ornithologist's text-book. 189 



Britain. ByWm. Macgillivray, A.M. Edinb. and 

 London. 1836. 12mo. pp. 482. 9s. 



We conceive that the title of this work and the 

 name of its author, will be sufficient recommenda- 

 tion of it. Suffice it to say, that the descriptions 

 are minute, accurate, and in the author's best style ; 

 the plates are likewise excellent, and the book is 

 well got up. We have skimmed the whole of this 

 delightful volume, and can conscientiously recom- 

 mend it to our readers. We much like the plan of 

 giving monographs of families of birds, and hope 

 that the present volume will be followed by others 

 on the same plan. Our own British Songsters will 

 probably be on a similar plan. 



British Songsters ; being Popular Descriptions 

 of the British Choristers of the Groves. By Neville 

 Wood, Esq. Fcp. 8vo. J. W. Parker, West Strand, 

 London. 



We have in preparation for the press a work of 

 the above title, for a specimen of which we have 

 extracted the entire article " Ivy Wren,'' at the re- 

 quest of our scientific friend, Dr. Liverpool, in 

 Art. IV. of the supplement. In our Text-book we 

 have already noticed two or three works on song 

 birds, by Bolton, Bechstein, and Syme ; but none 

 of these volumes in any way come to our notion 

 of a treatise on song birds, the authors of the above 

 works being mere book Naturalists or amateurs, 

 and their respective publications, accordingly, either 

 compilations — what an odious word ! — or instruc- 

 tions for the preservation of birds in confinement. 

 In our British Songsters, such defects will be 

 avoided, and we shall aim, as far as possible, at 

 giving descriptions of the habits, haunts, nidifica- 

 tion, and general economy of the feathered choris- 



