Book Notices and Reviews. 
17 
tratioiis. Certainly the two parts under review are particularly 
charming. For one thing we have arrived at families, which by 
the sinuous gracefulness of form and the exceeding delicacy of 
markings exhibited by many of their species, lend themselves in 
very high degree to the artistic sensibilities and the facile pencil 
of Miss IMedland. For instance, her figures of the various RalUdce 
anil even of our two members of the Otididce are considerably 
more than figures — they are pictures, and more than that, they are 
pictures which leave nothing to be desired, whether we regard the 
birds themselves or the exquisite treatment of their surroundings. 
And when we come to the Chdradriida) what can be said among 
others of the Ringed Plover, the Lapwing, the Turnstone, the 
Woodcock, and the Snipes ? It may be left to the imagination 
of those who already know something of our artist's beautiful 
work. 
As usual, the author's descriptive articles shew a general 
fulness of detail not to be found in other text books, accompanied 
by a crispness of style which highly commends his work from a 
literary point of view, and lifts it once into the position of a 
classic. It is difficult within the limits of a short notice to do Mr. 
Stonham full justice, but prospective subscribei'S may rest assured 
that the field natm-alist, the sportsman, and the stay-at-home 
student alike will neither of them be disappointed in his companion- 
ship by their library fire. 
As an instance of his thoroughness (and incidentally also of 
the truth of an old adage as to there being nothing new &c.) we 
find that the Crane, which used to breed in East Anglia in con- 
siderable numbers to nearly the end of the 16th century, was 
actually protected by Act of Parliament in even those benighted 
days. And yet it has long been extinct as a British resident, and 
once more shows that the most vehement strivings of the econom- 
ist are as nothing against the resistlessness of natural forces. 
