FOUR BIRD BOOKS. 
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than that it is carried out upon the same lines as the others, and 
shows the same excellence of work. But the pheasant has a less 
natural history than either the partridge or the grouse, and even 
in the wildest state in which it exists in England, its habits 
afford but little food for observation. The book opens with a 
most interesting and instructive chapter on the history, ancient 
and modern, of the pheasant, after which the habits of the wild 
bird are treated of, and there are chapters on the abnormal 
varieties and the hybrids not uncommonly met with, as well as 
upon ancient and modern fowling and poaching. In the former 
of these last we find quaint extracts from the works of Markham 
and other less known authors. In the chapter on habits Mr. 
Macpherson quotes a Russian correspondent, Mr. Djanaschvili, 
who describes the eggs of the pheasant as whitish, speckled with 
greenish yellow spots. This is curious ; but as his experience 
receives independent confirmation from another Russian gentle- 
man, it may possibly prove to be a peculiarity of the birds of 
those parts. But when, a few pages further on, we find Mr. 
Djanaschvili describing the chicks as almost entirely covered 
with a delicate yellowish down, which in time turns greyish 
brown, we think his words are either inaccurate or insufficient, 
according to our ideas of the colours of the young pheasant ; 
nor can we regard his statement that the yellowish colour of the 
chicks’ down is almost the same shade as that of the golden corn 
fields as otherwise than fanciful. In England, at all events, 
pheasant chicks have lost their down by the time the corn has 
turned colour. No field naturalist should fail to read the 
instructive and well-written “ shooting” portion of the volume, 
and in the “cooking” portion we are told, among other things, 
in what parts of the world the best flavoured pheasants are 
found. The eleven illustrations by Mr. A. Thorburn, suggested 
and revised by Mr. Stuart-Wortley, leave little to be desired, 
except it be a plate of the “ old-fashioned ” pure-bred P. colchicus, 
which naturalists and sportsmen alike would have been glad to 
have in this charming monograph. 
Mr. Headley’s ornithological work* is of so comprehensive a 
nature that it would be impossible, within the narrow limits 
available for the purpose, to review in detail the very wide field 
which he has so ably covered. In the opening words of his 
preface he tells us that the aim of his book is an ambitious one. 
It deals with the development of birds from reptilian ancestors, 
their physiology, and their flight ; with their colours, song, 
instinct, reason and migration. It goes into the principles of 
classification, and gives some hints as to the best methods of 
studying birds. A more useful book to the ornithologist, we take 
* The Structure and Life of Birds, by F, W. Headley, M.A., F.Z.S., 
Assistant Master at Haileybury College, pp. xx., 412, 78 illustrations. (London : 
Macmillan & Co., 1891;, 7s. 6d.) 
