Literary Notices, 235 



optical principles of the eye, and of the instruments by which its 

 vision may be assisted, and thus having a scientific valne, it comes 

 within our rule of publications that we can notice and commend. 

 It is not for us to say, out of a multitude of other respectable opti- 

 cians, which is the best house for spectacles, but we strongly recom- 

 mend our readers to avoid cheating quacks, and to make their pur- 

 chases of reliable firms. 



Geology foe General Readers. A series of Popular Sketches 

 of Geology and Paleontology. By David Page, F.R.S.E., F.G S. 

 Second and enlarged Edition. (Blackwood and Sons.) — Mr. David 

 Page is one of the most successful epitomizers and popularizers of 

 science, and in this capacity he merits no small commendation. 

 The present edition of a well-known work evinces his usual skill and 

 care. It belongs to a class of book gradually finding its way into 

 all the better kind of schools, and is well suited for family reading. 



The Birds of Norfolk, with Remarks on their Habits, Migra- 

 tion, and Local Distribution. By Henry Stevenson, F.L.S., 

 Member of the British Ornithologists' Union. In two vols., vol. i. 

 (Van Voorst, Norwich, Malabret & Stevenson.) — The present 

 volume is an excellent specimen of a very valuable class of works, 

 which, under the form of contributions to local fauna, not only 

 answer the purpose of a useful catalogue, but contribute efficiently 

 to the science of Natural History. An accurate list of species 

 inhabiting or visiting any district is in itself an important contribu- 

 tion to knowledge, but much more so when, as in the case of Mr. 

 Stevenson's book, it is accompanied with a large amount of interest- 

 ing information concerning the habits, food, structure, etc., of the 

 creatures described. Although Norfolk is by no means one of the 

 most beautiful of English counties, its position and physical charac- 

 teristics assign to it a very high degree of ornithological importance. 

 "Bounded on the north and east by the German Ocean and the 

 great estuary of the Wash, Norfolk is insulated, as it were, in every 

 other direction by rivers, the Waveney and Little Ouse dividing it 

 from Suffolk on the south, and the Great Ouse, Welney, and Nene 

 from Cambridgeshire, on the west." It is favourably situated, as 

 Mr. Stevenson observes, with reference to Holland, the west coast of 

 Norway, and the north-east coast of our own island. Its coast line 

 makes it a convenient place of " call," and thus it is that " a classi- 

 fied list of the birds of Norfolk shows an excess of imigrants over 

 residents, amounting to nearly two-thirds, while the latter are even 

 outnumbered by rare and accidental visitants." The local pecu- 

 liarities of the county are likewise favourable to ornithological 

 variety. The " Broad district " is full of shallow lakes and lagoons, 

 locally termed "Broads." The "Cliff district" is sandy, and 

 contains an admixture of arable land, pastures, woodland, and heath. 

 The "Weal district," so called from the sandy hillocks or " weals" 

 lying between the sea-shore and the cultivated land, with flat oozy 

 plains between them. The " Break district " has a light thin soil 

 lying on chalk, partly broken up by the plough, and many of these 

 " breaks," or broken up places, abandoned to wild birds and game. 

 "The effect of high winds after dry weather in this district," says 



