74



Notices of New Books, etc.



driven away the indigenous species, but this does not seem to be

the case according to the result of the present inquiry, which has

“ failed to bring out any evidence of a determined or concerted

plan on the part of the introduced birds to attack and drive away

the native birds. Sparrows and other introduced birds have been

seen attacking natives, but Tuis and several other species of

native birds have attacked introduced birds on occasions with

great ferocity.”



NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS, ETC.



WILD LIFE IN AUSTRALIA.*


Those who are interested in the fauna of Australia will find

an abundant supply of interesting matter in Mr. Le Souef’s new

book. The author deals with his subject in a manner that shows

him to be a most observant and experienced naturalist of a type

that is all too rare now-a-days. “ Wild Life in Australia” is no

compilation from the works of others, but a careful record of the

author’s own observations over a long period, of the wild life of a

most interesting country.


Of the bird-life of Australia we learn much from Mr. Le

Souef’s book, and many of the birds dealt with are known to

us here as aviary inmates, as they are also to Mr. Le Souef who,

as Director of the Melbourne Zoological Gardens, knows most of

the Australian creatures in captivity as well as wild.


It is difficult to say which chapter is the most interesting,

every page is delightful, but perhaps the author’s account of his

visit with a companion to Albatross Island, one of the Hunter

Group, off Tasmania, is especially worth mention. The island is

composed entirely of rock, overgrown in parts with pig-faced

weed or mesembryanthemum, wild geranium and tussock grass.

While gazing from the top of the island the explorers suddenly

caught sight of a number of large birds sitting on clear ground

near the edge of the cliff, which proved to be Diomedia canta, the

Shy Albatross of Gould. Remembering that Gould had said that



* Wild Life in Australia , by W. H. Dudley Le SoueF, C.M.Z.S., M.B.O.U., &c.

Director Zoological Gardens, Melbourne; Whitcombe and Tombs, Limited, Melbourne and

London. Price 7/6 net.



