NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 819 



The Food of some British Wild Birds : a Study in Economic 

 Ornithology. By Walter E. Collingb, M.Sc, F.L.S. 

 Dulau & Co. Limited. 



When we read in the Preface to this volume that the con- 

 clusions arrived at in its pages " have only been obtained after 

 a considerable amount of work extending over many years, 

 during which period numerous observations have been made in 

 the field, and of the stomach contents of upwards of three 

 thousand adult birds and three hundred nestlings " we feel that 

 a considerable addition to our knowledge on the subject must 

 have been made, nor are we disappointed on a perusal of the 

 small book of slightly over a hundred pages. The majority of 

 our wild birds are passed over, as some are so rare or small in 

 numbers as to be practically ignored, those aquatic or littoral 

 in habits are neglected, as are also those which feed exclusively 

 on insect life ; this leaves about thirty-five species, and of these 

 twenty-nine are dealt with. Most of the well-known authorities 

 are quoted, and each bird has its full record of diet and depre- 

 dation. The Goldfinch certainly needs little consideration, as, 

 Mr. Collinge states, " this bird is by no means so common in the 

 Midland counties as formerly," while in Surrey, or at least in a 

 large part of that county, we can answer for its ever-growing 

 scarcity, whilst its worst character is that of a distributor of 

 " weed seeds." The House-Sparrow, however well deserving 

 its name of "avian rat," is certainly a notorious pest, though 

 we quite agree with the conclusion of our author : " The Sparrow 

 has been allowed to increase to such an extent that it has become 

 one of the worst bird pests we have, but if it were reduced to 

 such numbers as to be no commoner than, say, the Kobin, I 

 believe the good it would do would more than compensate for 

 the harm. At present the attitude of all farmers must be one of 

 extermination, and to this end it would seem very desirable that 

 the use of poisoned grain should be permitted." 



The Bibliography is almost confined to publications written 

 in the English language. 



