267



Notices of New Books.



that it may.be interrupted by certain external factors in the

environmental complex.”


As Mr. Beebe says :—“ There is a great satisfaction in

thus making even the merest beginning at threshing out these

problems.” Ed. pro tem.



The World’s Birds, a simple and popular classification of the Birds of

the World. By Frank Finn, B.A., F.Z.S., M.B.O.U., etc.

Hutchinson & Co., Paternoster Row.


An exceedingly useful and handy little book containing a

vast amount of information in a condensed form.


The families of birds are considered alphabetically because,

as the author rightly says, they “are so numerous, and their

relationships to each other, even if they were completely agreed

upon by ornithologists, could not in any case be exhibited

naturally in linear order.”


Under each family Mr. Finn gives first a popular diagnosis,

a general idea of size, general form, character of plumage, pecu¬

liarities of newly hatched young, account of nest, eggs, food,

gait, flight, notes, disposition and habits, economic quality,

suitability for life in captivity and distribution : the importance

of the work as a book of reference will therefore be at once

seen.


Under Passerine Birds, which Mr. Finn calls the Passeridce,

the various groups usually accepted by Ornithologists as distinct

families are treated as subfamilies, and a few sentences are de¬

voted to the characteristics of some of the more striking forms

of each group.


Mr. Finn’s book will be welcomed by all bird-lovers as of

considerable educational value, and we trust that it will have a

wide circulation; it is profusely illustrated by photogravures

from living and stuffed specimens, and there are some useful

outline blocks in the text. Ed. pro. tem.



