274 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 



The British Bird Book; an Account of all the Birds, Nests, and 

 Eggs found in the British Isles. Edited by F. B. Kikkman, 

 B.A. Oxon. Vol. I. T. C. & E. C. Jack. 



It may be asked, Why another book on British Birds? In 

 the present case the answer is a very satisfactory one, for this 

 publication is designed and promoted on advanced principles — in 

 fact, although descriptions and figures leave little to be desired 

 as means of identification, the main object is to study the birds 

 themselves as sentient creatures. We have travelled far since 

 the time of popular opinion that the song of birds was provided 

 for the delight of man, as the stars were placed in the firmament 

 to light his way by night. Even quite recently ornithology has 

 been envisaged by two new factors — photography rather than 

 the gun, and " bird-watching " in place of arm-chair conclusions, 

 while both of these have already produced, and are still pro- 

 ducing, a revolution in our knowledge of bird-life. In these 

 volumes we are promised a digest of bionomical records pub- 

 lished during many past years, read at the time, and often 

 subsequently forgotten; the pages of 'The Zoologist ' alone will 

 afford an illuminative example. The work is to be published in 

 twelve sections or volumes, and the chapters often restricted to 

 a genus and treated by different writers. 



A prominent feature in the volume now before us is the 

 supplementary chapter on "The Finches," by that prince of 

 bird-watchers, Edmund Selous. Here we revel in original 

 observations, and as readers of 'The Zoologist' well know, 

 if Darwin's theory of Sexual Selection is to be revived and 

 maintained, it will be largely owing to the work of its enthusi- 

 astic apostle, Mr. Selous, who seems to have accepted a mission 

 to prove and advocate it. His hardly earned facts would have 

 been gratefully received and used by Darwin himeelf had such a 

 personal synchronization been possible, but after all theories 



