NATURE NOTES. 
1 86 
leave to say, has seldom been produced ; for it deals with the 
anatomical and physiological department of ornithology as well 
as with those subjects which chiefly interest the field naturalist. 
It sums up the works of specialists in all the branches of the 
subject, which, as the author truly remarks, “ are often over- 
elaborate for those to whom ornithology is not the main business 
of life.” Many a hedgerow naturalist into whose hands this 
book falls will owe a debt of gratitude to the author, whose 
careful and laborious digest has enabled him in these busy times 
to assimilate in a convenient and agreeable form the main prin- 
ciples of what may be termed by some people the higher branches 
of ornithological science. For the benefit of those who wish to 
go more deeply into any of the subjects, the author has given at 
the end of each chapter a list of some of the best books dealing 
therewith. He has a good word for the Society for the Protec- 
tion of Birds, and closes his volume with an instructive chapter 
on “ outdoor and indoor ornithology.” The illustrations are 
useful and to the point. B}' the kind permission of the pub- 
lishers we are enabled to reproduce one. 
O. V. Aplin. 
