[ Continued from page 4 of Wrapper. 



" It is impossible to say anything of this ivork except in the way of praise. 

 Lord Lillbrd writes lilie a man who has devoted a larfje portion of his life to the study of 

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

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

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

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

 list giveu in Morton's Natural History of Nurthamjitonshire (1712). The pre.sent work, 

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

 avifauna of the county, but merely the result of his o\vn observations and tho.se of friends 

 on whose acevu'acy 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 as liritish 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 Lilford claims to include two 

 hundred and twenty-seven in tlie I'auna of Northamptonshire. 



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

 by Mr. A. Thorburn, which embellish the work. Some of tlie reproductions of 

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

 to Lord Lilford's series of Hgures of British bu'ds, 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 

 satisfy 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 

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

 sportsman, and a traveller, and without any of that silly sentiment which makes so many 

 authors of books about birds unreadable." — The Spectator. 



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

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

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

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

 may 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 cau 

 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 admirable way in which these volumes are 

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

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

 series of plates from Mr. Thorburn's drawings, which gi\e the book a distinctive place 

 even among the luxurious annals of ornithology. Lord Lilford has evidently spared 

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



Demy 4to. Complete in 4 Parts, at £1 5s. per Part net. 



EGGS OF BRITISH B IRDS. 



LIM ICOL/E. 



(PLOVEES, SNIPES, SANDPIPEES, &c.) 



BY 



FRANK POYNTING. 



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



" Mr. Toy nting's egg-pictures are by far the best since Hewitson." — Lord Lilfoud 

 (President of the Britisli Ornithologists' Unionj. 



" Mr. Poynting's plates are, without exception, the very best of any that have 

 hitherto been publi.shed here or on Ihe Continent on oology, "and I most siucerelv wish 

 him success, and trust that he may continue the work until he has made it a co'inplete 

 work on British Oology."— IL E. Diiksshu (.-Vuthor of the ' Birds of Europe," &c., &c.). 



LONDON: 



11. H. POllTEll, 7 rillNCES STREET, CAVENDISH SQUARE, W. 



