114 



SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



NOTICES BY JOHN T. CAREINGTON. 



Carpenter on the Microsi:npe. — A review of the 

 new edition of this work appears on page 112. 



Bird-Wateliing. By Edmund Selous. xi + 

 347 pp. 8|- in. x 5| in. With 8 plates and 6 illus- 

 trations in letterpress. (London : J. M. Dent & Co. 

 1901.) 7.S. 6d. net. 



There is no donbt that amono- the various 



and absolute accuracy in observing and noting. - 

 Mr. Selous's pages are full of most interesting- 

 reading, and the book forms a good model for the 

 work of others. The illustrations are varied, 

 most of the plates being photogravures from 

 pictures by the well-known bird artist Mr. J. Smit. 

 The rest of the illusti'ations are from the same 

 pencil, excepting a number of chapter-headings 

 and tailijieces. We reproduce, by permission of 

 the publishers, the illustration accompanying the 

 chapter on " Watching Rooks," that, of course, being 

 a line drawing and not a photogravure. This 

 book will be found full of interest to every bird- 

 lover, and one that should be widely read by 

 others. Now that Mr. Selous has shown the way, 

 we venture to predict that other works of this 

 class will be forthcoming. It seems astonishing 

 how little we really know about the creatures, other 

 than mankind, which inhabit the earth. 







,^. v^-?-. -'^^_*, 

 i ^-%^^^' 



.MTt- •->'--'.■) 



Rooks : A Wintb.". SrE.VE. (From '^ Bird- Watching") 



scientific and other books devoted to ornithology 

 ample room exists for works of the character of 

 this before us. The author — who, by the way, must 

 not be confounded with Mr. F. C. Selous, the 

 hunter, and explorer of Central Africa— has in this 

 work shown the way to a better and more useful 

 knowledge of birds. It is only by careful and 

 patient watching, and by making notes on the 

 spot, that much may still be learned with regard 

 to the habits of birds. So little has hitherto been 

 done in this direction that any careful and 

 accurate observer may make his reputation and 

 enlighten the world at large. It is not necessary 

 that the observer should live in the wildest districts 

 of our islands, as much is still to be learned among 

 the familiar and common species. Two items for 

 success must, however, be borne in mind, patience 



The Lepidoptera of the British Islands. By 

 Charles G. Barrett, F.E.S. Vol. VII. Pp. 336, 

 9 in. X 6 in. (London : Lovell Reeve & Co.,. 

 Limited. 1901.) 12s. net. 



We have noticed, as the previous volumes ap- 

 peared, this work in our pages. The present one 

 carries the Heterocera-Geometrina from the Boar- 

 midae, continuing with genus Panagra and con- 

 cluding with Acidaliidae, genus Hyria. At the end 

 there are additions and corrections. For instance, 

 Xiilnpha»m lateritia Hufn. is added to the Tritish 

 list on the .strength of a single specimen taken in 

 South Wales, so long ago as ISBT, by Mr. W. E. R, 

 Allen, and since overlooked as a variety of Aplecta 

 advena. It ):as been brought forward by Mr. 

 H. W. Vivian of Swansea. The contents of the 

 volume are uniform with the previous ones. 



