NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 439 



A List of the Birds of Worcestershire, and the adjoining Counties. 

 By J". W. Willis Bund, F.L.S., F.Z.S. 8vo, pp. 53. 

 Worcester: W.Leicester. 1891. 



In making a praiseworthy attempt to enumerate the birds 

 which have been found within the area indicated in the above 

 title, Mr. Willis Bund we hope will forgive us for saying that he 

 has adopted a very inconvenient form of stating his facts. 



In these days of cheap printing, when books issue from the 

 press so rapidly that it is difficult to keep oneself au courant even 

 with the literature of a special subject, the reader must always 

 feel grateful to an author who saves trouble, and who presents 

 his facts in the clearest and simplest manner. Mr. Willis Bund, 

 in the pamphlet before us, prefers to convey his information in 

 tabular form ; in ruled columns, headed by capital letters which 

 stand for counties, and filled in with signs which indicate 

 authorities for the occurrence of any given species in any given 

 county. This is all very well for those who have plenty of time 

 on their hands and like to work it out, but to have to turn back 

 constantly to the "Introduction " to ascertain what certain letters 

 stand for, or what particular signs indicate, is, to us, a most 

 irritating process, and one to which, we fear, we shall hardly get 

 reconciled. Mr. Willis Bund has further complicated his subject, 

 by introducing a number of species which are not found in Wor- 

 cestershire nor in any of "the adjoining counties." Why these 

 are included we are at a loss to understand, unless (following a 

 bad precedent) the author wishes to show "what may be expected 

 to occur." Even then, we should not expect to find in Worcester- 

 shire such species as Anthus ludovicianus, Pycnonotus barbatus, 

 P. capensis, Vireo olivaceus, Ampelis cedrorum, Progne purpurea, 

 Cyanospiza ciris, Scolecophagus ferrugineus, and a score of other 

 species which are here included, and which are equally unlikely 

 to occur. 



As the author will doubtless receive numerous additions to his 

 "List" from observers resident within the area indicated who 

 are sure to examine it with interest, we trust that he will see his 

 way to recast his information, and so render it more generally 

 useful than it is likely to prove in its present form. 



We gather from Table II (p. 43), that out of 199 species esti- 

 mated to breed in the British Islands, 90 have been found 



