NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 199 



Natural history lovers and students will possess a safe guide in 

 these authoritatively written and well-illustrated pages, and by 

 their help return from a summer holiday neither wearied nor 

 jaded, but rejuvenated by a healthy recreation and intelligent 

 pursuit. We recommend this volume as a seaside companion 

 for a summer holiday, while it will be appreciated by any 

 naturalist. Such books have a zoological mission among the 

 general public apart from their value to naturalists. 



Wild Game in Zambezia. By E. C. F. Maugham, F.B.G.S., 

 F.Z.S., &c. John Murray. 



The contents of this well-illustrated volume constitute a 

 happy blend of the experiences of a sportsman and naturalist, 

 and it is with the latter we are most concerned, for Mr. Maugham 

 has much to tell us of the splendid but now attenuated vertebrate 

 fauna of the African plains. He can also think for himself. 

 Thus the peculiar coloration and markings of Zebras, which 

 against a background of thin forest or high grass makes them 

 easily overlooked — as was observed by the late Francis Galton 

 years ago — has been accepted by many as a typical example 

 of protective coloration. But before man commenced his de- 

 structive work these animals knew but one enemy, the great 

 carnivora. "These hunting as they do by night and by scent, 

 could not, as it seems to me, have been regarded as the dreaded 

 source of danger. One therefore asks oneself in vain what the 

 reason for a protective colour scheme for use by day only could 

 possibly have been? " 



In reference to the suggested game extermination in order to 

 decrease the number of Tsetse Flies, which seem to spread with 

 the game and increase in numbers as the herds increase, Mr. 

 Maugham writes of vast tracts of "fly country" from which 

 game is absent, and in some cases have been absent during the 

 recollection of natives. The writer on African mammals cannot 

 afford to miss a careful perusal of this book, though in some 

 cases a little caution must be used. Thus we read, " Secretary- 

 birds pursue their benevolent mission in the slaughter of the 

 Snakes " ; but probably the author is quite aware that the Snake 

 is not by a very long way the principal food of this bird. 



