.


BRITISH BIRD LIFE. *


There are now so many works on British birds that no

excuse can be found for the ignorance on the subject that one so

constantly meets with ; and if the appearance of yet another

book will tend to enlighten the popular mind as to the habits of

our native birds, Mr. Westell will have earned the thanks of

bird-lovers generally.


There are one or two rather novel features about this book ;

in the first place the birds are arranged in alphabetical order, so

that after the Capercallie comes the Chaffinch, after the Kestrel

the Kingfisher, and so on. The Author appears to consider that

the only birds that are entitled to be called British are those

species which regularly breed with us; consequently such

familiar species as the Fieldfare and Redwing find no place in



* British Bird Life, by W. Percival Westell, M.B.O.U., F.R.H.S. With an Intro¬

duction by the Rr. Hon, Sir Herbert Maxwell, Bart, London, T. Fisher Unwin.

Price 5/-.



