NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 311 



the increase is very slow — a hill of twenty feet high is probably 

 several hundred years old." It is impossible to adequately 

 notice the many facts, especially relating to the vertebrates, 

 with which the volume teems, while Mr. Ward's observations are 

 never sensational, and have the imprimatur' of a life acquaint- 

 ance. Sometimes he trips, and has not been prevented from so 

 doing by Mr. Fountain ; the remarks at p. 83 on the Australian 

 butterflies and other insects, which are identical with European 

 species, requires modification. 



This book would have gained immensely by illustration. Mr. 

 Ward must regret, as others of us have done, that we did not use 

 the camera when the opportunities of a short lifetime allowed 

 us to visit scenes we shall not see again. 



Notes on the Birds of Nottinghamshire. By J. Whitaker. 

 Walter Black & Co., Ltd. 



Of all county books on birds this is the most readable and 

 interesting of any we have seen. It is not confined to the mere 

 county records of the Nottinghamshire birds, but is full of the 

 original observations which gives the character to our " Notes 

 and Queries," consequently one can read the book from start to 

 finish with the liveliest interest and enjoyment. Mr. Whitaker 

 is apparently a real lover of birds, both for field observation 

 and for the enrichment of a private collection, which must be 

 extremely rich in varieties. 



A book might be written on the casual and accidental manner 

 in which rare zoological species have been acquired. Mr. Whitaker 

 tells us the story of the way in which the Spanish Sparrow (Passer 

 hispaniolensis) may claim inclusion in the Nottinghamshire list. 

 An angler " was fishing in the Trent near Wilford in the autumn 

 of 1900 ; close to where he stood was a thorn-tree covered with 

 ivy. At dusk a lot of Sparrows kept coming from a farm near 

 by, and flying into the tree. The noise they made and the quantity 

 of birds attracted his notice, so he walked to the tree with rod in 

 hand, thinking he would hit it and see how many birds there 

 were. On getting close to the bush a crowd of Sparrows flew 

 out, and he made a cut at them with his Pike-rod and knocked 

 one down ; on picking it up he saw it was a strange bird, so he 



