[Coniumedfrom par/e 4 of Wrapper. 



" It is impossible to say anything of tliis work except in the way of praise. 

 Lord Lilford writes like a man wlio has devoted a large portion of his life to the study of 

 birds, and with whom ornithology is a passion. Nominally on the birds of Northampton- 

 shire, the book will give delight to ornithologists in every part of England. A number 

 of our English counties have had books written upon their avifauna: but, so far, the 

 ornithology of Northamptonshire has remained undescribed, with the exception of the 

 list given in Morton's yalwal Hutory of Northamptonshire (1712). The present work, 

 Lord Lilford modestly informs us, has no pretension to be a complete account of the 

 avifauna of the countv, but merely the result of his own observations and those of friends 

 on whose accuracy he could rely. For a comparatively inland county, the list of birds 

 will compare favourably in point of number of species with almost any other. The total 

 list of birds admitted a-s British now amounts to some three hundred and ninety species. 

 Out of this number of common residents, regular summer or winter visitors and casual 

 stragglers which have occurred but once or, twice. Lord I^ilford claims to include two 

 hundred and twenty-seven in the fauna of Northamptonshire. 



" We must not conclude without saying something about the admirable illustrations, 

 by Mr. A. Thorburn, which embelli.-h the work. Some of the reproductions of 

 Mr. Thorburn's sepia-drawings are not inferior to the coloured plates contributed by him 

 to Lord Lilford's series of tigures of British birds, and that is as high praise as can be 

 given. Mr. Thorburn is by far the most excellent painter of birds now living, or, we may 

 say, that we are acquainted with. His drawings combine all the accuracy required to 

 satisfv a naturalist, and also, in a high degree, artistic genius. Every detail of the 

 plumage is distinct, and at the same time the bird has that appearance of being alive 

 whicli only real artistic feeling can give. Lord Lilford writes as a naturalist, a 

 sportsman, and a traveller, and without any of that siU}' sentiment which makes so many 

 authors of books about birds unreadable." — 77(6 Spectator. 



" Lord Lilfoid is an ornithologist of the right kind. He is, to quote his own words, 

 a lover of birds rather than a scientific member of the cult, and for the greater portion of 

 his life he has studied birds in man}' quarters of the globe. The beautiful woods and 

 wild recesses of bis estate at Oundle he has converted into a sanctuary where rare visitors 

 mav count upon a free and natural life, undisturbed by the persecution which befalls; 

 ' them at the hands of wanton sportsmen and greedy collectors elsewhere. All that one 

 man could do to avert the extinction which seems to await so many once familiar British 

 birds, and to curb the ignorant prejudice of gamekeepers and preservers. Lord Lilford has 

 done ; and to his eflbrts, in no small degree, as well as to the influence he has been able 

 to exert upon his neighbours, Northamptonshire may ascribe the fact that she can 

 boast an ornithological record second to none in the country. Of the 227 species men- 

 tioned in these two handsome volumes many, of course, are mere accidental occurrences. 



" Before concluding we must praise the admirnble wa}' in which these volumes are 

 illustrated. Mr. Lodge's woodcuts leave nothing to be desired except the colours, for 

 which of conrse one would have to go to Gould. The same may be said of the exquisite 

 series of plates from Mr. Thorbm-n's drawings, which give the book a distinctive place 

 even among the luxurious annals of ornithology. I^ord Lilford has evidently spared 

 neither pains nor means to make the work a credit to his county." — Ftil/ Mall Gazette. 



Demy 4/0. To he completed in 4 Farts, 3 of which are ready, at £1 5s. i^er Part net. 



EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



LIM I COL/E. 



(PLOYEES, SNIPES, SANDPIPERS, &c.) 



BY 



FRANK POYNTING. 



With 54 Chromo-Lithographic Plates, in Greve's Best Style. 



" Mr. Poynting's egg-pictures are by far the best since Plewitson."' — LonD Lilford 

 (President of the British Ornithologists' Union). 



" Mr. Poynting's plates are, v\-ithout exception, the very best of any that have 

 hitherto been published here or on the Continent on oology, and I most sincerely wish 

 him success, and trust that he may continue tlie work until he has made it a complete 

 work on British Oology .'' — H. E. Drksskr (.Vutlior of the ' Birds of Europe," &e., kc). 



LONDON: 

 K. H. rORTEE, 7 PKINCES STREET, CAVENDISH SQUARE, W. 



