468 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 



Pictures of Bird Life on Woodland, Meadow, Mountain, and 

 Marsh. By R. B. Lodge. S. H. Bousfield & Co., Lim. 

 The sacredness of animal life, always an axiom in old Indian 

 philosophy, is rapidly permeating Western thought. It is even 

 probable that at some near future the battue of the wealthy 

 sportsman may, like the millions of the successful financier, be 

 relegated to the domain of vulgarity. But that will not occur in 

 our time, though it is certain that even now the trend of public 

 opinion is in that direction. The happy days we have passed in 

 killing game and procuring zoological specimens give sometimes 

 a less roseate reminiscence, and promote somewhat regretful 

 reflections. In ornithology the camera is now frequently carried 

 in place of the once indispensable gun, and if the last can be less 

 used, and the former come into greater vogue, ornithologists as 

 a class will not regret the changed conditions. 



Mr. Lodge, in this charming book, has one great acquisition 

 which generally takes a reader captive. He is absolutely 

 enthusiastic on his subject, and we imbibe this spirit as we 

 follow, not so much his pages, as the actual scenes and adven- 

 tures which he describes. Moreover, he is in the unique position 

 of an author whose statements must be accepted, as they are 

 attested by the photographs from life which form the material of 

 the many beautiful and frequently most instructive illustrations. 

 We are thus beyond the art of the taxidermist, and no longer 

 studying the attitude of the prisoner in the aviary, but seeing 

 wild birds as they appear in their natural surroundings. Their 

 pose is also generally quite undisturbed, for the reader must 

 learn for himself the many ingenious devices that have been 

 invented for the action of invisible photography. Where a bird 

 once lost its liberty in a trap, it now only unwittingly provides 

 an object for the camera. The subject of nidification now again 

 opens a new field for work, the egg-collector becomes only more 

 or less a pioneer, and we are awaiting photos of many nests in 

 their natural environment, and with the parent bird or birds in 

 attendance. A new world to conquer has arisen ; the camera 



