160 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 



British Birds. Written and Illustrated by A. Thorburn, F.Z.S. 

 In four volumes. London : Longmans, Green & Co. 1915. 

 £6 6s. net ; large paper edition, £12 12s. net. 



Mr. Thorburn's beautiful illustrations of birds have long been 

 familiar, and it is a pleasure to find him writing as well as 

 illustrating a book on the perennially-interesting subject of our 

 native species. We have no hesitation in saying that the work 

 is easily the best on the subject that has ever been produced with 

 coloured illustrations and of a popular style. In the first volume, 

 now before us, almost all the Passeres are dealt with, all, in fact, 

 except the Larks and some of the Crows. Several species are 

 illustrated on one page, the background being wisely subordi- 

 nated to the figures, which are independent and not grouped in 

 one picture. The colouring is of course excellent, and generally 

 has full justice done it by the reproduction, and the illustra- 

 tions are all to scale. The attitudes are generally, though 

 in one or two cases not quite, happy; for instance, the Golden 

 Oriole certainly is not ordinarily seen in the somewhat Blackbird- 

 like pose here given it ; in actions, as in habits, it is more like a 

 Warbler than a Thrush, in spite of its size. We think, also, that 

 the beginner, to whom this book will especially appeal, would 

 have found it more helpful if the name of each bird had been 

 placed immediately under the figure, instead of in a line with it 

 at the bottom ; while it would have been better to use the words 

 "male and female," or even the initals m. and f., rather than 

 the unfamiliar scientific signs (<??). The letterpress is 

 avowedly subordinate to the plates, but is generally adequate 

 for a book of this character, and Mr. Thorburn has some 

 original observations, such as that upon Nightingales singing 

 on a cold night in a temperature of thirty-eight degrees. 



In the preface, with an honesty which is unfortunately not so 

 universal among authors as it might be, he has fully acknow- 

 ledged his indebtedness to the writers of other works on the 

 subject, and indicated the sources whence those who have 

 acquired an acquaintance with our birds from this most meri- 

 torious work of his can proceed to amplify their knowledge of 

 the subject and become full-blown British ornithologists. 



