236 Literary Notices. 



Mr. Stevenson, "is not easily described. The whole air is filled 

 with sand, till it resembles a London fog. Nearly every particle of 

 fertilizing matter is blown away from the land, as is shown for years 

 afterwards by its barrenness." Then there is the "Fen district," 

 and the "Enclosed district," names sufficiently significant of their 

 character, if allowance is made for the progress of cultivation. 



The detailed account which Mr. Stevenson gives of these districts % 

 is very interesting, and they afford appropriate conditions for the 

 habitation or sojourn of many rare birds. The descriptions given by 

 Mr. Stevenson of the decline or disappearance of particular birds, as 

 artificial changes have been introduced in the physical features of the 

 locality, are very important, and not less so that of the settlement and 

 multiplication of other species for whom the new conditions operated 

 favourably. Thus within thirty or forty years, three species of 

 harriers have disappeared from the fens, in consequence of their 

 drainage by machinery. Ruffs and reeves have likewise vanished, 

 " but the red-shank was induced to return to its old haunts by the 

 extraordinary flood of 1852. . . . This same flood acted in like 

 manner upon the black tern and the black-headed gull, both of 

 which, in 1853, stayed to breed in places which had been so long aban- 

 doned by them, that their names were even unknown in the land." 



The present volume begins with the white-tailed eagle and ends 

 with the quail, and includes descriptions of the visits and habits of 

 many rare birds, waxwings, crossbills, etc , and of Pallas' sand- 

 grouse, of which a beautiful coloured plate is given. Our readers 

 will recollect a paper on the curious fact of the appearance of this 

 bird in England, which we published in our fourth volume. 



In the chapter devoted to the kingfisher, Mr. Stevenson utters a 

 protest against the destruction of these birds to furnish ornaments 

 for ladies' hats ; and it is really abominable, that one of the most 

 interesting British birds should be in danger of absolute extirpation 

 in obedience to a mere whim of fashion, and to an unfortunate over 

 development of the monkey habit of imitation. He also records a 

 visit to a kingfisher's nest. It was placed in a hole like that of a 

 rat in a " dyke," or drain, about a foot below the top of the bank, 

 and the same distance from the water. The hole sloped gradually 

 upwards from its mouth, and terminated in a round chamber, " filled 

 with the remains of fish in every stage of decomposition. There 

 were seven eggs laid exactly in the centre on a bed of pure white fish 

 bones, and surrounded with fish refuse swarming with maggots. 

 The fish bones when cleaned weighed ten ounces and thirty grains, 

 and must have represented a great quantity of the small fry which 

 form the chief part of the kingfisher's food. Mr. Stevenson noticed 

 remains of water-beetles, but not a particle of grass, straw, or similar 

 material. 



Strongly recommending his work, as both interesting and 

 valuable, and further mentioning that the frontispiece to the first 

 volume represents one of the "Norfolk Broads," we leave it with 

 the intention of completing oar notice when the second volume 

 appears. 



