Reviews and Book Notices. 



195 



A number of interesting Annual Reports have been sent to us. The 

 Recorder's Reports (Natural History Section of the Hebden Bridge 

 Literary and Scientific Society), presented at the last annual meeting, 

 ha^-e been printed as a pamphlet. They form a useful record, and we 

 notice that the recorders make good use of ' The Naturalist.' The reports 

 are — Ornithology, by W. Greaves ; General Botany, by W. Nowell ; Fungi 

 and Hcpatics, by j. Needham ; Geology, by J. H. Greenwood ; and 

 Entomology, by E. B. Gibson. 



The se\'cnty-fourth annual report of Bootham School (York), Natural 

 History, [etc. , Society, contains a record of an encouraging year's work, 

 and it is pleasing to find that natural history plays a prominent part in 

 the studies at this school. The reports are refreshing to read, and the 

 writers do not ' mince matters.' One youth has worked ' with a remarkable 

 mixture of energy and carelessness.' In some botanical specimens,' the 

 abundance of sticking-plaster is deplored ; it obscures the specimens, and 

 makes each sheet look like a surgical map.' In Ornithology and Taxidermy 

 ' E. B. ^Marriage takes first place, his skulls and breast-hones being numerous ! 

 A long way below came a few specimens of feet [surely their proper place ! ], 

 and bracketed with the latter are W. E. J. Clothier's skulls, skins, etc' 

 With regard to one youth's collection of insects ' all criticism is merged 

 in amazement at his spelling.' Under 'Oology' we notice 'first comes 

 F. A. Brockbank, who has collected thirty-eight species, all this year 

 [1907!.' The recorder states ' it would be much better to have the localities 

 and dates somehow attached to the eggs themselves,' in order to give the 

 police every possible help, we presume ! 



The Hastings and East Sussex Naturalist (Vol. I., No. 3, price 2/-) 

 is to hand. It is issued by the Hastings and St. Leonards Natural 

 Histor}'- Society, under the editorship of the Hon. Secretary, JNIr. W. R. 

 Butterfield. The items include ' The Mosses of Sussex,' by W. E. NichoU 

 son; ' False- Scorpions of the Hastings District,' by W. R. Butterfield; 

 ' The Sardinian Warbler in East Sussex ' and ' The Heronry at W^indmili 

 Hill Place,' by T. Parkin; ' Tortrix proniibana Hb. in Sussex, by A. 

 Adkin ; 'The Larger Wlntergreen near Hastings,' by E. Connold ; and 

 'Notes on the local Fauna, Flora, etc.,' by the Rev. E. N. Bloomfield. 

 There are also shorter notes, and six excellent plates, one of which the 

 author kindly enables us to reproduce (plate xix.). The society is to be 

 congratulated upon the valuable and strictly local nature of its publication, 

 as well as upon the care with which it has been produced. 



A Book of Birds, by W. P. Pycraft, A.L.S., F.Z.S. S. Appleton, 

 T908. 155 pp., price 6/- net. 



This is a companion volume to ' Mammals of the W^orld,' which was 

 noticed in these pages for December last (pp. 434-5). The remarks then 

 made as to the excellence of the volume also apply in the present instance. 

 Mr. Pycraft has a pleasant style, and what he has to say is reliable, and not 

 of the nature of the average book on birds — scores of which are now being 

 placed on the market. 



His first paragraph puts forward a view of the importance of the study 

 of ornithology, which is very original. The twenty-seven pages of ' Intro- 

 ductory ' form the most concise description of the structure and habits of 

 birds that we remember to have read anywhere. Mr. Pycraft v/isely 

 refers to the principal groups of birds only, and does not occupy space by 

 descriptions of the less known species. He points out that there are in. 

 all some 14,000 species of birds known, and to have enumerated all in this 

 volume would have meant that the description of each species would have 

 been confined to four words. And even Mr. Pycraft, with all his reputation 

 for concise description, would find a difiiculty there ! There are thirty 

 coloured plates, as well as illustrations in the text, and we are pleased to 

 find a remarkably good index. 



1908 May I. 



