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Review.



REVIEW.


THE BIRDS OF BEDS.


We have received a series of photographs of the birds of

Bedfordshire, taken by Messrs. Symonds, of Potton, in that county.

This album is yet another contribution to advanced aviculture, and

a study of its pages is in itself an education.


Turning to the photographs, we note two exquisite King¬

fishers perched on a branch over a stream, above whose rapid waters

dangles a leafy canopy. In another picture we see a single bird

basking and watching in the sunshine. Another study shows a

March rookery, with abundant untidy nests in the branches, and the

great birds “ blown about the windy skies.” We see a Nightingale

perched on a bramble spray near her nest ; a Robin on the ground,

alert and awake, his rounded eye beaming with intelligence ; a portly

Wood Pigeon in an oak ; and a Woodpecker high up on a tree trunk.

In these delightful pages the life of covert and woodland is brought

before us. The shy Reed Warblers cling to the rushes as they

inspect their cup-like nest; the Jay stands for an instant on a broken

stump, tense and still as if stuffed; and the Great Spotted Wood¬

pecker pauses on a birch trunk with a writhing caterpillar in his

beak. All the pictures are interesting, and many reach a high level

of excellence.


We would name specially the remarkable study of a King¬

fisher rising from the water, jewelled wings aquiver like a giant

Humming-bird ; the pair of Stonechats perched aloft on a bramble,

like sentinels on a watch-tower ; the Woodpecker on the look-out,

his queer head thrust through a hole in a tree-trunk, the very spirit

of the forest ; and the placid, beautiful Turtle Dove brooding on her

nest. Then there are three fluffy, solemn-looking young Kestrels all

in a row, feathered police of the future ; the Moorhen swimming on

the mere; Moorhens “ changing duty ” at their nest ; and last but

not least the sombre, sleepy Night-jar squatting among the bracken.


Some of Messrs. Symonds’ work has appeared in the Magazine,

and all members of the Avicultural Society will readily endorse its

value. G. R.



