142 
The Scottish Naturalist. 
have been noting their scarcity or absence, we have had a population far ex- 
ceeding our normal one. My observations have been made mainly in 
Stirlingshire, butMr. Harvie-Browninformsmethathehas latelynoticed the same 
phenomenon in Aberdeenshire. The species vv^hich has received the greatest 
increase has distinctly been the Song-Thrush, which has been at least twenty- 
fold more common than in ordinary years, but the Missel-Thrush has also 
occurred in very much larger numbers than usual. The Redwing and Field- 
fare also appeared to be more numerous than during the past few winters. 
There was, however, little or no apparent increase in the number of Blackbirds. 
There can be no doubt but that the extremely severe weather experienced in 
the south of England during the late winter and spring, compared with the 
mildness of the same seasons in Scotland, is the chief explanation of these 
occurrences. The most delicate species, the Song-Thrush, has been almost 
completely banished from the inhospitable South, and nearly the same has 
obtained with the Missel-Thrush, while the more hardy Blackbird has been 
able to withstand the inclement season. I observed the reverse of the present 
distribution in the spring of 1882, when, in Stirlingshire, I did not come across 
a single Song-Thrush, the effect of the severe winters of 1879-80, but going to 
England I found them in great abundance. 
Falkirk. 
G, Leslie. 
REVIEWS. 
Coloured Figures of the Birds of the British Islands. 
Issued by Lord Lilford, F.L.S., etc.. President of the British Orni- 
thologists' Union. London : R. H. Porter, 18 Princes Street, Caven- 
dish Square. 
We note with much pleasure that a second edition of this splendid and 
much-needed work has been called for, when scarcely one half of the parts 
forming the original edition have been issued. That such should be the 
case, is indeed a remarkable as well as a most significant fact. Those who 
are familiar with the literature of British Birds are aware that apart from 
Gould's costly book all the works devoted to the subject are either inade- 
quately or feebly illustrated, and the object of Lord Lilford's "Illustra- 
tions " is to supply this want. This it does most admirably ; indeed it is not 
too much to claim for the pictures, as a whole, that they are without 
rivals. The second edition is limited to four hundred copies. 
The Honey Bee : Its Natural History, Anatomy, and Physiology. By 
T. W. Cowan, F.L.S., F.G.S., etc. London : Houlston & Sons. 
This little book, though it treats on what may be considered by some as a 
much be written subject, is nevertheless a very welcome one, bringing as it 
