158 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 



Practical Bird-Keeping ; being Reprints of Articles which have 

 appeared in the ' Avicultural ~Magazine.' Edited by J. 

 Lewis Bonhote, M.A., &c. West, Newman & Co. 



Birds in captivity are fortunately now more seldom dismal 

 prisoners confined in wretched cages. The aviculturist of to-day 

 is usually an ornithologist, who not only studies the habits of 

 his pensioners, but strives more or less to produce an environ- 

 ment suitable to their health and happiness. Many exotic birds 

 which formerly were only found in the aviaries of zoological 

 gardens or in the possession of wealthy amateurs now thrive in 

 the capacious and suitable enclosures of private aviculturists, 

 and our excellent contemporary, the ' Avicultural Magazine,' is 

 to be credited with not only fostering the study, but also im- 

 proving the conditions and making possible the successful keeping 

 of almost any bird that can be procured. This small book is, 

 therefore, to be welcomed as a reprint long desired, and should 

 prove a safe guide to those who follow the pursuit and study. 



The articles reproduced are written by experienced avicul- 

 turists whose names are not unknown, and some are specialists 

 in the birds they keep and often breed. In all the contributions 

 there is an excellent endeavour to describe the natural environ- 

 ment of the bird, and to suggest its artificial reproduction, while 

 the dietary information is full and complete. The modern study 

 of " bird-watching" in nature has done much to give us new and 

 unexpected information in avian bionomics, and is still only in 

 its infancy ; the real aviculturist, in his observations, is also 

 adding to our knowledge in the questions of longevity, changes 

 in plumage, and even episodes in courtship, so that aviculture is 

 no longer the definition of a hobby, but represents a distinct 

 section in the study of ornithology. Aviculture has had to fight 

 for its scientific recognition, and the journal from which these 

 articles are reproduced is fast becoming, if it has not already 

 reached the status of, an indispensable magazine in ornitho- 

 logical bionomics. 



The book is well illustrated. 



