Reviews. 187


REVIEWS.



"THE EGGS OF EUROPEAN BIRDS."*


In Volume IV., N.S. (p. 270), we had the pleasure of

reviewing the first part of this very important work, and now the

second part has appeared, and fully equals the first in every way.


Very great care has been taken in the description both of

nests and eggs, and references are supplied to the literature deal-

ing with the subject and to the previous illustrations. The

present part, like the first, contains fourteen coloured plates of

eggs, some containing nearly thirty figures, and the work of both

artist and lithographer is worthy of high commendation.



"THE EARLY EIFE OF LOON CHICKS."f

Mr. C. William Beebe, the Curator of Ornithology to the

New York Zoological Society is well known for his very careful

observations on birds in captivity, and such observations are of

the utmost importance in the science of ornithology. In the

present paper he gives some notes on the early life of two Eoon

Chicks, Gavia imber, which he reared by hand from the egg.


He arrived at the following conclusions :

" A. It is probable that the young Loons, are, from the first,


fed on whole, not on macerated fish.

-" B. The action of swimming and preening are instinctive.

" C. The method of swimming is usually by alternate strokes.


These become simultaneous when a sudden spurt or great


speed is desired.

" D. The arc of the swimming stroke, in the young chick, is


much more lateral than in the adult bird. This is difficult


to explain and hard to correlate with the idea that Loons


and Hesperomis are descended from ambulatory species with


more typically Avian convergent hind limbs.

" E- Loon chicks can progress more easily and rapidly over the


ground than can the adults, in spite of the preceding con-


*The Eggs of European Birds, by the Rev. Francis C R. Jourdian, M.A., M.B.O.U,

Part II. Price 10/6 per part, net. Loudon, R. H. Porter, 7, Princes Street, Cavendish Square "


1- Notes on the Eaily Life of Loon Chicks, by C. William Beebe. From The^Auk


Vol. XXIV., No. 1. January, 1907.



