9i 
BOOKS FOR NATURE LOVERS. 
Some Bird Books. 
He would have no easy task who should undertake to decide whether birds or 
flowers have the stronger hold upon the affections of the nature-lover. Perhaps, 
like competitors for Academic honours, on whose relative merits it is impossible to 
decide, they should be “bracketed equal.” It is certain, however, that these two 
between them occupy a far larger proportion of the literature devoted to natural 
objects than all the others put together, and the number of volumes is still increasing. 
Three of the most recent of these are 'now before us. 
The first and most important is the handsome Manual of British Birds , by 
Mr. Howard Saunders (Gurney and Jackson). In a volume of some eight hundred 
pages we have a complete enumeration, with illustrations of nearly every species, 
of all the birds having any claim to be considered as British. Only two pages are 
allowed to each bird, no matter how interesting or varied its history may be ; and 
Mr. Howard Saunders is to be congratulated on the skill with which he has con- 
densed into this small space a complete and readable account of every species. A 
systematic sketch of the genera is given in an introduction of thirty pages; in this 
way the appearance of the book is made less terrifying to the ordinary reader than 
would otherwise be the case, while the student is not deprived of the more technical 
characters which he may wish to consult for purposes of comparison. The illus- 
trations are the excellent ones which add so much to the attractiveness of Yarrell’s 
great work, supplemented by “woodcuts of many recent wanderers to Great 
Britain.” 
The number of our birds is thus summarised: — “The birds considered as 
British in this work are 367 in number, exclusive of several forms — only noticed — 
respecting which there are conflicting opinions. The species which have been 
ascertained to breed within the United Kingdom during the present century may 
be taken as 200; about 70 non-hardy wanderers have occurred fewer than six 
times, and 59 others are more or less infrequent visitors ; while 38 species annually 
make their appearance in migration or during the colder months, in some portion 
of a long, narrow group of islands in the surrounding waters.” 
Mr. W. Warde Fowler’s Year with the Birds (Macmillan) has reached a third 
edition. It first appeared in 1886, and this is sufficient proof of the favour in 
which it is held. There is no need to comment at length upon a work which has 
deservedly obtained general approval, but we are glad to bring it to the notice of 
such Selbornians as may not already know it. The book is thoroughly Selbornian 
in tone, simple, loving and observant. “For several years past I have contrived, 
even on the busiest or the rainiest Oxford mornings, to steal out for twenty minutes 
or half-an-hour, soon after breakfast, to let my senses exercise themselves on things 
outside me.” Thus simply Mr. Fowler begins his narration. The habit began 
when he was “an ardent fisherman and daily within reach of trout :”now “ the rod 
has given way to a field-glass, and the passion for killing has been displaced by a 
desire to see and know ; a revolution which I consider has been beneficial, not only 
to the trout, but to myself ; ” and, we heartily add, to the readers of these records. 
There are two chapters on Oxford birds, two on those of the Alps, two on those 
of “A Midland Village,” and one — different in style, but equally interesting — on 
“ The Birds of Virgil.” Some notes and a good index conclude this capital book, 
the attractiveness of which is enhanced by Mr. Bryan Hook’s illustrations. 
Mr. Charles Dixon adds another to his already numerous bird-books, under 
the title Stray Feathers from Many Birds (W. H. Allen and Co.). The title 
is not an inapt one, for the twenty-four chapters which make up this handsome 
volume range over a great variety of topics, and have no very intimate connection 
one with another, except that the main subject of all is the same. The book 
contains much interesting reading, but we miss from it that personal observation 
which lends such a charm to Mr. Warde Fowler’s volume. 
