472 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



ance have vainly attempted. These ten volumes are the legacy 

 to-day to the Scottish natural history of the future. 



The area to which these annals refer is an extensive one. 

 " The Great Basin of the Eiver Tay " and its tributary streams 

 alone cover a vast area, greater in capacity than that of any 

 other river system in Scotland. It contains no fewer than some 

 2600 square miles. It includes the moor of Rannoch, the Mecca 

 of many entomologists ; but insects are barred — this is a 

 vertebrate fauna. The descriptive chapters renew our acquaint- 

 ance with some scenes long since familiar, and we read again of 

 several acquaintances long since gone on. Among the portraits is 

 a good one of Buchanan White, and many days have passed since, 

 kilted, he first visited us near London. This portion of the book 

 is all the better for being written by a Scotchman — it is remini- 

 scential — and we can understand that if the mercantile Scot loves 

 to come south, the Scottish naturalist must yearn to get back. 



There is a wealth of record in the narrative of the birds, 

 which, of course, cannot be reproduced here, and to which full 

 reference is beyond our space. We may, however, refer to the 

 Tufted Duck (Fuligula cristata), which a contributor recently 

 stated in these pages was nowhere common in Yorkshire (ante, 

 p. 432). But in this Scottish area we read " that it is one of our 

 commonest Ducks on all suitable lochs throughout the central 

 and east portions, and just outside the south-west boundary of 

 the area in Forth." Of this Duck, Mr. Harvie-Brown gives a 

 very full account, and a map illustrating its nesting dispersal in 

 Scotland. An enormous increase in the number of Starlings is 

 recorded, and the author states : " The Starling in its millions 

 is becoming a poisonous pest, literally an insanitary and ever- 

 increasing evil." The account of the dispersal of the Twite 

 (Linota flavirostris) in this area will interest some contributors 

 to ' The Zoologist ' who recently discussed the question. 



Mammalia, Keptilia, and Amphibia are also enumerated, but 

 Pisces are ignored. The volume is well illustrated, and we may 

 say, with Carlyle, " On all sides, are we not driven to the con- 

 clusion that, of the things which man can do or make here 

 below, by far the most momentous, wonderful, and worthy are 

 the things we call Books ? " 



PRINTKD BY WEST, NEWMAN AND CO.. HATTON GARDEN, LONDON. 



